We are social beings, so it is impossible to ignore the role of groups in our lives. Whether they are groups of belonging, like the family, or of reference, like an urban tribe, we are always in direct relation with some kind of group . This fact, added to the gestalt principle of “the whole is more than the sum of the parts”, justifies the group as a unit of analysis and the theoretical-practical paradigm of Psychology of Groups .

What would happen if a group of people had a personality disorder?

To understand the group as greater than the sum of its members implies that the group cannot be understood as an extrapolation of the individual behaviours of the people who make it up . It cannot even be ruled out that the same person develops the same processes individually and in the group; hence the therapeutic role of the groups.

However, if they can be therapeutic, can pathological groups also be formed? With this question in the air, let’s get into group vision and see what traits the groups might have if they got sick. Who knows…will we be part of some pathological group?

You may be interested in: “Personality disorders: myths and realities”

1. Paranoid Group

The paranoia appears when delusions lead to a distortion of reality and distrust. In a group view, translates as a group with feedback deficit both intra- and intergroup . By this we mean that no feedback is offered to the outside, nor among the members themselves.

Therefore, the group develops a large number of inferences by not contrasting the information, does not express its interpretation and does not know if it is correct. This makes the group suspicious, a source of rumour and multiple versions of the same spell or. They are stuck in a phase of norm and confidence building, constantly testing the opinion and commitment of their members in order to say “yes, that’s the way it is” and gain confidence.

2. Schizoid Group

One may think that a schizoid person cannot integrate a group, because of his indifference towards social relations. Now, let’s have a group vision and observe a schizoid “group”.

This insulation would be manifested at the group level by a rigid and waterproof membrane. The group membrane is the structural element that helps to define the limits of the group and regulate its communication with the outside . In this way, as it gains rigidity, the group’s interaction with its environment is prevented. In this case the effects are two-way; not only is information not emitted from the group as in the paranoid, but it is also not received.

3. Schizotypical Group

I’m sure you’ve all laughed and wondered “what’s going on here? It is one of the forms of expression of the group culture, of how the group evolves with time gaining consistency as a particular entity through norms, forms of relationship, roles, themes, etc; characteristics.

It could be understood as the reality of the group itself. However, if this reality becomes complex and begins to differ from the exogrupal -outside the group-, we find ourselves in a schizotypal group , with a distortion of reality; a group that there is no way to understand it because it seems not to speak our language.

4. Antisocial Group

One of the reasons for forming groups is the search for safety; the group as a lifeline. Having the opportunity to gain confidence with a number of people provides us with a safe environment in which to interact . For this, it is necessary to create group rules, whether they are explicit -expressed verbally- or implicit -those that are not said but known by all-.

However, antisocial disorder has certain problems with norms, and in antisocial groups specifically with the norms of inter-group interaction. While the group establishes intra-group norms to ensure its relationship, it also establishes intergroup norms to ensure how to interact with the environment. If the latter fail, we find a group that violates the integrity of others, that does not respect the group membrane of other groups, and with dysfunctional forms of exo-group relationship.

5.Limit Group

The borderline disorder is one of the most complex at the individual level and also in its group development. A borderline group is a group with a group activity focused on the affective level . It is a group that does not manage and only expresses, so that it is characterized by not having space for reflection and only for action.

This leads to impulsive relationships arising from the emotional climate of the group at that time, which are very dysfunctional inter-groupally since they take into account neither semantics nor communicative pragmatics . That is, they neither control what they express nor how they express it, and they do not deal with what to do with the bomb they have just dropped, leading them to self-destructive relationships with the environment and with the group itself.

6.Narcissistic Group

The phrase of the narcissist explains that success is everything: “the end justifies the means”. Therefore, the narcissistic group is a totally task-oriented group, but the goal is neither productivity nor performance, but rather the status that is achieved by performing the task .

They are groups that live in a continuous competitive relationship, since their group identity is based on the accomplishment of the task and on social comparison with other groups. Well, if I achieve all my objectives and then compare myself with those who have not, I will value myself positively. Many of you may have remembered some work groups in your studies or in the work sector, those of which one thinks “how little it costs them to step on their heads”.

7.Histrionic Group

The histrionic also loves to be the center of attention , but in this case on an emotional level. This fact already characterizes histrionic groups, their socio-emotional orientation. If you give histrionic groups a task to perform, do not expect to see it completed, since they will get stuck expressing the emotions that this task arouses in them.

Just that is another dysfunction, a continuous emotional expression, but without management, because the attention would end if the emotional conflicts were solved . In this case, the emotional climate is again key, the central theme of their intra- and inter-group relations, as well as recreating the conflicts without ending them.

8.Avoidance Group

This type of group resembles the schizoid in that it does not maintain exogrupal relationships. This is explained by the fact that on an individual level, the avoidance disorder is characterized by social withdrawal due to fear of rejection . Understanding it at a group level, the group anticipates negative intergroup interactions, so its membrane is rigid and impermeable.

However, all their interest lies in these interactions with other groups even though they do not have them, characterizing their internal relations by an inter-group communication. The fact that they talk about something they do not know implies that they distort their knowledge and reality of the other groups . In this way they live in a constant social comparison between what “we are” and what “they are”, from which they form their structure. You may be reminded of some groups that once in them, they were only talking about another group!

9.Dependent Group

These groups could be confused with subgroups, since they always need to alienate themselves from other groups. The dependent group is characterised by subordination to other groups and by inter-group communication with unrealistic feedback. Subordination is given by not having a clear or excessively delegated leadership, which does not assume responsibilities and leaves the group without premises to follow.

In this context, group processes are delegated to other groups, such as task management or decision making. In addition, there is a need to stay connected to the other group, so no feedback is given, let alone negative feedback. In other words, the group can subordinate itself to another group that may be driving it to ruin and not say anything; I’ll keep my mouth shut about the iceberg and the sunken Titanic!

10.Obsessive-Compulsive Group

If anything characterizes obsessive-compulsive disorder, it is the cognitive rigidity in guidelines and the compulsion to behave . However, with group vision this rigidity is transferred to the structure of the group. OCD groups would be those with a large number of rigid rules, both prescriptive-what to do and proscriptive-what not to do.

As long as they are violated, they will have severe sanctions, with a considerable reduction of status . They also have rigidity in roles, delimiting which position and which function each member fulfils. Therefore, they are groups in which the socialization of new members is difficult and in which structural rigidity also regulates inflexible forms of inter-group relations.

Conclusions and nuances

The above classification is not diagnostic for groups , but it can be used to take into account how structural and procedural alterations can lead to group dysfunctions.

To notice when the rules of the working group become strict, how in the family the main topic is other families or how with friends one talks and manages the conflicts that arise, but without a clear intention to solve them. This is how we can observe that a group can be pathological , see that the group itself has personality and, in short, bring that group look closer.

Bibliographic references:

  • Gil, F. and Alcover, F. (1999). Introduction to Group Psychology. Madrid: Pirámide.
  • Palacín, M. and Aiger, M. (2014). Group communication. In R. Martínez and J. M. Guerra (Coords.), Aspectos psicosociales de la comunicación (Cap. 14, pp. 193-206). Madrid: Pirámide.
  • Sánchez, J. C. (2002). Psychology of groups. Theory, processes and applications. Buenos Aires: McGraw-Hill.