Reference group

Encyclopedia : R : RE : REF : Reference group

This article lacks information on the [Importanceimportance] of the subject matter.
If you are familiar with it, please expand the article, or discuss its significance on the talk page.

A social group that is used as a standard that which an individual makes a comparison of himself against. Social groups have any number of qualities, such as economic class, social standing, race, ethnicity, etc. that are used as a basis of comparison in setting perceived social norms. The influence can be both conscious and unconscious.

A reference group is a group that individuals use as a standard for evaluating themselves and their own behavior. Reference groups have two basic purposes. They set and enforced standards of conduct and belief, as well as serve as a standard against which people can measure themselves and others.

From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License See Wikipedia Copyrights for details.