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contexts > demography > population groups > reference groups
contexts > named groups > persons > population groups > reference groups

Preferred term

reference groups  

Definition

  • A reference group is any group that people use as a point of comparison to form their own attitudes, values, beliefs, and behaviors. For example, new college students may use older (and presumably wiser) college students as a reference group to form their attitudes about politics, what clothes to wear, how much alcohol to drink, what music to listen to, what restaurants to frequent, and so on. [Source: Encyclopedia of Social Psychology; Reference Group]

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URI

https://concepts.sagepub.com/social-science/concept/reference_groups

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