In his quest to satisfy his needs and wants, man has found that many of them are best satisfied through group affiliation and action. If the members of various groups are asked why they joined, they will give many different answers. Some might have joined because membership in the group will enhance their status. Others joined because of a value placed on service – they wanted to help other people and feel this group gives them this opportunity. Another person may have joined a group because he feels he may make some business contacts that he feels in the end may make him some money. There are other kinds of personal gain motivations.
Some may have joined almost purely from tradition their mother or father was an active member and it was just expected that they would also be a member. Others joined because all their friends belong and being a member of the group is a way to be with their friends. A few joined because they are lonely people and they think they might make some more intimate contacts and perhaps make some friends. Others joined what they feel is a “different” group – they can escape from some of the restrictions and frustrations of everyday and other group life. Of course, many joined because of the specific activity of the group: politics, gardening, photography, great books, or whatever has high priority as an activity for them. Others joined because their boss or boss’s wife suggested that belonging to this group is “a good thing to do” if one wants to “get ahead.” In any group there may be a tremendous diversity of interests and motivations for belonging.
When one is aware of this diversity, it becomes easier to understand why certain groups have difficulties in agreeing upon goals and objectives and the methods which they will use to achieve them. It is recognized that it is impossible to know all there is to know about group members. However, if one has some understanding of them as individuals, what their basic drives and motivations are, and what needs they are trying to fulfill, one is in a better position to treat them as individuals, find areas of common agreement, find challenges that will motivate them, and better understand why they act as they do. Basic understanding of fellow group members is one of the first steps in any individual’s becoming a productive group member.
Since people feel that many of their basic desires are best satisfied through group activity, one might expect that everyone is interested in group activity and that groups are fulfilling their needs. It is not that simple. Many people do not belong to formal groups. Many members do not actively participate. Other groups do not really satisfy their members’ needs or fulfill their goal expectations, even though the members participate actively.