This document defines and provides examples of different types of reference groups, including membership reference groups and disclaimant reference groups. It then describes several specific types of social groups, including peer groups, cliques, households, communities, gangs, mobs, posses, squads, dyads, triads, teams, in-groups, and out-groups. For each type of group, a brief definition or example is given to explain the nature and typical characteristics of that social grouping.

1. Membership reference Group
Disclaimant reference Group
Peer Group and Clique
Club and Cabal
Household, Community and Gang
Mob, Posse and Squad
Dyad and Triad
Team, In-group and Out-group

2. Membership & Disclaimant
Reference Groups

3. Membership Reference Group
• Are those reference group that we not only
belong to but are also in agreement with in
regards to attitudes, norms, and behaviors.
Example:
Suppose that Carol is a married woman. If Carol is
identifies and agrees with the attitudes and behaviors
of other married women in her area and relies on them
as a way to compare and modify her own attitudes and
behaviors, then she is a part of membership
reference group.

4. Disclaimant Reference Group
• Are groups that we belong to, but not agree
with in regards to attitudes, social and
behaviors.
Example:
Suppose that Jenny has a busy career and does not
want any children. Jenny finds that the married women
in her area believe that all married women should stay
at home and have at least one child. In this instance,
the married women in her area are a disclaimant
reference group.

5. Some examples of types of groups include the
following:
• Peer Group – A peer group is a group with members
of approximately the same age, social status, and
interests. Generally, people are relatively equal in
terms of power when they interact with peers.
• Clique – A group of people that have many of the
same interests and commonly found in a High
School/ College Setting; most of the time they have a
name & rules for themselves.

7. • Household – All individuals who lived in the same home.
Anglophone culture may include various models of
household, including the family, blended families, share
housing, and group homes.
• Community – A community is a group of people with a
commonality or sometimes a complex net of overlapping
commonalities, often-but not always-in proximity with one
another with some degree of continuity over time.
• Gang – A gang is usually an urban group that gathers in
particular area. It is a group of people that often hang around
each other. They can be like some clubs, but much less formal.
They are usually known in many countries to cause social
unrest and also have negative influence on the members and
may be a target for the law enforcers in case of any social
vices.

8. • Mob – A mob is usually a group of people that has
taken the law into their own hands. Mobs are usually
groups which gather temporarily for a particular
reason.
• Posse – A posse was originally found in English
common law. It is generally obsolete, and survives
only in America, where it is the law enforcement
equivalent of summoning the militia for military
purposes. However, it can also refer to a street
group.
• Squad – This is usually a small group, of around 3 to
15 people, who work as a team to accomplish their
goals.

9. • Dyad – This is a social group with two members.
Social interaction in a dyad is typically more intense
than in larger groups because neither member
shares the other’s attention with anyone else.
• Triad – This is social group with three members,
which contains three relationships, each uniting two
of the three people. A triad is more stable than a
dyad because one member can act as a mediator
should the relationship between the other two
become strained.

10. Thanks for Reading!

11. • Team – Similar to a squad, through a team may
contain many more members. A team works in a
similar way to a squad.
• In-group – It is a social group toward which a
member feels respect and loyalty.
• Out-group – It is a social group toward which a
person feels a sense of completion or opposition. It is
also a group that an individual identifies in negative
direction.