Social cohesion: its characteristics and components

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 taking into account several factors, both as causes and influences on it. In addition, it can imply consequences, both positive and negative, which, together with the definition of this idea, we are going to see below.

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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.

Relations between leaders or rulers and followers or ruled are perceived as fair and, It is for this reason that cohesion is seen as a conditioning factor of social and economic development.

Within social cohesion, many factors could be identified, 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 communication to take place. cooperation in the group, which will not only enhance group cohesion, but will also facilitate growth social.

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 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.

A high social cohesion is the product of an egalitarian society, since its members feel highly part of the community itself, without being victims of marginality, exclusion or having their rights violated fundamental.

**Its members they are part of the same group, with common interests and needs, respecting each other. A low degree of social cohesion is associated with a highly volatile society, with a high potential for social confrontation and violence to break out.

How to achieve group cohesion?

Group cohesion is not a spontaneous phenomenon. For it to occur, regardless of the size of the group or, to its maximum extent, society, it is necessary that all those involved make efforts to meet the common objectives, accepting the differences of the other members of the group. In this way, the social fabric is strengthened and great advances will be achieved.

Among the causes behind a 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 others members.

If group members have positive feelings in relation to others, 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 in one's own group. That is to say, people have a strong feeling of appreciation for the idea of ​​"we", feeling like part of the group and seeing it as a whole, not necessarily homogeneous, but one in which characteristics are shared.

3. Teamwork

Teamwork helps, by sharing joint tasks, group members feel more united, increasing the feeling of ingroup and collaborating in the achievement of objectives common.

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 the objectives.

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Influential factors

Having seen the causes behind social cohesion, it is worth pointing out a series of factors that influence, in to a greater or lesser extent, that this social cohesion is maintained or, on the contrary, disappears for complete.

1. Similarity of group members

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

Members of a group can use one of those features as a label to group themselves and others, emerging the idea of ​​an "us" (ingroup) and "they" (outgroup) that can make it difficult to accept people who are not like them, excluding them.

2. introduction difficulty

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 cohesion social.

This is surely due to the fact that, since so many efforts have been invested to gain entry, one feels great satisfaction for having achieved it and the 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 have more cohesion. This is due, above all, because the smaller one is, 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

A 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 group performance, be it a reduced community or a small group. When the group as one, you are more likely to sacrifice for others, making the group invest more efforts in achieving the goals as a whole.

2. Performance

It has been seen that both performance influences cohesion and cohesion influences performance. In other words, cohesion makes it more prone 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, teams winning sports or in school classes in which there is a high acceptance for how others are companions.

4. emotional adjustment

Greater social cohesion is related to fewer psychological problems, since the members of the group do not feel excluded or marginalized. The more the diversity of the group is accepted, the more likely there is to feel loved and this 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 the other members of the group. group members They may feel pressured to commit more risky behaviors with the intention of not upsetting other members, or for fear of damaging the cohesion of the group.

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

In addition, the more group cohesion there is in the group, it will mean that more influences are exerted on each other. others, which makes it more likely that bad decisions will be carried out if someone makes them. propose.

Bibliographic references:

• Carron, A.V., Brawley, R.L., and Widmeyer, W.N. (1998). The measurement of cohesiveness in sport groups. In J.L. Duda (Ed.): Advances in sport and exercise psychology measurement (pp. 213-226). Morgantown, WV: Fitness Information Technology.
• Festinger, L. (1950). Informal social communication. Psychological Review, 57, 271-282.