Page 161 - Mike Ratner CC - WISR Complete Dissertation - v6

Primary groups

Primary groups are characterized by relatively small, long-lasting groups of individuals

who share personally meaningful relationships. Since these groups often interact face-to-face, they

know each other very well and are unified. Individuals that are a part of primary groups consider

the group to be an important part of their lives. Consequently, members strongly identify with their

group, even without regular meetings (Forsyth, 2006). Cooley (Forsyth, 2006) believed that

primary groups were essential for integrating individuals into their society since this is often their

first experience with a group. For example, individuals are born into a primary group, their family,

which creates a foundation for them to base their future relationships. Individuals can be born into

a primary group; however, primary groups can also form when individuals interact for extended

periods of time in meaningful ways (Forsyth, 2006). Examples of primary groups include family,

close friends, and gangs.

Collectives

Collectives are characterized by large groups of individuals who display similar actions or

outlooks. They are loosely formed, spontaneous, and brief (Forsyth, 2006). Examples of

collectives include a flash mob, an audience at a movie, and a crowd watching a building burn.

Categories

Categories are characterized by a collection of individuals who are similar in some way

(Forsyth, 2006) . Categories become groups when their similarities have social implications. For

example, when people treat others differently because of their race, this creates groups of different

races (Forsyth, 2006). For this reason, categories can appear to be higher in entitativity and

essentialism than primary, social, and collective groups. Entitativity is defined by Campbell

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