Download Chapter 5: Groups and Organizations

Soc 101
Chapter 5: Groups and
Organizations
Questions for You…
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Make a list of the various groups to
which you belong.
Which groups have had the greatest
impact on your development?
How have your group associations
changed based on the different
stages in your life?
Groups, Aggregates, and
Categories
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Social Group: A collection of two or
more people who: interact frequently,
share a sense of belonging, and have
a feeling of interdependence.
Aggregate: A collection of people
who happen to be in the same place
at the same time but share little else
in common.
Cooley’s Types of Groups
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Primary Group: small, less specialized
group in which members engage in faceto-face, emotion-based interactions over
an extended period of time
Secondary Group: larger, more
specialized group in which the members
engage in more impersonal, goal-oriented
relationships for a limited period of time
Sumner’s Types of Groups
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Ingroup: group to which a person belongs
and with which the person feels a sense of
identity
Outgroup: group to which a person does
not belong and toward which the person
may feel a sense of competitiveness or
hostility
Reference group: group that strongly
influences a person’s behavior and social
attitudes, regardless of whether that
individual is an actual member
Possible Interactions Based on
Group Size
Group Leadership Functions
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Instrumental leadership is most
appropriate when the group’s
purpose is to complete a task or
reach a particular goal.
Expressive leadership is most
appropriate when the group is
dealing with emotional issues, and
harmony, solidarity, and high morale
are needed.
Group Leadership Styles
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Authoritarian leaders - often criticized
for fostering intergroup hostility.
Democratic leaders - praised for
supportive behavior and blamed for being
indecisive in a crisis.
Laissez-faire leaders - do not provide
active leadership.
The Experiment: Studying
Group Solidarity
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The Asch experiment
• Used the method of experiment
• Studied solidarity and conformity

What was the hypothesis?
• Group solidarity causes conformity

What was the independent variable?
• Group solidarity (the answers given by
the group)
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What was the dependent variable?
• Whether or not a subject conformed to
the group
Group 1
X
Group 2
A
B
C
Group 1
X
Group 2
A
B
C
Group 1
X
Group 2
A
B
C
Stanley Milgram: Obedience
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Important points:
• Obedience to authority is learned from
an early age
• Obedience to authority is often
unquestioned
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Things to think about:
• People were more likely to obey
authority when:
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Authority is present
people can diffuse responsibility
they are distanced from their victims
Milgram’s Obedience
Experiment: Results
Milgram: Continued
• What was the penalty for failing to obey?
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Answer: nothing serious
• Why then, didn’t more disobey?
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We are taught that those in authority “know best”
We are taught to obey authority from an early age
Thus, socialization has encouraged conformity
• Is conformity/obedience bad?
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Not always. A classroom cannot be run efficiently
without the obedience/conformity of the class
Can be. Sometimes people don’t question authority
like they should (e.g. Nazi Germany)
Group Think
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Irving Janis developed an influential theory of
group decision making that he called groupthink.
Groupthink involves an extreme form of group
cohesiveness in which group members begin to
think alike and do not question each other or
consider alternative choices in making a decision.
Groupthink
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Given the Asch and Milgram
experiments, how might you explain
groupthink?
How does Janis explain groupthink?
BUREAUCRACIES
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They are a type of formal
organization
Formal Organizations are
highly structured groups
formed for the purpose of
completing specific tasks/goals
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Bureaucracies are special
purpose groups formed for
maximum efficiency
They come in different shapes
and sizes, but they share
certain characteristics
Bureaucracies: An Ideal
Type
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1. Division of Labor
2. Hierarchy of Authority
3. Written Rules/Regulations
4. Impersonal
5. Meritocracies
Consider this…
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How do people use this informal
“grapevine” to spread information? Is
it faster than the organization’s official
channels of communication? Is it
more or less accurate than official
channels?
Bureaucracies and Their
Limitations
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Inefficiency & Rigidity
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Resistance to Change
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Perpetuation of Race, Class
and Gender Inequalities
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Leads to the “Iron Law of
Oligarchy”