essay about reference group

Reference Group: Types, Functions, Characteristics, Importance

The term reference group, originally coined by Hebert Hyman in his book The Psychology of Status  (1942), is used to describe any group that an individual uses as a point of comparison in the process of self-appraisal. The points of comparison (or reference) that an individual looks at could be the norms, attitudes, and values of the reference group members. For example, when a child joins a new school, they will look at the other older students of the school for reference so that they know how to dress, speak and behave in a manner accepted by the social group that is their new school. In this case, the older students of the school become the reference group. Thus, individuals get to choose from several existing social groups, which one they look at as a reference group. Therefore, reference groups provide individuals with a framework for social comparison.

It is not necessary that an individual only subscribes to a single reference group at any given point in time. Individuals may look up to several reference groups simultaneously, which can sometimes cause anomalies in their behaviour. Furthermore, reference groups do not have a set size and do not require individuals to identify with that group explicitly.

Most reference groups tend to be informal, i.e., they are unstructured and do not work towards achieving specific goals. Instead, group membership is primarily based on shared interests and values. Families and peer groups are examples of reference groups that are typically informal. Conversely, there are also formal reference groups wherein, unlike informal reference groups, the members of the collective are working towards certain goals and also have a rigid structure and hierarchy in place in order to achieve those goals. For example, labour unions and religious groups.

Functions of Reference Groups

Types of reference groups.

Harold Kelley (1952) recognised two distinct types of reference groups based on the functions that they perform –

Normative reference groups serve as a source of an individual’s norms, values and attitudes. These are groups that people look up to so that they may understand how to conduct themselves in any given environment. For example, a new employee in an organisation will look to older employees to understand what the acceptable code of conduct is in that organisation.

Comparative reference groups are those which individuals use as a standard against which they compare themselves during the process of self-appraisal. For example, in a football team, junior players may compare themselves to their more experienced counterparts in terms of skill, technique and performance.

American social psychologist Theodore Newcomb further distinguished between two primary types of reference groups based on the nature of comparison –

A positive reference group is one of which individuals aspire to become members. Individuals typically admire the socialisation and behaviour patterns and attitudes of this group and wish to emulate them.

Characteristics of Reference Groups

Eminent social psychologist Muzafer Sherif suggested that human beings are the only species known to display reference group behaviour by modifying their conduct based on learnings from their social environment. This is done either by assimilating values from other individuals or groups or by acting in opposition to the social standards of other individuals or groups.

As social beings, human beings are innately drawn towards one another and naturally possess the ability to emulate another’s behaviour. This knowledge forms the basis of the reference group theory. The workings of this theory seek to explain and analyse human behaviour in varying social environments and conditions and also understand how human beings evaluate themselves in order to arrive at a deeper understanding of their self-identity.

Williams, Y. (2015). Reference Group in Sociology: Definition, Examples & Types . Study.com | Take Online Courses. Earn College Credit. Research Schools, Degrees & Careers. https://study.com/academy/lesson/reference-group-in-sociology-definition-examples-types.htm

Britannica, T. Editors of Encyclopaedia (2010, February 10). Social group. Encyclopedia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/topic/social-group

What Is a Reference Group?

Understanding One of Sociology's Basic Concepts

• Key Concepts
• Major Sociologists
• News & Issues
• Research, Samples, and Statistics
• Recommended Reading
• Archaeology

A reference group is a collection of people that we use as a standard of comparison for ourselves regardless of whether we are part of that group. We rely on reference groups to understand social norms , which then shape our values, ideas, behavior, and appearance. This means that we also use them to evaluate the relative worth, desirability, or appropriateness of these things.

How We Relate to and Embrace Norms

The concept of a reference group is one of the most basic of sociology. Sociologists believe that our relationship to groups and to society at large shapes our individual thoughts and behaviors. How we relate to reference groups is central to how social groups and society exert social force on us as individuals. By looking to reference groups — be they those of race, class, gender, sexuality, religion, region, ethnicity, age, or localized groups defined by neighborhood or school, among others-- we see norms and dominant values , and we choose to either embrace and reproduce them in our own thoughts, behavior, and interactions with others; or, we reject and refute them by thinking and acting in ways that break from them.

Embracing the norms of a reference group and expressing them ourselves is how we achieve important connections with others that lead to social acceptance —doing so is how we "fit in" and achieve a sense of belonging. Conversely, those of us who either can't or choose not to embrace and express the norms of reference groups that are expected of us might be seen as outcasts, criminals, or in other cases, revolutionaries or trendsetters.

Specific Types of Reference Group Norms

Expressing reference group norms and behavior through consumption is one of the most easily visible examples of this phenomenon. In choosing what clothing to buy and wear, for example, we typically refer to those around us, like friends or peer groups, colleagues, or to stylistic reference groups, like "preppy", "hipster", or "ratchet", among others. We gauge what is normal and expected by paying attention to our reference group, and then we reproduce those norms in our own consumer choices and appearance. In this way, the collective influences our values (of what is cool, nice, or appropriate) and our behavior (what we purchase and how we dress).

Gender norms are another clear example of how reference groups shape our thoughts and behavior. From a young age, boys and girls receive both explicit and implicit messages from those around them and from media that dictate norms of behavior and appearance. As we grow up, reference groups shape our grooming habits on the basis of gender (shaving and other hair-removal practices, hairstyle, etc.), how we interact with others based on their gender, how we physically carry ourselves and comport our bodies, and what roles we inhabit in our personal relationships with others (how to be a "good" wife or husband, or son or daughter, for example).

Whether we are conscious of it or not, we are looking to multiple reference groups which shape our thoughts and behavior on a daily basis.

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• Positivism in the Study of Sociology
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• Assessing a Situation, in Terms of Sociology
• Sociology Definition: Sick Role
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Reference Group in Sociology

Charlotte Nickerson

Research Assistant at Harvard University

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In sociology, a reference group refers to a group to which an individual compares themselves, providing a standard of evaluation. It influences an individual’s behavior and attitudes, regardless of whether they are a member of that group. Reference groups can be aspirational (ones individuals wish to join) or non-aspirational (ones individuals wish to avoid).

Key Takeaways

• A reference group is a collectivity to which individuals or groups refer when making comparisons about their lives. They may be positive or negative, encompassing respective behavior that is aspired to and behavior that is rejected as inappropriate.
• The reference groups that someone has can also change over time, as attitudes and beliefs evolve. Anthropologists and sociologists have identified several different types of reference groups.
• The first of these differentiations is between normative and comparative reference groups. Normative reference groups are the source of an individual’s norms and values, while comparative reference groups are those to which an individual compares themselves.
• Other sociologists have differentiated between negative and positive reference groups. Positive reference groups — ones that individuals wish to emulate — can be classified as either contractual or aspirational, depending on whether or not an individual has contact with that group. Meanwhile, negative reference groups can be categorized as disclamant or avoidant in the same way.
• Reference groups exist to provide a point of comparison that assists an individual in integrating with their social environment. Marketers can evoke reference groups as a way of predicting and guiding consumer behavior. These evoked reference groups can be either familiar or aspirational.

Definitions, Functions, and Examples

The term reference group, first coined by the sociologist Hebert Hyman (1942), refers to any group that someone uses as a point of comparison in the process of their self-appraisal.

Reference groups could be set up as models of behavior or as representing goals or attainment. People can have many different reference groups in different spheres of their lives, friends, peers, and family.

Someone could look at the norms, attitudes, or values of the reference group members. For example, someone who joins a new workplace may look at more senior employees at the company for cues as to how to dress, speak, and behave in a way that is accepted by the social reference group of their office.

To do so, an individual may choose from several existing social groups (Barkan, 2011).

People can look up to several reference groups at once for behavioral cues, and these reference groups have neither a set size nor require an individual to identify with that group explicitly.

Typically, reference groups are informal, meaning that they are unstructured and do not work toward achieving specific goals. Instead, group membership is based on shared interests and values .

Conversely, there are formal reference groups where the members of a collective have certain goals and a rigid structure and hierarchy. These can include, for example, labor unions and religious groups.

Reference groups have several functions:

• They can provide people with a basis for reference so that they can evaluate their attitudes and beliefs;
• Settle a benchmark of measure that allows people to determine their self-identity and conduct in a social environment;
• Act as a source of inspiration or aspirations for people to live up to or work towards; shape values in terms of what someone thinks is right or wrong by allowing someone to decide which values they want to emulate and which ones to reject;
• Allow people to immerse themselves in a new environment by providing them with a standard to follow so that they can integrate better (Barkan, 2011).

Muzafer Sherif (1953) suggested that humans are unique in how they display reference group behavior by modifying their conduct based on what they learn from their social environment.

This can be done by assimilating the values of other individuals or groups’ values or acting in opposition to the social standards of other individuals or groups.

For instance, a teenager may actively reject becoming like his parents by partaking in behaviors his parents do not display, such as heavy drinking and staying out late.

This process of behavioral adaptation means that reference groups become sources of an individual”s understanding of self-identity, cognition, and perception. They also allow people to evaluate their conduct and performance in a social or professional situation.

Finally, studying reference group behavior can provide a key to understanding social relationships and attitudes.

Types of Reference Groups

Harold Kelley (1952) determined that there are two distinct types of reference groups based on the functions that they perform. These are Normative and Comparative reference groups.

Normative reference groups serve as a source of an individual”s norms, values, and attitudes. People look up to these groups to understand how to conduct themself in an environment. For example, a child at a new school may look up to their older peers to understand acceptable ways to dress and behave within cliques.

Comparative reference groups, meanwhile, are those that people can use as a standard against which they compare themselves during self-appraisal. For example, in the same school scenario, a student may compare themselves to those who achieve high grades and test scores to judge their skill and performance.

The American social psychologist Theadore Newcomb (1953) created two further categories of reference groups based on the nature of comparison between them. These are positive and negative reference groups.

Types of Positive Reference Groups: Contractual and Aspirational

Positive reference groups are ones in which people aspire to become members. Typically, individuals admire the socialization and behavioral patterns and attitudes of a group and wish to emulate them.

For example, a tech worker may adopt otherwise unusual habits such as waking up extraordinarily early or drinking Soylent as a way of emulating tech billionaires.

There are two types of positive reference groups: Contractual and aspirational. A contractional group is a positive reference group with whom someone has face to face contacts and whose ideology they approve of.

For example, someone may consider certain mentor figures at their office to have positive values and behavior, and seek to emulate them as a result (Merton, 1968).

Meanwhile, aspirational reference groups are those that one does not have contact with, but nonetheless inspires someone to take up their norms. For example, a young athlete may look up to the habits of professional basketball players, even if they have never met them.

Types of Negative Reference Groups: Disclamant and Avoidant

Negative reference groups are ones that individuals disapprove of and use their patterns of behavior and opinions and attitudes as a standard to avoid.

For example, someone may avoid dressing or speaking in a way similar to a group associated with a low criminal status (Merton, 1968).

A disclaimant group is a negative reference group that someone has face-to-face contact with, but disapproves of their group ideology. This stands in contrast to avoidance groups, which people do not have in-person contact with (Barkan, 2011).

For example, consider a political canvasser. The canvasser may consider members of the local chapter of the opposing political party to have values and behaviors that they disdain and do not wish to emulate.

They may also come in contact with members of this reference group on a regular basis within the community. These political party members can be considered to be part of a disclaimant group.

Meanwhile, this canvasser may resent the group of people who lead a political party. Although they may disdain the higher-ups of a party for similar reasons to why they dislike members of the disclaimant group, they likely have no contact with them. In that case, the political higher-ups are an avoidance group (Barkan, 2011).

Characteristics of Reference Groups

Reference groups have several important characteristics (Barkan, 2011):

They set ideals of behavior and attitudes, values, and ideologies for those who reference them;

They are not groups or people who consciously or deliberately organized to represent specific social values. They are conceptual groups that one often cannot join formally;

Becoming a member of a reference group involves adopting the lifestyle and values of a group. For example, an immigrant to France may need to learn to incorporate French culture into their own lifestyle as a way of cultivating a sense of acceptance and belonging. They may be tested on this integration formally or informally;

Finally, someone”s reference group is in a near-constant state of flux. As people enter new social environments and phases of life, they look up to reference groups as ways to carry out self-appraisal. Someone who aspired to join the “cool kids,” as a teenager may aspire to lead lifestyles like those they see on their friends” social media as an adult.

Application in Marketing

The concept of reference groups is important for understanding socialization, conformity, and how people perceive and evaluate themselves (Newcomb, 1953).

Reference groups can be used to promote goods or services. One category of reference groups used by marketers is that of consumer-relevant groups. Some groups, such as family and friends, can exert a great influence on consumer behavior by exercising pressure on an individual to comply with group norms.

This idea of consumer-relevant groups has been used in advertising by appealing to groups with whom an audience can relate. The individual can be inspired to behave like the individuals in the group, taking on their consumer behavior.

Often, this form of marketing can take on the shape of testimonials and endorsements. Alternatively, marketers can evoke an aspirational figure — such as a celebrity — to appeal to the values that a consumer wants to emulate (Newcomb, 1953).

Barkan, S. E. (2011). Sociology: Understanding and changing the social world. Flat World Knowledge, Incorporated.

Hyman, H. H. (1942). The psychology of status. Archives of Psychology (Columbia University).

Kelley, H. H., & Volkart, E. H. (1952). The resistance to change of group-anchored attitudes. American Sociological Review, 17(4), 453-465.

Kuhn, M. H. (1964). The reference group reconsidered . The Sociological Quarterly, 5(1), 5-21.

Merton, R. (1968). Social Theory and Social Structure. The Free Press.

Newcomb, T. M. (1953). An approach to the study of communicative acts. Psychological review, 60(6), 393.

Sherif, M. (1953). The Concept of reference Groups in Human relations.

The Role of Reference Groups in Shaping Social Identity

Table of Contents

Have you ever stopped to wonder why you dress a certain way for a job interview, or why you might change your speech when you’re around different groups of people? The answer may lie in a concept that is fundamental to the way we interact with the world around us: reference groups . Reference groups serve as a sort of social mirror, reflecting the norms and values that shape our behavior, aspirations , and even the way we see ourselves.

What are reference groups?

Imagine you’re standing in front of a mirror, but instead of showing your reflection, it shows you a group of people. These people represent a reference group—a collection of individuals that influence our actions, thoughts, and feelings, often without us even realizing it. Reference groups can be formal, like a professional organization, or informal, like a circle of friends. They can include family members, co-workers, or even the characters of a popular TV show. The key characteristic of a reference group is that its norms and standards become a benchmark for individuals to evaluate themselves.

Types of reference groups

• Normative reference groups : These groups influence your values, beliefs, and basic attitudes.
• Comparative reference groups : Here, you compare yourself to others to assess your abilities and successes.

The influence of reference groups on social identity

Our social identity is a significant part of who we are, and reference groups play a crucial role in shaping it. Through interaction and comparison with these groups, we develop a sense of belonging and learn the social roles we are expected to play. Reference groups provide the standards against which we measure our success and the lens through which we view our social world.

Shaping aspirations and goals

Reference groups can ignite ambition and inspire goals. For instance, a student who aspires to become a lawyer may look up to a successful legal professional as a reference point and adopt their work ethic and problem-solving approach. Similarly, someone trying to get fit might compare themselves to members of their gym or a fitness community.

Influencing behavior and consumer choices

Ever bought something just because everyone else seemed to have it? That’s reference group influence in action. These groups often dictate what is considered ‘in’ or ‘out’, influencing our purchase decisions and lifestyle choices. From the brands we wear to the gadgets we use, reference groups subtly dictate many aspects of our consumer behavior.

Reference groups and social mobility

Reference groups can either be a stepping stone or a stumbling block in an individual’s social mobility. By adopting the behaviors and attitudes of a successful reference group, individuals may position themselves for upward social mobility. Conversely, if the norms of a reference group discourage ambition or education, they can limit an individual’s social progress.

Anticipatory socialization

This term refers to the process by which individuals adopt the norms and values of a group they aspire to join. For example, a college student might begin to dress and talk like the professionals in their desired career field, even before landing their first job. It’s a bit like rehearsing for a part in a play, where the role is a new social position you wish to occupy.

Out-group consequences

Not all effects of reference groups are positive. Sometimes, individuals may perceive an out\-group —those outside of their reference group—as inferior or antagonistic. This us-versus-them mentality can lead to prejudice and discrimination, hampering social cohesion and inclusivity.

Reference groups in the digital age

In today’s hyper-connected world, reference groups have expanded beyond our immediate physical surroundings. Social media platforms like Instagram and Twitter create virtual communities that serve as powerful reference groups. Here, influencers and trendsetters can shape public opinion and behavior on a massive scale.

The impact of online communities

Online communities can be both inclusive and exclusive. They can offer support and a sense of belonging to individuals with niche interests or identities. However, they can also create echo chambers where only certain opinions are amplified, potentially skewing an individual’s perception of societal norms.

Reference groups are a fundamental aspect of our social fabric, molding our identities, aspirations, and behaviors. They can serve as a powerful force for personal growth and social change, but they can also entrench prejudices and limit perspectives. Understanding the role of reference groups can help us navigate our social world with greater awareness and intention.

What do you think? How have reference groups influenced your life choices? Can you identify a time when you made a decision heavily influenced by a reference group?

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Introduction to Sociology

1 Thinking Sociologically

• Sociological Methods
• Sociology in Everyday Life
• Sociology and other Disciplines
• In What Way Sociological Looks at Reality
• Observe Interpret and Validate Sociological Perspectives

2 Emergence of Sociology and Social Anthropology

• Emergence of Sociology
• Social and Economic Changes that Swept 19th Century European Society
• The Rise of Sociological Theory
• Emergence of Social Anthropology
• Emergence of Modern Social Anthropology
• Pioneers of Social Anthropology

3 Relationship of Sociology with Anthropology

• Nature of Sociology and Social Anthropology
• Emergence and History of Sociology
• Emergence and History of Anthropology
• Similarities between Sociology and Anthropology
• Differences between Sociology and Anthropology

4 Relationship of Sociology with Psychology

• Definition of Sociology
• Sociology and Psychology: The Possible Interlink
• Social Psychology: Historical Development
• Defining Social Psychology
• Inter-disciplinary Approach to Social Psychology
• Scope of Social Psychology
• Your Sociological Tool Kit
• Concepts and Methods of Sociology used in Social Psychology
• Perspectives in Sociological Social Psychology
• Objectives of Research in Social Psychology
• Importance of Sociological Social Psychology

5 Relationship of Sociology with History

• Defining History
• Relationship of Sociology with History
• Difference Between Sociology and History
• Historical Sociology as Sub-Discipline

6 Relationship of Sociology with Economics

• Definition of Economics
• Differences between Sociology and Economics
• Definitions Given by Different Economist and their Relation to Sociology
• Definitions Given by Different Sociologists and their Relation to Economics
• Economic Sociology as a Sub-Discipline of Sociology
• Common Issues Concerning both Sociology and Economics

7 Relationship of Sociology with Political Science

• Definition of Political Science
• Shift in the Focus of Political Science
• Relationship between Sociology and Political Science
• Differentiating between Political Sociology and Sociology of Politics
• Political Culture
• Political Socialisation
• Political Capital

8 Culture and Society

• Culture and Biology
• Culture Trait and Culture Complex
• Characteristics of Culture
• Types of Culture: Material and Non-material Culture
• Elements of Culture
• Culture and Civilization
• Cultural Change
• Cultural Diversity
• Ethnocentrism and Cultural Relativism
• Multiculturalism
• Globalisation and Culture
• Culture in Indian Context

9 Social Groups and Community

• Definitions of Community
• Characteristics of Community
• Elements of Community Sentiment
• Community and Association
• Definition of Social Group
• Bases of Classification of Groups
• Primary and Secondary Groups
• Gemeinschaft and Gesellschaft
• In Group and Out Group
• Reference Group
• Social Group and Community Differences

10 Associations and Institutions

• Meaning and Definition of Association
• Main Characteristics of an Association
• Defining Institutions
• Purpose of Institutions
• Types of Institutions
• Perspectives on Social Institutions

11 Status and Role

• The Concept of Status
• Ascribed and Achieved Status
• Master Status
• The Concept of Role
• Role Theory
• Classification of Roles
• Role Systems: Simple and Complex Societies
• Dimensions of Roles

12 Socialisation

• Socialisation – Meaning and Definitions
• Types of Socialisation
• Theories of Socialisation
• Agents of Socialisation

13 Structure and Function

• From Positivism to Functionalism
• The Premises of Functionalism
• Functionalism in Social Anthropology: Radcliffe-Brown and Malinowski
• Functionalism of Talcott Parsons and Robert K. Merton

14 Social Control and Change

• Meaning and Definition of Social Control
• Types of Social Control
• Agencies of Social Control
• Concept and Meaning of Social Change
• Approaches to Understanding Social Change
• Factors of Social Change
• Impact of Social Change

15 Evolutionary Perspective

• The Beginning of the Concept of Social Evolution
• The Organic Analogy and Biological Theories of Evolution
• Theories of Cultural Evolution
• Limitation of Classical Evolutionary Theory
• Neo-Evolutionary Theories

16 Functionalism

• Founders of Functionalism
• Later Functionalists

17 Structuralism

• Claude Levi-Strauss and Structuralism
• The Concept of Culture as Understood by Levi-Strauss
• The Structural Analysis of Myths
• Ethnography and Structural Analysis
• Critical Points of View

18 Conflict Perspective

• The Classical Theorists
• Modern Conflict Schools
• Elite Theory
• Recent Trends in Conflict Theory

19 Interpretive Sociology

• Meaning and Definition
• Differences Between Interpretive and Positivist Sociology
• Origins of Interpretive Sociology
• Branches of Interpretive Sociology
• Limitations of Interpretive Sociology

20 Symbolic Interactionism

• George Herbert Mead: Basic Concepts
• The Emergence of Symbolic Interactionism
• Other Schools of Thought
• Erving Goffman and the Dramaturgical Approach
• Recent Studies

21 Feminist Perspective

• Socio-Historical Background
• Liberal Feminism
• Radical Feminism
• Marxist Feminism
• Socialist Feminism
• Post Modern and Third Wave Feminism
• Multicultural and Postcolonial Feminism

22 Dalit Perspective

• Defining Dalits: A Sociological Perspective
• Demand for a Different Perspective
• Theoretical Rationale of ‘Dalit Perspective’
• Defining Dalit Perspective

23 Division of Labour- Durkheim and Marx

• Socio-Economic Setting and Meaning of ‘Division of Labour’
• Durkheim’s Views on Division of Labour
• Marx’s Views on Division of Labour
• A Comparison

24 Religion- Durkheim and Weber

• Definition of Religion — Beliefs and Rites
• Durkheim’s Study of ‘Totemism’
• Religion and Science
• The Religion of India
• The Religion of China
• Ancient Judaism
• Durkheim and Weber — A Comparison

25 Capitalism- Marx and Weber

• Karl Marx on Capitalism
• Max Weber on Capitalism
• Marx and Weber – A Comparison

26 Social change and transformation

• Concept of Social Change and Social Transformation
• Theories of Social Change
• Rate of Social Change

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Social Groups

Learning objectives.

• Describe how a social group differs from a social category or social aggregate.
• Distinguish a primary group from a secondary group.
• Define a reference group and provide one example of such a group.
• Explain the importance of networks in a modern society.

Most of us feel comfortable using the word “group” without giving it much thought. In everyday use, it can be a generic term, although it carries important clinical and scientific meanings. Moreover, the concept of a group is central to much of how we think about society and human interaction. Often, we might mean different things by using that word. We might say that a group of kids all saw the dog, and it could mean 250 students in a lecture hall or four siblings playing on a front lawn. In everyday conversation, there isn’t a clear distinguishing use. So how can we hone the meaning more precisely for sociological purposes?

Defining a Group

The term  group   is an amorphous one and can refer to a wide variety of gatherings, from just two people (think about a “group project” in school when you partner with another student), a club, a regular gathering of friends, or people who work together or share a hobby. In short, the term refers to any collection of at least two people who interact with some frequency and who share a sense that their identity is somehow aligned with the group. Of course, every time people are gathered it is not necessarily a group. A rally is usually a one-time event, for instance, and belonging to a political party doesn’t imply interaction with others. People who exist in the same place at the same time but who do not interact or share a sense of identity—such as a bunch of people standing in line at Starbucks—are considered an  aggregate , or a crowd. Another example of a nongroup is people who share similar characteristics but are not tied to one another in any way. These people are considered a  category , and as an example all children born from approximately 1980–2000 are referred to as “Millennials.” Why are Millennials a category and not a group? Because while some of them may share a sense of identity, they do not, as a whole, interact frequently with each other.

Interestingly, people within an aggregate or category can become a group. During disasters, people in a neighborhood (an aggregate) who did not know each other might become friendly and depend on each other at the local shelter. After the disaster ends and the people go back to simply living near each other, the feeling of cohesiveness may last since they have all shared an experience. They might remain a group, practicing emergency readiness, coordinating supplies for next time, or taking turns caring for neighbors who need extra help. Similarly, there may be many groups within a single category. Consider teachers, for example. Within this category, groups may exist like teachers’ unions, teachers who coach, or staff members who are involved with the PTA.

Types of Groups

Sociologist Charles Horton Cooley (1864–1929) suggested that groups can broadly be divided into two categories:  primary groups and  secondary groups  (Cooley 1909). According to Cooley, primary groups play the most critical role in our lives. The primary group is usually fairly small and is made up of individuals who generally engage face-to-face in long-term emotional ways. This group serves emotional needs:  expressive functions  rather than pragmatic ones. The primary group is usually made up of significant others, those individuals who have the most impact on our socialization. The best example of a primary group is the family.

Secondary groups are often larger and impersonal. They may also be task-focused and time-limited. These groups serve an  instrumental function  rather than an expressive one, meaning that their role is more goal- or task-oriented than emotional. A classroom or office can be an example of a secondary group. Neither primary nor secondary groups are bound by strict definitions or set limits. In fact, people can move from one group to another. A graduate seminar, for example, can start as a secondary group focused on the class at hand, but as the students work together throughout their program, they may find common interests and strong ties that transform them into a primary group.

SOCIOLOGY IN THE REAL WORLD

Best friends she’s never met.

Writer Allison Levy worked alone. While she liked the freedom and flexibility of working from home, she sometimes missed having a community of coworkers, both for the practical purpose of brainstorming and the more social “water cooler” aspect. Levy did what many do in the Internet age: she found a group of other writers online through a web forum. Over time, a group of approximately twenty writers, who all wrote for a similar audience, broke off from the larger forum and started a private invitation-only forum. While writers in general represent all genders, ages, and interests, it ended up being a collection of twenty- and thirty-something women who comprised the new forum; they all wrote fiction for children and young adults.

At first, the writers’ forum was clearly a secondary group united by the members’ professions and work situations. As Levy explained, “On the Internet, you can be present or absent as often as you want. No one is expecting you to show up.” It was a useful place to research information about different publishers and about who had recently sold what and to track industry trends. But as time passed, Levy found it served a different purpose. Since the group shared other characteristics beyond their writing (such as age and gender), the online conversation naturally turned to matters such as child-rearing, aging parents, health, and exercise. Levy found it was a sympathetic place to talk about any number of subjects, not just writing. Further, when people didn’t post for several days, others expressed concern, asking whether anyone had heard from the missing writers. It reached a point where most members would tell the group if they were traveling or needed to be offline for awhile.

The group continued to share. One member on the site who was going through a difficult family illness wrote, “I don’t know where I’d be without you women. It is so great to have a place to vent that I know isn’t hurting anyone.” Others shared similar sentiments.

So is this a primary group? Most of these people have never met each other. They live in Hawaii, Australia, Minnesota, and across the world. They may never meet. Levy wrote recently to the group, saying, “Most of my ‘real-life’ friends and even my husband don’t really get the writing thing. I don’t know what I’d do without you.” Despite the distance and the lack of physical contact, the group clearly fills an expressive need.

In-Groups and Out-Groups

One of the ways that groups can be powerful is through inclusion, and its inverse, exclusion. The feeling that we belong in an elite or select group is a heady one, while the feeling of not being allowed in, or of being in competition with a group, can be motivating in a different way. Sociologist William Sumner (1840–1910) developed the concepts of in-group  and  out-group to explain this phenomenon (Sumner 1906). In short, an in-group is the group that an individual feels she belongs to, and she believes it to be an integral part of who she is. An out-group , conversely, is a group someone doesn’t belong to; often we may feel disdain or competition in relationship to an out-group. Sports teams, unions, and sororities are examples of in-groups and out-groups; people may belong to, or be an outsider to, any of these. Primary groups consist of both in-groups and out-groups, as do secondary groups.

While group affiliations can be neutral or even positive, such as the case of a team sport competition, the concept of in-groups and out-groups can also explain some negative human behavior, such as white supremacist movements like the Ku Klux Klan, or the bullying of gay or lesbian students. By defining others as “not like us” and inferior, in-groups can end up practicing ethnocentrism, racism, sexism, ageism, and heterosexism—manners of judging others negatively based on their culture, race, sex, age, or sexuality. Often, in-groups can form within a secondary group. For instance, a workplace can have cliques of people, from senior executives who play golf together, to engineers who write code together, to young singles who socialize after hours. While these in-groups might show favoritism and affinity for other in-group members, the overall organization may be unable or unwilling to acknowledge it. Therefore, it pays to be wary of the politics of in-groups, since members may exclude others as a form of gaining status within the group.

BIG PICTURE

Bullying and cyberbullying: how technology has changed the game.

Most of us know that the old rhyme “sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me” is inaccurate. Words can hurt, and never is that more apparent than in instances of bullying. Bullying has always existed and has often reached extreme levels of cruelty in children and young adults. People at these stages of life are especially vulnerable to others’ opinions of them, and they’re deeply invested in their peer groups. Today, technology has ushered in a new era of this dynamic. Cyberbullying is the use of interactive media by one person to torment another, and it is on the rise. Cyberbullying can mean sending threatening texts, harassing someone in a public forum (such as Facebook), hacking someone’s account and pretending to be him or her, posting embarrassing images online, and so on. A study by the Cyberbullying Research Center found that 20 percent of middle school students admitted to “seriously thinking about committing suicide” as a result of online bullying (Hinduja and Patchin 2010). Whereas bullying face-to-face requires willingness to interact with your victim, cyberbullying allows bullies to harass others from the privacy of their homes without witnessing the damage firsthand. This form of bullying is particularly dangerous because it’s widely accessible and therefore easier to accomplish.

Cyberbullying, and bullying in general, made international headlines in 2010 when a fifteen-year-old girl, Phoebe Prince, in South Hadley, Massachusetts, committed suicide after being relentlessly bullied by girls at her school. In the aftermath of her death, the bullies were prosecuted in the legal system and the state passed anti-bullying legislation. This marked a significant change in how bullying, including cyberbullying, is viewed in the United States. Now there are numerous resources for schools, families, and communities to provide education and prevention on this issue. The White House hosted a Bullying Prevention summit in March 2011, and President and First Lady Obama have used Facebook and other social media sites to discuss the importance of the issue.

According to a report released in 2013 by the National Center for Educational Statistics, close to 1 in every 3 (27.8 percent) students report being bullied by their school peers. Seventeen percent of students reported being the victims of cyberbullying.

Will legislation change the behavior of would-be cyberbullies? That remains to be seen. But we can hope communities will work to protect victims before they feel they must resort to extreme measures.

Reference Groups

A  reference group is a group that people compare themselves to—it provides a standard of measurement. In U.S. society, peer groups are common reference groups. Kids and adults pay attention to what their peers wear, what music they like, what they do with their free time—and they compare themselves to what they see. Most people have more than one reference group, so a middle school boy might look not just at his classmates but also at his older brother’s friends and see a different set of norms. And he might observe the antics of his favorite athletes for yet another set of behaviors.

Some other examples of reference groups can be one’s cultural center, workplace, family gathering, and even parents. Often, reference groups convey competing messages. For instance, on television and in movies, young adults often have wonderful apartments and cars and lively social lives despite not holding a job. In music videos, young women might dance and sing in a sexually aggressive way that suggests experience beyond their years. At all ages, we use reference groups to help guide our behavior and show us social norms. So how important is it to surround yourself with positive reference groups? You may not recognize a reference group, but it still influences the way you act. Identifying your reference groups can help you understand the source of the social identities you aspire to or want to distance yourself from.

College: A World of In-Groups, Out-Groups, and Reference Groups

For a student entering college, the sociological study of groups takes on an immediate and practical meaning. After all, when we arrive someplace new, most of us glance around to see how well we fit in or stand out in the ways we want. This is a natural response to a reference group, and on a large campus, there can be many competing groups. Say you are a strong athlete who wants to play intramural sports, and your favorite musicians are a local punk band. You may find yourself engaged with two very different reference groups.

These reference groups can also become your in-groups or out-groups. For instance, different groups on campus might solicit you to join. Are there fraternities and sororities at your school? If so, chances are they will try to convince students—that is, students they deem worthy—to join them. And if you love playing soccer and want to play on a campus team, but you’re wearing shredded jeans, combat boots, and a local band T-shirt, you might have a hard time convincing the soccer team to give you a chance. While most campus groups refrain from insulting competing groups, there is a definite sense of an in-group versus an out-group. “Them?” a member might say. “They’re all right, but their parties are nowhere near as cool as ours.” Or, “Only serious engineering geeks join that group.” This immediate categorization into in-groups and out-groups means that students must choose carefully, since whatever group they associate with won’t just define their friends—it may also define their enemies.

Social Networks

These days in the job world we often hear of “networking,” or taking advantage of your connections with people who have connections to other people who can help you land a job. You do not necessarily know these “other people” who ultimately can help you, but you do know the people who know them. Your ties to the other people are weak or nonexistent, but your involvement in this network may nonetheless help you find a job.

Modern life is increasingly characterized by such social networks , or the totality of relationships that link us to other people and groups and through them to still other people and groups. Some of these relationships involve strong bonds, while other relationships involve weak bonds (Granovetter, 1983). Facebook and other Web sites have made possible networks of a size unimaginable just a decade ago. Social networks are important for many things, including getting advice, borrowing small amounts of money, and finding a job. When you need advice or want to borrow $5 or $10, to whom do you turn? The answer is undoubtedly certain members of your social networks—your friends, family, and so forth.

The indirect links you have to people through your social networks can help you find a job or even receive better medical care. For example, if you come down with a serious condition such as cancer, you would probably first talk with your primary care physician, who would refer you to one or more specialists whom you do not know and who have no connections to you through other people you know. That is, they are not part of your social network. Because the specialists do not know you and do not know anyone else who knows you, they are likely to treat you very professionally, which means, for better or worse, impersonally.

Gavin Llewellyn – My social networks – CC BY 2.0.

Now suppose you have some nearby friends or relatives who are physicians. Because of their connections with other nearby physicians, they can recommend certain specialists to you and perhaps even get you an earlier appointment than your primary physician could. Because these specialists realize you know physicians they know, they may treat you more personally than otherwise. In the long run, you may well get better medical care from your network through the physicians you know. People lucky enough to have such connections may thus be better off medically than people who do not.

But let’s look at this last sentence. What kinds of people have such connections? What kinds of people have friends or relatives who are physicians? All other things being equal, if you had two people standing before you, one employed as a vice president in a large corporation and the other working part time at a fast-food restaurant, which person do you think would be more likely to know a physician or two personally? Your answer is probably the corporate vice president. The point is that factors such as our social class and occupational status, our race and ethnicity, and our gender affect how likely we are to have social networks that can help us get jobs, good medical care, and other advantages. As just one example, a study of three working-class neighborhoods in New York City—one white, one African American, and one Latino—found that white youths were more involved through their parents and peers in job-referral networks than youths in the other two neighborhoods and thus were better able to find jobs, even if they had been arrested for delinquency (Sullivan, 1989). This study suggests that even if we look at people of different races and ethnicities in roughly the same social class, whites have an advantage over people of color in the employment world.

Gender also matters in the employment world. In many businesses, there still exists an “old boys’ network,” in which male executives with job openings hear about male applicants from male colleagues and friends. Male employees already on the job tend to spend more social time with their male bosses than do their female counterparts. These related processes make it more difficult for females than for males to be hired and promoted (Barreto, Ryan, & Schmitt, 2009). To counter these effects and to help support each other, some women form networks where they meet, talk about mutual problems, and discuss ways of dealing with these problems. An example of such a network is The Links, Inc., a community service group of 12,000 professional African American women whose name underscores the importance of networking ( http://www.linksinc.org/index.shtml ). Its members participate in 270 chapters in 42 states; Washington, DC; and the Bahamas. Every two years, more than 2,000 Links members convene for a national assembly at which they network, discuss the problems they face as professional women of color, and consider fund-raising strategies for the causes they support.

Key Takeaways

• Groups are a key building block of social life but can also have negative consequences.
• Primary groups are generally small and include intimate relationships, while secondary groups are larger and more impersonal.
• Reference groups provide a standard for guiding and evaluating our attitudes and behaviors.
• Social networks are increasingly important in modern life, and involvement in such networks may have favorable consequences for many aspects of one’s life.

Barreto, M., Ryan, M. K., & Schmitt, M. T. (Eds.). (2009). The glass ceiling in the 21st century: Understanding barriers to gender equality . Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

Elsesser, K., & Peplau L. A. (2006). The glass partition: Obstacles to cross-sex friendships at work. Human Relations, 59 , 1077–1100.

Gosselin, D. K. (2010). Heavy hands: An introduction to the crimes of family violence (4th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.

Granovetter, M. (1983). The strength of weak ties: A network theory revisited. Sociological Theory, 1, 201–233.

Maimon, D., & Kuhl, D. C. (2008). Social control and youth suicidality: Situating Durkheim’s ideas in a multilevel framework. American Sociological Review, 73, 921–943.

Marks, S. R. (1994). Intimacy in the public realm: The case of co-workers. Social Forces, 72, 843–858.

Olzak, S. (1992). The dynamics of ethnic competition and conflict . Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.

Stouffer, S. A., Suchman, E. A., DeVinney, L. C., Star, S. A., & Williams, R. M., Jr. (1949). The American soldier: Adjustment during army life (Studies in Social Psychology in World War II, Vol. 1). Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.

Sullivan, M. (1989). Getting paid: Youth crime and work in the inner city . Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.

Introduction to Sociology: Understanding and Changing the Social World Copyright © 2016 by University of Minnesota is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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Reference Groups: College Students Essay

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Introduction

Various reference groups of college students, most important reference groups, college and high school students with regard to reference group, works cited.

Reference groups play a pertinent role in the make-up of college students’ behavior and attitude. The term reference group was coined by Hyman during the study of social standing when he required respondents with “which individuals or groups” they identified their selves. (Bearden and Etzel 183).

We mould our personalities through socialization. Family, school, society, peer groups etc are important agents in this process. We often tend to absorb certain things in our personalities which are considered to be more valuable in society. This paper presents some topics like various reference groups of college students, most important reference groups and the difference between high school students and college students having reference groups in moulding of one’s personality. Perhaps one of the most interesting aspects is that, “however, individuals who are considered to be “deviant” by one category of people may be seen as conformists by another group.” (Kendall 175).

Social scientists have acknowledged group membership as a precursor of conduct. The notion that people act in conformity within the “framework of reference” created by the groups in which they claim membership is a well accepted idea (Bearden and Etzel 183).

Reference group is a group that influences a student’s behavior and attitude. Family, education, peer group, media and religion are the main agents in the process of socialization of an individual. This process helps us become a human in the society, acquiring mental and physical skills which are essential to live in the society. It molds us how to think, act and talk in the society. Any regular “frame of reference” whether it matches social precepts or not, makes up the perceptive portion of an approach.” (Newcomb 225).

Children and adults need people who take care of them and they want groups with which they can interact. Looking-glass self theory is a sociological concept where one individual evaluates the other person’s view about evaluating individuals. If it is positive, it will enhance the personality and if it is negative it will diminish the self. Therefore, the society and socialization has a vital role in the molding of personality. There are reference groups for college students towards which they are more attracted and their personality is influenced by these reference groups. “Compared to older people, college students have less developed attitudes, lower molded self beliefs, but instead have robust recognition skills and faculties, and more ‘unstable peer-group relationships.” (Sears 515-530).

There are various reference groups among college students. Each one is attracted towards the reference group where one thinks that his or her own ideas and principles can be cherished. The different groups are associated with any of these groups such as sports, writers and intellectuals, films stars and models, singers and dancers and politicians. Film actors or singers serve as role models for teenagers, while for others, the fashionable school a group acts as “a reference group.” (Oskamp and Schultz 173). All college students have a role model on whose principles the personality is developed and socialized. Sports are crazy for college students such as football, basketball, cricket etc. Those who are interested in sports try to be identified with sports club members and sports stars. They continuously play games and sports. So also, students who are interested in dance, writing, politics, drama and singing are attracted by the same group and club. The college students have these kinds of reference groups. It certainly influences on their perception, identity, behavior and attitude.

After the school life student would be having a very different experience. Reference group they would be having in college would depend upon the character of the student.

The way we assess ourselves is determined by associations with social groups called “Reference groups”. (Egelman, et al 47). Sports and movies are the dream of most of the students. The media plays an important role in building up of such thoughts among college students. More students are mad after films and sports. They like to be identified in such labels. Such a student, who is crazy after these, joins sports clubs and film clubs in the college. These thoughts influence their personality, behavior and attitude. More often, it is found that boys in college are more attracted to sports when girls in colleges are crazy after film and modeling. It is visible from their appearance such as way of talking, dressing and walking.

Culture changes in the long run. The culture is expressed in a society through beliefs, values, customs, etc. We experience the change of culture with the advance of technologies. Today, there is a trend in the society to adore the film stars and sports stars. They are considered as precious in the society and people go after them. This attitude of the society makes the students think to become film stars and sport stars. Very few students are attracted to writings and some students cherish adventurous and risky objectives in life. It is seen that sports and film are the two important ways to become celebrity and to make money. That is why more college students are attracted to such reference groups.

College student will be having a different an entirely different reference group from high school. The shift from an atmosphere which consists of strict rules and regulations to more creative and free one would make them select different kinds of people. However these aspects would also depend upon whether the student population consists of cosmopolitans or locals. This is because “Certain differences were found between cosmopolitans and locals in terms of influence, participation, acceptance of organizational rules and informal relations.” (Gouldner).

There are differences between college students and high schools students with regard to reference group. There are only two reference groups among high school students. They are, reference groups who are interested in (1) film and models and (2) sports. But in college level, students start to think about revolutions and various philosophies. Students begin to criticize the existing social system and they think to build a new system. They become revolutionary, thinking that they can change the world. Therefore, college students are attracted to some of the philosophies and writings. So also, some are more interested in politics. These visions are molded at this time. Therefore even though it can be varied according to different culture and educational systems, there are more reference groups among college students comparing to high school children. These reference groups influence the personality, especially behavior and attitude of the students. Moreover, it is also evident that college seniors have more correct picture of “labor market realities” than their school counterparts. (Pascarella and Terenzini).

The important role models for college students are writers, politicians, film stars, models, sport stars, musicians etc. They are always attracted towards such reference groups. Though most of the students are crazy after film and sports, some people are interested in politics, music, writing etc. But in the case of a high school student, everyone is attracted only to film and sports.

Bearden, William O and Etzel, Michael J. “Reference Group Influence on Product and Brand Purchase Decisions.” Journal of Consumer Research 9 (1982): 183-194. Web.

Egelman, William, et al. The Best Test Preparation for the CLEP College-Level Examination Program in Introductory Sociology . Research & Education Assoc., 1995. Print.

Gouldner, Alvin W. Cosmopolitans and Locals: Toward an Analysis of Latent Social Roles – II . JSTOR, Johnson Graduate School of Management . 1958.

Kendall, Diana. Sociology in Our Times: The Essentials . 7 th ed. Cengage Learning. 2008.

Newcomb, Theodore Mead. Social Psychology . Dryden Press, 1950. Print.

Oskamp, Stuart and Schultz, P. Wesley. Attitudes and Opinions . 3 rd ed. Routledge, 2005. Print.

Pascarella, Ernest T and Terenzini, Patrick T. How College Effects Students: A Third Decade of Research . John Wiley & Sons. 2005. Web.

Sears, David O. “College Sophomores in the Laboratory: Influences of a Narrow Data Base on Social Psychology’s View of Human Nature.” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 51 (3) (1986): 515-530. Web.

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Reference Group

People also use reference groups to evaluate other people. For example, a student might find a professor to be unintelligent. That judgment is not made in comparison with the entire population (relative to which that professor may be quite smart) but, rather, in comparison with other professors (relative to whom that professor may not be very smart). In evaluating members of stereotyped groups people tend to use members of that group, rather than the population as a whole, as the reference group.

Finally, people use reference groups to evaluate themselves. When people are trying to self-enhance, they tend to compare themselves with others who are less skilled than they are. When people are trying to gain an accurate understanding of their abilities, they tend to compare themselves with others who are more skilled than they are.

Although people use different reference groups for different purposes, they are probably not aware they are doing this. Comparisons with different reference groups occur largely at an unconscious level.

The reference group effect can pose significant problems when researchers design psychological questionnaires. For example, questionnaires designed to measure people’s independence by asking them how independently they feel or behave do not work well across different cultures. This is because behavior that would be considered independent in collectivist societies (e.g., Japan, China), would be considered much less independent in individualist societies (e.g., United States, Western Europe). However, a person filling out a survey asking how much the person agrees with the statement “I tend to act independently” is not thinking about how independent he or she is relative to other people in general, but rather in comparison with other people in their society.

References:

• Heine, S. J., Lehman, D. R., Peng, K., & Greenholtz, J. (2002). What’s wrong with cross-cultural comparisons of subjective Likert scales?: The reference-group effect. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 82(6), 903-918.
• Sherif, M., & Sherif, C. W. (1964), Reference groups: Exploration into conformity and deviation of adolescent. New York: Harper & Row.

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Essay on Reference Groups

Essay on Reference Groups – The term ‘reference group’ was introduced into the literature on small groups by Muzafer Sherifm his text book “An Outline of Social Psychology”—1948.

He used the term in contrast to the term membership group. Membership group refers to a group to which a person belongs, while the ‘reference group’ refers to a group that affects his behaviour. The two, of course, may coincide.

According to Ogburn and Nimkoff “groups which serve as points of comparison are known as reference groups”. They have further added that the reference groups are those groups from which “we get our values, or whose approval we seek”.

Image Source: erinmsterling.com

As Horton and Hunt have pointed out “A reference group is any group to which we refer when making judgements—any group whose value-judgments become our value-judgements”. They have further said, “Groups which are important as models for one’s ideas and-conduct norms….” can be called reference groups.

The concept of “reference group” arises essentially from the fact that any person acting in any situation may be influenced not only by his membership groups but also by his conception of other groups of which he is not a member.

These other groups exert their influence as reference groups in a purely passive or silent way, that is, simply by being thought of. They do not, of course, entirely exist as reference groups, but they are called so only from the point of view of their capacity in exerting influence. The young child in the family is interested in the reactions of everyone in the family with who it is in contact.

The family is both a membership group and a reference group for the child. But when the child becomes mature he selects particular groups which are understood here as reference groups whose approval or disapproval he especially desires.

The concept, reference groups, as distinct from membership groups, has particular relevance for modern complex, heterogeneous society with its high rates of physical and occupational mobil­ity.

In such a complex society a person may be a member of one group but prefer membership or aspire for membership in another. In a small folk society, the distinction between membership group and reference groups is less common and may be nonexistent.

Only under certain circumstances a group may become reference group for the members of a particular social group. H.M. Johnson has mentioned four such circumstances.

(i) When some or all the members of a particular group aspire to membership in the refer­ence group. Example, the ambitious upper-middle class people are always interested in joining the rank of upper-class people. In order to get an admission into upper-class, they may show their prejudice and even aggressiveness towards low-ranking groups.

(ii) When the members of the particular group struggle to imitate the members of reference group, or try to make their group just like the reference group at least in some respects.

The lower caste people in India who suffer from a sense of inferiority are found to be emulating some of the styles and practices of Brahmins to feel equal to them at least in some respects. Similarly, members of the minority groups may try to incorporate in their personality dominant-group standards to help better their relationship with the domi­nant majority group.

(iii) When the members of the particular group derive some satisfaction from being distinc­tive and unlike the members of reference group in some aspects. Further, they may try to maintain the difference between the two groups or between themselves and the members of the reference group.

If Whites as a status group are a reference group for Negroes, so are Negroes a reference group for Whites because both want to retain their difference. Whites want to remain unlike the Negroes and so is the case with Negroes. Similarly, Muslims may be interested in maintaining their difference with the majority community, especially in the Indian context.

(iv) When the members of a particular group consider the reference group or its members as a standard for comparison.

The teachers of a city college may always make references to the most prestigious college of the city as a measuring rod to assess their position, service condition, performance and so on. Such contemplation of reference groups may have some consequences for the moral of the group.

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How to Reference Essays

Last Updated: January 8, 2024 Fact Checked

This article was co-authored by Alexander Peterman, MA . Alexander Peterman is a Private Tutor in Florida. He received his MA in Education from the University of Florida in 2017. There are 14 references cited in this article, which can be found at the bottom of the page. This article has been fact-checked, ensuring the accuracy of any cited facts and confirming the authority of its sources. This article has been viewed 375,417 times.

When you begin writing a research essay, you must take into account the format of your writing and reference pages. There are several reference styles that may be assigned to you, including MLA (Modern Language Association), APA (American Psychological Association), and Chicago. Each one has its own set of rules. There's no need to familiarize yourself with all 3 unless you have to, but you do need to learn at least one if you’re in any field involving academic writing. Here are summaries of each style to help you start your essay on the right track.

Referencing Essays Templates

• You will need a citation directly after every sentence (or group of sentences if you're citing the same source in multiple consecutive sentences) containing information you didn't think of yourself. These include: paraphrases, facts, statistics, quotes, and examples.
• An in-text citation using MLA will simply have the author last name (or title if no author) followed by the page number. No comma between author and page number. For example: (Richards 456) Richards is the author last name, and 456 is the page number.
• If you have an author name (or title, if no author) but no page number, simply use author last name (or title).

• The easiest way to keep track of MLA citations while doing research is to copy and paste copyright information into a word processing document as you go, or to write it down in a notebook.
• Things to include for any source are author(s), date published, publisher, page number, volume and issue number, website, date accessed, anything that appears on the copyright page or indicates how to find it again. [2] X Trustworthy Source Purdue Online Writing Lab Trusted resource for writing and citation guidelines Go to source

• As an example, the format for a standard book citation using MLA style is as follows: Last name of author, First name. Title of Book. City published: Publisher Name, Year published. Source Medium.
• An MLA website citation looks like the following. If there's no author listed, begin citation with the name of the page: Last name, first name. "Page Title." Website Title. Publisher. Date published. Source Medium. Date accessed.
• An MLA scholarly article citation looks like the following: Last name, First name. "Title of Article." Title of Journal . Volume.Issue (Year): page numbers. Source Medium.
• Write the title of the main work (book, magazine, journal, website, etc.) in italics, or underline if you’re writing references by hand.
• Chapter or article titles should be in quotation marks.

• If there is no author listed, as is common on websites, simply skip the author’s name and begin the entry with the title of the work.
• Alphabetize by the first letter that appears in the entry, whether it has an author name or not.

• The formatting should be in Times New Roman font, size 12, with “Works Cited” centered at the top of a new page.
• Each entry should have hanging indent, meaning all lines below the first line are indented by half an inch.
• Make sure there is a period after each section of the citations. A period should always end the citation.

• Place a parenthetical citation at the end of every sentence (or group of sentences if you're using the same source for multiple consecutive sentences) containing information you didn't know before doing research.
• An in-text citation using APA will simply have the author last name (or title if no author) followed by the year it was published. No comma between name and year. For example: (Richards 2005) Richards is the author last name, and 2005 is the year.
• If you have an author name (or title if no author) but no page number, simply use author last name (or title). This is common when citing websites.
• APA document formatting is very important. APA papers are divided up into 4 sections: the title page, the abstract, the main body, and the references page. The citations of a research paper using APA appear in the References section, the last portion of an APA document. [7] X Research source

• To form APA reference page citations, you will need such information as author name(s), date published, website URL, date you accessed the website, title of work, and so on. [8] X Trustworthy Source Purdue Online Writing Lab Trusted resource for writing and citation guidelines Go to source

• For example, the format for an APA reference of a scholarly journal article is as follows: Author last name, First initial. (Year published). Article or chapter title. Journal or book title, Issue number , page number range. [10] X Trustworthy Source Purdue Online Writing Lab Trusted resource for writing and citation guidelines Go to source
• The format for an APA book reference looks like: Last name, First name. (Year.) Title of Book: Capital letter also for subtitle . Location: Publisher.
• The format for an APA website reference looks like: Author, A.A. First name, & Author, B.B. (Date published.) Title of article. In Title of webpage or larger document or book (chapter or section number). Retrieved from URL address

• Capitalize the author's last name and first initial, followed by a period.
• Only capitalize the first word of a journal article title, unless the title contains a proper noun (called sentence case). Titles of books should preserve the published capitalization.
• Capitalize the city of publication, and use correct state abbreviations for states. Also capitalize the name of the publisher and end the reference with a period.
• The title of larger works, whether a book, journal, website, or magazine, is in italics (or underlined if handwriting), as is the issue number that appears right after the title. Titles for shorter works like articles and chapters should not have any indicative punctuation in an APA entry. [12] X Trustworthy Source Purdue Online Writing Lab Trusted resource for writing and citation guidelines Go to source
• A period should end all citations.

Using Chicago Manual of Style

• For Notes and Bibliography, you will use a superscript at the instance of each quote in the text with a corresponding footnote at the end of the page. All footnotes are compiled into endnotes at the end of the work, on the bibliography page. [14] X Trustworthy Source Purdue Online Writing Lab Trusted resource for writing and citation guidelines Go to source
• For Author Date, you will use parenthetical in-text citations that include author last name and year published, using no punctuation between name and year. The full version of each parenthetical citation is listed alphabetically on the references page. For example: (Simon 2011) Simon is the author last name, and 2011 is the year.
• You will need a citation directly after every sentence (or group of sentences if you're using the same source for multiple consecutive sentences) containing information you didn't think of yourself. These include: paraphrases, facts, statistics, quotes, and examples.

• If using a book, write down all pertinent information found on the copyright page, including the name of the publisher and the city and year of publication.
• For other sources, look for this information near the title of the piece you’re looking at. Publication date is often at the bottom of webpages.

• Title your references page “Bibliography” centered at the top of the page. Leave 2 blank lines between this title and the first entry, and one blank line between entries.
• Notes and Bibliography style uses footnotes for page endings and endnotes for chapter endings. The bibliography page will be an alphabetized list of all sources in hanging indent.
• An example format for a book is as follows: Last name, First name. Book Title . City: Publisher, Year.
• An example format for a chapter in a print scholarly journal is as follows: Author last name, first name. "Title of Chapter or Article." Book or journal Title Issue Number (Year): Page number range. (For an online scholarly journal article, tack on the following at the end: Date accessed. URL address.)
• When there is no known author, the entry should begin with the title of the document, whether it's a webpage, chapter, article, and so on.
• When there are multiple authors, the first listed author appears last name, first name, so that the citation is alphabetized by this author's last name. Subsequent authors are listed by first name, like this: Alcott, Louisa May, Charles Dickens, and Elizabeth Gaskell.
• Always end a citation with a period.

• When using Author Date style, title your references page “References” centered at the top of the page. Leave 2 blank lines between this title and the first entry, and 1 blank line between entries.
• Author Date style bibliographies should be organized alphabetically by last name (or by title if no author) in hanging indent.
• An example format for a book is as follows: Last name, first name. Year. Book Title . City Published: Publisher.
• An example format for a chapter in a print scholarly journal is as follows: Author last name, first name. Year. "Title of Chapter or Article." Book or journal title issue number: page numbers. (for an online scholarly journal article tack this onto the end: Date accessed. URL address.)
• An example format for a website is as follows: Name of Website. Year. "Page Title." Date last modified. Date accessed. URL address.

Expert Q&A

• You don't have to write each bibliography or reference entry on your own. You can download citation management software like Endnote [17] X Research source (purchase required on this one), Zotero [18] X Research source (it's free), or use websites like http://www.bibme.org/ and http://www.easybib.com/ . Select the name of your style manual before you begin creating citations. Copy and paste the citation into your bibliography or references list. Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0
• If you are assigned to write a paper or other written document in one of these styles, you need to purchase the style manual. It will contain nearly every instance not only of source citation, but paper formatting as well as grammar and punctuation that is unique to that style. Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0

• This article only lists how to cite research for each style manual. Each style has its own instructions for setting up the format of the essay, including heading, spacing, margins, font, and so on. Thanks Helpful 1 Not Helpful 0

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• ↑ https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/mla_style/mla_formatting_and_style_guide/mla_in_text_citations_the_basics.html
• ↑ https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/mla_style/mla_formatting_and_style_guide/mla_formatting_and_style_guide.html
• ↑ https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/mla_style/mla_formatting_and_style_guide/mla_works_cited_page_books.html
• ↑ https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/apa_style/apa_formatting_and_style_guide/in_text_citations_author_authors.html
• ↑ https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/
• ↑ https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/apa_style/apa_formatting_and_style_guide/reference_list_electronic_sources.html
• ↑ https://libguides.jcu.edu.au/apa/reference-list
• ↑ https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/apa_style/apa_formatting_and_style_guide/reference_list_author_authors.html
• ↑ https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/apa_style/apa_formatting_and_style_guide/reference_list_basic_rules.html
• ↑ https://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/tools_citationguide.html
• ↑ https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/chicago_manual_17th_edition/cmos_formatting_and_style_guide/chicago_manual_of_style_17th_edition.html
• ↑ http://guides.nyu.edu/c.php?g=276562&p=1844734
• ↑ http://endnote.com
• ↑ https://www.zotero.org

About This Article

To reference an essay using MLA style, add a citation after any information you found through a source, like facts or quotes. When citing the reference, include the author’s name and the page number you pulled the information from in parenthesis, like “(Richards 456).” Once you’ve finished your essay, add a Words Cited page with all of the information you used to research your essay, like books or articles. To create a Works Cited page, list the sources in alphabetical order using the author’s last name, and include additional information, like year published and the medium. For more tips from our Writing reviewer, like how to reference an essay using APA style, read on! Did this summary help you? Yes No

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Paris Olympics organizers say sorry for offense, but insist opening ceremony did not depict "The Last Supper"

Updated on: July 29, 2024 / 8:59 AM EDT / CBS/AP

The organizers behind the Paris Olympics apologized to anyone who was offended by a tableau that evoked Leonardo da Vinci's "The Last Supper" during Friday's opening ceremony and provoked outrage by religious conservatives around the world. The organizers, however, defended the concept behind it.

Da Vinci's painting depicts the moment when Jesus Christ declared that an apostle would betray him. The  scene during Friday's ceremony  on the Debilly Bridge featured DJ and producer Barbara Butch — an LGBTQ+ icon who calls herself a "love activist." Butch was wearing a silver headdress that looked like a halo as she got the party going on a footbridge across the Seine. Drag artists, dancers and others flanked Butch on both sides.

As CBS News correspondent Elaine Cobbe reports, the specific part of the ceremony that caused the offense was, in fact, a scene depicting Dionysus, the Greek god of wine. It was reportedly based on  The Feast of the Gods,  a 17th century painting by Dutch artist Jan Harmensz van Biljert that hangs in the Magnin Museum, in Dijon, eastern France. The painting depicts an assembly of Greek gods on Mount Olympus for a banquet to celebrate the marriage of Thetis and Peleus. The figure seated at the table in the center has a halo of light behind his head.

Thomas Jolly, the opening ceremony director, insisted in an interview with France's BFMTV that "The Last Supper" was not the inspiration behind the scene, explaining that "Dionysus arrives at the table because he is the Greek God of celebration," adding that the particular sequence was entitled "festivity."

"The idea was to create a big pagan party in link with the God of Mount Olympus — and you will never find in me, or in my work, any desire of mocking anyone," Jolly said.

The "interpretation of the Greek God Dionysus makes us aware of the absurdity of violence between human beings," a  post on the official social media  account of the Olympic Games said by way of explanation. 

But religious conservatives from around the world decried the segment, with the French Catholic Church's conference of bishops deploring "scenes of derision" that they said made a mockery of Christianity — a sentiment echoed by Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova. The Anglican Communion in Egypt expressed its "deep regret" Sunday, saying the ceremony could cause the IOC to "lose its distinctive sporting identity and its humanitarian message."

Prominent French far-right politician Marion Maréchal denounced the performance on social media.

"To all the Christians of the world who are watching the Paris 2024 ceremony and felt insulted by this drag queen parody of the Last Supper, know that it is not France that is speaking but a left-wing minority ready for any provocation," she posted on the social platform X, a sentiment that was echoed by religious conservatives internationally.

In Romania, controversial social media influencer Andrew Tate and his brother Tristan Tate were part of a protest against the Olympics next to the French embassy in Bucharest on Sunday. The Tate brothers criticized the Olympic Games for mocking Christianity during the opening ceremony and called on athletes to boycott.

Andrew Tate is awaiting trial in Romania on charges of allegedly forming an organized crime group, human trafficking and rape.

The ceremony's artistic director Thomas Jolly distanced his scene from any "Last Supper" parallels after the ceremony, saying it was meant to celebrate diversity and pay tribute to feasting and French gastronomy. Paris 2024 spokesperson Anne Descamps was asked about the outcry during an International Olympic Committee news conference on Sunday.

"Clearly there was never an intention to show disrespect to any religious group. On the contrary, I think (with) Thomas Jolly, we really did try to celebrate community tolerance," Descamps said. "Looking at the result of the polls that we shared, we believe that this ambition was achieved. If people have taken any offense we are, of course, really, really sorry."

Jolly explained his intentions to The Associated Press after the ceremony.

"My wish isn't to be subversive, nor to mock or to shock," Jolly said. "Most of all, I wanted to send a message of love, a message of inclusion and not at all to divide."

• Andrew Tate
• Leonardo da Vinci

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NIST SP 800-201

Nist cloud computing forensic reference architecture.

    Documentation     Topics

Date Published: July 2024

Martin Herman (NIST) , Michaela Iorga (NIST) , Ahsen Michael Salim (American Data Technology) , Robert Jackson (SphereCom Enterprises) , Mark Hurst (SphereCom Enterprises) , Ross Leo (University of Houston-Clear Lake) , Anand Kumar Mishra (National Institute of Technology Sikkim) , Nancy Landreville (University of Maryland Global Campus) , Yien Wang (Auburn University)

This document summarizes the research performed by the NIST Cloud Computing Forensic Science Working Group and presents the NIST Cloud Computing Forensic Reference Architecture (CC FRA or FRA), whose goal is to provide support for a cloud system’s forensic readiness. The CC FRA helps users understand the cloud forensic challenges that might exist for an organization’s cloud system. It identifies challenges that require at least partial mitigation strategies and how a forensic investigator would apply those strategies to a particular forensic investigation. The CC FRA presented here is both a methodology and an initial implementation. Users are encouraged to customize this initial implementation for their specific situations and needs.

Control Families

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Documentation

Publication: https://doi.org/10.6028/NIST.SP.800-201 Download URL

Supplemental Material: Forensic Reference Architecture Data Set (xlsx)

Document History: 02/08/23: SP 800-201 (Draft) 07/30/24: SP 800-201 (Final)

general security & privacy , incident response

cloud & virtualization

enterprise , forensics

Olympics Organizers Deny ‘Last Supper’ Reference in Opening Ceremony: ‘Never an Intention to Show Disrespect to Any Religious Group’

In a glitzy opening ceremony that was meant to celebrate diversity, the Paris 2024 Olympics has ignited a firestorm of religious controversy. The organizers found themselves in hot water over a tableau that seemed to evoke Leonardo da Vinci’s “ The Last Supper ” — with a decidedly modern twist.

The scene, set against the backdrop of the river Seine, featured drag queens, a transgender model, and a singer costumed as Dionysus, the Greek god of wine. While intended to raise awareness “of the absurdity of violence between human beings,” according to the organizers, it struck a sour note with religious groups worldwide.

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Anne Descamps, spokesperson for Paris 2024, told reporters at a press conference that “clearly there was never an intention to show disrespect to any religious group … We believe this ambition was achieved. If people have taken any offense we are really sorry,” per AP.

The Catholic Church in France didn’t mince words, stating it “deplored a ceremony that included scenes of derision and mockery of Christianity.” The controversy even reached the Vatican, with Archbishop Charles Scicluna contacting France’s ambassador to Malta to complain about the “gratuitous insult,” according to The Guardian.

The backlash wasn’t limited to religious circles. Political figures also weighed in, with Italy’s far-right leader Matteo Salvini describing the segment as “squalid,” and Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orbán speaking of the “moral void of the west,” The Guardian reported.

Jolly defended the concept. “We wanted to talk about diversity. Diversity means being together. We wanted to include everyone, as simple as that,” he said.

Maud Le Pladec, the choreographer of the opening ceremony and head of dance on the other Olympics and Paralympics ceremonies, told Variety that she, Jolly and the rest of the team, started working on the creation of this ceremony in January 2023 and “hadn’t imagined what happened with the rise of the far right.” “We’re not psychics,” she says.

“When the political climate got more tense, we decided to maintain our plans for this ceremony and told ourselves that no matter what happened, this event would be a marker of where we were before and that it might confront itself to those forces,” she says.

“When the far right lost out, I thought to myself that this opening ceremony was prophetic because its message is that after all the tumults, France ends up uniting all those who love each other, and that was our ultimate message: to love and understand each other regardless of differences. That’s why we ended with [Edith Piaf’s] ‘Hymne à l’Amour’ (sang by Celine Dion). It was a healing ceremony. That’s our France.”

As the Games progress, officials are working overtime to redirect focus to athletic achievements and are already preparing the closing ceremony which will bring more top-tier performers, following the footsteps of Dion and Lady Gaga.

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Trump falsely accuses Harris of deciding to 'turn Black' during a combative panel with Black journalists

CHICAGO — Donald Trump made a combative appearance Wednesday at a conference of Black journalists during a heated question-and-answer session that at times focused squarely on the race of Vice President Kamala Harris.

Trump claimed that he did not know until a few years ago that Harris, who is Indian American and Black, was Black. He then baselessly suggested that she had decided to “turn Black” only recently for political gain.

“I’ve known her a long time, indirectly,” Trump said. “And she was always of Indian heritage, and she was only promoting Indian heritage. I did not know she was Black until a number of years ago when she happened to turn Black, and now she wants to be known as Black.”

“I respect either one,” he added, “but she obviously doesn’t, because she was Indian all the way, and then all of a sudden, she made a turn and … she became Black. ... Somebody should look into that, too.”

“Is she Indian or is she Black?” he asked.

ABC News’ Rachel Scott, one of the three moderators on the National Association of Black Journalists panel, pointed out that Harris, the de-facto Democratic nominee for president, attended Howard University, a historically Black college. Trump did not directly respond.

The exchange came after Scott asked about an increasing number of Republicans saying that Harris is a “ DEI hire ,” a term referring to workplace policies promoting “diversity, equity and inclusion.” It is being used more and more by some on the right to discredit people of color with opposing political views.

Trump finally said he was “not sure” whether he thought Harris was a DEI hire. 

Harris’ campaign called Trump’s showing at the NABJ event an “absolute disaster.”

“This is who he is,” a campaign spokesperson said.

Harris herself addressed the controversy Wednesday night in Houston, at an event for the historically Black sorority Sigma Gamma Rho.

"It was the same old show — the divisiveness and the disrespect," Harris said. "And let me just say the American people deserve better. The American people deserve better."

Harris was unable to attend the group’s annual convention, but the two sides are working on a time in the future to meet.

When NBC News reached out to the Trump campaign for a response to the almost immediate backlash to his comments about Harris’ race, communications director Steven Cheung replied, “Backlash from the truth?”

“These people must be deranged,” he said.

A source familiar with conversations between NABJ leadership and the Trump campaign told NBC News that part of the initial tension had to do with the idea that he felt blindsided by an NABJ partnership with PolitiFact to fact-check the exchange in real time. The source requested anonymity to speak candidly.

Trump’s team found out after opening remarks by an ABC journalist that referenced the fact check were leaked, the source said.

A member of NABJ’s leadership team told the campaign, “I don't know anything about that’’ when confronted by Trump’s team about the live fact check, the source said.

Trump’s campaign was assured that the NABJ would accommodate any requests it had, which included format, according to the source.

An NABJ spokesperson did not respond to a request seeking comment.

During the White House press briefing on Wednesday, which was happening at the same time as the NABJ event, NBC News read Trump’s comments to White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre and asked her to respond.

“As a person of color — as a Black woman who is in this position that is standing before you at this podium, behind this lectern — what he just said, what you just read out to me is repulsive. It’s insulting. And you know, no one has any right to tell someone who they are, how they identify. That is no one’s right,” she said.

A source close to Harris also said Trump’s comments were “painful.”

“It’s simply a lie and easily disproved,” this person added. “She went to Howard for Christ sake! She’s an AKA.”

While a student at Howard, Harris was a member of the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, a historically Black organization.

Trump was also asked to clarify his comments during the June presidential debate, when he said immigrants were coming to the United States and taking “ Black jobs .”

“A Black job is anybody that has a job,” he said. “That’s what it is. Anybody that has — they’re taking the employment away from Black people. They’re coming in, and they’re coming in, they’re invading.”

There was a concerted effort put forward by Trump’s campaign in early 2024 to say it was going to push hard to win over more Black voters. The 12% he won in 2020 was the highest percentage earned by a Republican candidate for president in modern times, and the campaign was aiming to get around 20% in November. Recent NBC News polling had Trump at 12% with Black voters, in a survey that was taken before President Joe Biden dropped out of the race and Harris replaced him as the presumptive Democratic nominee.

In the days leading up to the NABJ event, there was a whirlwind of controversy from within the organization about whether Trump should have even been invited. Trump in the past has referred to a Black prosecutor as an “ animal ,” told Black Democratic members of Congress to “ go back ” to where they came from and referred to Black female journalists as “stupid,” “loser” and “nasty” — comments that in 2019 drew condemnation from NABJ.

Several of the group’s members expressed their opposition to his invitation on social media, and NABJ co-chair Karen Attiah stepped down in apparent reaction to the Trump invite.

“While my decision was influenced by a variety of factors, I was not involved or consulted with in any way with the decision to platform Trump in such a format,” Attiah, a Washington Post columnist, wrote on social media .

Tia Mitchell, the Washington correspondent for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and the event’s co-chair, defended the Trump invite on social media.

“Some of yall need to take a step back and ask why you’re questioning why a group of JOURNALISTS wants to ask former and possibly future President Trump questions,” she said.

Malik Mitchell, a high school sports reporter for North Metro TV in Minnesota who attended the convention, said that he was hearing from relatives about the controversy.

“Coming into the hotel this morning, my family was sending me articles about Trump being here and already reacting,” he said. “I knew it was probably going to be a big fuss.”

He said the event is about “Black excellence” and does not think Trump “fits in that bubble.”

“It’s like if there is someone who has disrespected you on the street, and all of a sudden you’re inviting them for dinner,” he said. “That’s how I see it.”

Amya Henry, a recent graduate of Howard University who also attended, said she wanted to “see for herself” what Trump’s comments would be.

“I think it went well,” Henry said. “At first I was a little skeptical … but you know, it was just an interesting time.”  

Trump did little to turn down the heat as the question-and-answer session began, responding to Scott’s question about why Black voters should trust him by calling the delivery of the question “nasty.”

“I don’t think I have ever been asked a question in such a horrible manner,” Trump said. 

He also said that he was invited under “false pretenses” because his Democratic opponent was not also in attendance and took several swipes at Scott and ABC News throughout the event. Trump’s feud with ABC News has been building in recent weeks because he is unhappy the network is scheduled to host the next presidential debate.

Trump directly sparred with Scott for most of the event, and at one point appeared to reach over and grab her water bottle to tighten the cap.

After the initial back-and-forth with Scott, Trump went on to defend his record with Black voters.

“I think it was a very nasty question,” Trump said. “I have been the best president for the Black population since Abraham Lincoln.”

Scott followed up by asking about President Lyndon Johnson signing the Voting Rights Act of 1965, but Trump did not directly respond. 

Trump was also asked about his running mate, Ohio Sen. JD Vance, who has had a rocky rollout after new scrutiny on past comments about “childless cat ladies,” a term Vance used to question the leadership ability of people, mostly women, who choose to not have children.

Trump said that the moderators would have to “ask” Vance directly but shared his interpretation of the comments that have come to define Vance since he has become Trump’s running mate.

“What he is saying is that the family experience is an important thing, a very good thing,” Trump said.

In the same breath, he downplayed Vance’s political importance.

“Historically, the vice president in terms of the election does not have any impact,” Trump said. “You have 2-3 days where there is a lot of commotion … and then that dies down and it’s about the presidential pick.”

Vance, for his part, told reporters Wednesday evening on the tarmac at the Phoenix airport that Trump’s appearance at NABJ showed “one of the good things about him, the president doesn’t do scripted BS stuff.”

“He actually goes into hostile audiences,” Vance continued. “He answers tough questions. He pushes back against him, but he actually answers them and how nice it is to have an American leader who’s not afraid to go into hostile places and actually answer some tough questions.”

Vance went on to criticize Harris as a “chameleon,” saying she’s “flip-flopped on every issue.”

“I think he pointed out the fundamental chameleon like nature of Kamala Harris,” Vance continued. “I mean, you guys saw yesterday she was in Georgia, and she put on a southern accent for a Georgia audience.”

Asked if Vance questions whether Harris is Black, he responded, "What I question is why she presents a different posture, regardless, depending on which audience that she’s in front of, she’ll say one thing to one audience to say another thing to another audience to say something totally different to another audience."

Trump was also asked about comments he made during a Wisconsin rally in May about giving police “immunity from prosecution.”

Kadia Goba, a journalist from Semafor, questioned Trump about the issue in relation to a recent case in Illinois, where Sonya Massey, a Black woman, was shot and killed by police after she called 911. The officer, Sean Grayson, has pleaded not guilty to charges of first-degree murder, aggravated battery with a firearm, and official misconduct.

Trump seemed to backtrack and say that police should not get blanket immunity, and that the Chicago shooting did “not look good to me.”

“There is a big difference between being a bad person and making an innocent mistake,” Trump said. “But if someone made an innocent mistake, I would want to help that person.”

He went on to say there should be immunity for cops when it’s a “close call and very dangerous.” 

Matt Dixon reported from Tallahassee, Fla.; Yamiche Alcindor and Michelle Garcia reported from Chicago.

Matt Dixon is a senior national politics reporter for NBC News, based in Florida.

Yamiche Alcindor is an NBC News Washington correspondent.

Michelle Garcia is the editorial director of NBCBLK