In particular, they define a group as two or more people who interact with, and exert mutual influences on, each other.
In everyday life, we tend to see any collection of people as a group. ( ① )
However, social psychologists use this term more precisely. ( ② )
It is this sense of mutual interaction or inter-dependence
for a common purpose which distinguishes the members of a group from a mere aggregation of individuals. ( ③ )
For example, as Kenneth Hodge observed, a collection of people who happen to go for a swim after work on the same day each week does not, strictly speaking, constitute a group because these swimmers do not interact with each other in a structured manner. ( ④ )
By contrast, a squad of young competitive swimmers who train every morning before going to school is a group because they not only share a common objective (training
for competition)
but also interact with each other in formal ways (e.g.,
by warming up together beforehand). ( ⑤ )
It is this sense of people coming together to achieve a common objective that defines a “team”.
* exert: 발휘하다 ** aggregation: 집합
