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 individual
 was sociologically determined within the group.
The general process of social differentiation and integration
leads also to another interesting correlation between certain
 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 individnal
 differentiation.
The wider the social circles in which individuals participate
 and the larger the groups of which they are members,
 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 individual
 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