Download Chapter 5 Groups and Organizations

Chapter 6
Groups and Organizations
Key Terms

aggregate
A collection of people who happen to be in the
same place at the same time but share little
else in common.

category
A number of people who may never have met
one another but share a similar characteristic.

ingroup
A group to which a person belongs and with
which the person feels a sense of identity.

outgroup
A group to which a person does not belong and
toward which the person may feel a sense of
competitiveness or hostility.

reference group
A group that strongly influences a person’s
behavior and social attitudes, regardless of
whether that individual is an actual member.

network
A web of social relationships that links one
person with other people and through them,
with other people they know.

small group
A collectivity small enough for all members to
be acquainted with one another and to interact
simultaneously.

dyad
A group composed of two members.

triad
A group composed of three members.

instrumental leadership
Type of leadership that is goal or task oriented.

expressive leadership
Type of leadership that provides emotional
support for members.

authoritarian leaders
Make all major group decisions and assign
tasks to members.

democratic leaders
Encourage group discussion and
decision-making through consensus building.

laissez-faire leaders
Minimally involved in decision-making and
encourage group members to make their own
decisions.

conformity
The process of maintaining or changing
behavior to comply with the norms established
by a society, subculture, or other group.

groupthink
Process by which members of a cohesive
group arrive at a decision that many individual
members believe is unwise.

bureaucracy
Organizational model characterized by
hierarchy of authority, a clear division of labor,
explicit rules and procedures, and
impersonality.

rationality
Process by which traditional methods of social
organization, characterized by informality, are
gradually replaced by efficiently administered
formal rules and procedures.

ideal type
Abstract model which describes the recurring
characteristics of some phenomenon.

informal structure
Composed of aspects of participants’
day-to-day activities and interactions that
ignore, bypass, or do not correspond with the
official rules and procedures of the
bureaucracy.

goal displacement
Occurs when the rules become an end in
themselves rather than a means-to-an-end,
and organizational survival becomes more
important than achievement of goals.

bureaucratic personality
Describes workers who are more concerned
with following correct procedures than with
getting the job done correctly.

iron law of oligarchy
The tendency to become a bureaucracy ruled
by the few.