CHAPTER VII THE INDIVIDUAL AND THE GROUP TE ExraNsioN OF SociAL CIRCLES AND THE INCREASE IN INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENTIATION! “TN SOME of the paragraphs of the preceding chapter we referred to the correlation between the extent of the 4. social differentiation and the extent to which the in- dividual was sociologically determined within the group. The general process of social differentiation and integration leads also to another interesting correlation between cer- tain aspects of group life and certain aspects of individual existence. It may be formulated as a correlation between the extension of the social circle and the degree of individ- nal differentiation. The wider the social circles in which individuals par- ticipate and the larger the groups of which they are mem- bers, the greater will be their individual differences. The extension of groups and associations leads on the one hand to a growing similarity in the sociological form of these groups, while on the other hand it leads to an increased in- dividual distinctness of their members. The group loses in individual distinctness what the individual gains. The simplest form of an expansion of the social circles of an individual is the amalgamation of two separate and distinct groups. Even if these groups are composed of homogeneous elements and have a distinct sociological form, their amalgamation will none the less lead to a sharp - Adapted from Soz., chap. x, pp. 709-75. 09