Why Do People Join Groups
People join groups for a multitude of reasons. A major reason is that group membership often results in some form of need satisfaction on the part of the individual. Membership into a group can fulfil numerous needs, some which group members may not realize they are benefiting from:
- Companionship – groups provide members to simply be in the company of other people.
- Survival and security – From a historic or evolutionary perspective our ancestors would partake in group experiences for hunting and defence.
- Affiliation and status – membership into various groups can provide individuals with certain socials status’ or security.
- Power and control– with group membership comes the opportunity for leadership roles; individuals who feel they need to exert their power and opinions over others can have such experiences within group settings.
- Achievement – groups have the capability to achieve more than individuals acting alone.
Organizations typically form groups in order to accomplish work related tasks; however, as a member of a work group you may unintentionally reap the numerous benefits independent of the original group construct.
Read more about this topic: Group Behaviour
Famous quotes containing the words why do, people, join and/or groups:
“Women have had the vote for over forty years and their organizations lobby in Washington for all sorts of causes; why, why, why don’t they take up their own causes and obvious needs?”
—Dorothy Thompson (1894–1961)
“... the first reason for psychology’s failure to understand what people are and how they act, is that clinicians and psychiatrists, who are generally the theoreticians on these matters, have essentially made up myths without any evidence to support them; the second reason for psychology’s failure is that personality theory has looked for inner traits when it should have been looking for social context.”
—Naomi Weisstein (b. 1939)
“I used to join the murmurings about “Where are the qualified women?” As we murmured, we would all gaze about the room, up toward the chandelier, into the corner behind the potted palm, under the napkin, hoping perhaps that qualified women would pop out like leprechauns.”
—Jane O’Reilly, U.S. feminist and humorist. The Girl I Left Behind, ch. 5 (1980)
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Policemen so cherish their status as keepers of the peace and protectors of the public that they have occasionally been known to beat to death those citizens or groups who question that status.”
—David Mamet (b. 1947)