Vertical group formation: A social process perspective

Vertical groups are a common occurrence that is rarely studied as a group-level phenomenon. This paper brings attention to the vertical group, as a collective actor, and group formation processes. We define the vertical group and describe, in brief, why they exist. We explore the issue of how they form and the social processes under which different types of groups are likely to emerge. These include trial and error learning, social learning, and social identification. We introduce a framework that shows how variation in two more fundamental enabling conditions affects both the group development process and the characteristics of the emerging groups. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.