Social Cohesion: Its Characteristics And Components

Social cohesion

Social cohesion is related to the degree of satisfaction and well-being of the members of a certain group or of society as a whole. The more there are, the less exclusion and marginality there is in the community.

Group cohesion can be achieved by taking into account several factors, both as causes and as influencers. Furthermore, it can imply consequences, both positive and negative, which, along with the definition of this idea, we will see below.

What is social cohesion?

Social cohesion is understood as the degree of consensus of the members of a social group and the perception of belonging to a common project That a group is very cohesive means that its members have solid relationships, with good interaction.

The relationships between leaders or rulers and followers or governed are perceived as fair and, for this reason, cohesion is seen as a conditioning factor of social and economic development.

Many factors could be identified within social cohesion, but these are related to four essential components: social relationships, work relationships, unity and emotions of group members

The combination of each of these four elements is what allows communication and cooperation to occur in the group, which will not only enhance group cohesion, but will also facilitate social growth.

Social cohesion involves dynamic processes, both of motivation and maintenance of the group Thus, cohesion could be defined, according to Leon Festinger in 1950, as the total field of forces that act on the members to remain in the group. These forces are acquired by the group, with which they remain united and function as motivators for the coexistence of the members.

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High social cohesion is the product of an egalitarian society, given that its members feel highly part of the community itself, without being victims of marginalization, exclusion or having their fundamental rights violated.

**Its members They are part of the same group, with common interests and needs, respecting each other A reduced degree of social cohesion is related to a very volatile society, with many possibilities of social confrontation and violence breaking out.

How to achieve group cohesion?

Group cohesion is not a spontaneous phenomenon. For it to happen, regardless of the size of the group or, at its maximum extent, society, it is necessary that everyone involved put efforts into satisfying the common objectives, accepting the differences of other group members In this way the social fabric is strengthened and great progress will be achieved.

Among the causes behind high group cohesion we can find:

1. Attraction

The idea has been proposed that social cohesion is the result of a high attraction between members of the group or society, understood as a high degree of interest and concern for other members.

If group members have positive feelings about each other, bonds will be strengthened and, to a greater or lesser extent, there will be social cohesion.

2. Group pride

Social cohesion can be caused by feelings of pride regarding one’s own group. That is to say, People have a strong feeling of appreciation toward the idea of ​​“we.” feeling like part of the group and seeing it as a whole, not necessarily homogeneous, but in which characteristics are shared.

3. Teamwork

Teamwork helps group members feel more united by sharing joint tasks, increasing the feeling of being an in-group and collaborating to achieve common objectives.

During teamwork People show great interdependence and tend to have feelings of responsibility towards the group The bonds of unity contribute to the achievement of objectives.

Influential factors

Once we have seen the causes behind social cohesion, it is worth indicating a series of factors that influence, to a greater or lesser extent, whether this social cohesion is maintained or, otherwise, disappears completely.

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1. Similarity of group members

The similarity of group members is an important factor that influences the maintenance of cohesion. Aspects such as language, ethnicity, type of work, age, sex and so on can strengthen ties or, if there is a lot of diversity, can weaken them.

Members of a group can use one of these characteristics as a label by which to group themselves and others arising the idea of ​​an “us” (ingroup) and “them” (outgroup) that can make it difficult to accept people who are not like them, excluding them.

2. Difficulty of introduction

The difficulty of introduction refers to how difficult it is to enter a certain group It has been seen that in those groups where there is great impermeability, being elitist and being very picky when it comes to accepting new members, when you are inside you feel a high social cohesion.

This is probably due to the fact that, since so much effort has been invested to gain entry, one feels great satisfaction for having achieved it and other members are seen as more similar to us while they have also made that effort to be accepted.

3. Group size

Smaller groups tend to be more cohesive This is due, above all, because the smaller you are, the easier it is to establish contact with the other members of the group, in addition to seeing a lower degree of differences and diversity in the group.

Consequences

High social cohesion can imply many consequences, both at the individual and group level. These consequences can be both positive and negative.

1. Motivation

Motivation and social or group cohesion are key factors that contribute to the performance of the group, whether it is a reduced community or a small group. When the group is one, we are more likely to sacrifice for others, causing the group to invest more efforts in achieving the goals as a whole

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2. Performance

It has been seen that both performance influences cohesion and cohesion influences performance. That is, cohesion makes one more likely to invest energy in achieving objectives, while performance, shown in teamwork, increases cohesion.

3. Member satisfaction

People feel more satisfied when they are part of a highly cohesive group, project or society. This can be observed in different areas, such as in successful companies, winning sports teams or in school classes in which there is high acceptance for what other classmates are like.

4. Emotional adjustment

Greater social cohesion is related to fewer psychological problems, since group members do not feel excluded or marginalized. The more the diversity of the group is accepted, the more likely it is to feel loved and that is a protective factor against emotional imbalances and psychopathology in general.

5. Pressure to please others

One of the consequences of social cohesion, and which can be seen as something negative, is the pressure to please other members of the group. The members of the group They may feel pressured to commit more risky behaviors in order not to upset other members or for fear of causing damage to the cohesion of the group.

For example, there are many youth gangs in which there is high group cohesion and members who, separately, would not commit any type of crime, are willing to do anything when they are with their friends.

In addition, the more group cohesion there is in the group will mean that the more influences they exert on each other, which means that there are more opportunities for bad decisions to be made if someone proposes them.