Being a member of a social group Essay

People become a member of a social group because of their very nature, that is, not to feel lonely, to feel secure, and to satisfy some needs such as social and self-esteem needs. Being part of a group has both positive and negative outcomes for an individual. Positive outcomes can be listed as enjoying group work, gaining new perspectives and making friends, and being more creative. On the other hand, there are some negative outcomes such as disagreements between the members of the group and losing time. One of the positive outcomes is enjoying group work. In a group work people perform their tasks quicker and in a more effective way. In a group, each person seems to be more capable. Working together provides a perfect information flow. People share their knowledge and skills with one another. By that way, people can feel themselves like a team because they are acting as a single body and are having responsibilities. Such kind of a group work provides each member with new perspectives which is a result of the exchange of ideas between group members. Therefore, they start to look from a different and a more brooder window. Involving in a social group provide opportunities for making friends. This is another positive aspect of social groups. People feel themselves better when they have more friends and worse when they do not. On this issue, (1991, p110) Goleman stated that patients who suffer from cancer and have no friends need more medical care than those who have friends. That proves the importance of the social groups in people’s lives. Only through this way they can become social and enjoy lives more. Besides its positive outcomes, being part of a group has some negative outcomes as well. These are disagreements between members and wasting the valuable time. Disagreements usually exist when individuals have conflicts with the ideas of others. They want to be free-riders which means acting as a single person and do not participate in or not contribute to the common work. That creates disagreements between group members. The group work can bring inefficiency. For instance, it can continue longer and can waste the time present. The disagreements between the members of the group can also cause losing time. To sum up, all it’s negative and positive outcomes considered, groups play an important role in our lives even though it cause conflicts between group members and losing time. A group is a good shelter that satisfies some of the basic needs of the people involved such as social and self-esteem needs. Further more it helps people to gain new perspectives, to be more creative, and to find new friends. Overall, a group is a social institute which combines various kinds of people who are different in mind, appearance, age and gender.