Download Groups Within Society

Chapter 5
Social Groups and
Formal Organizations
Groups Within Society
• Definition of Group: People who think of
themselves as belonging together and
who interact with one another.
© 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
Groups Within Society
• Aggregate: Individuals who temporarily
share the same physical space but do not
see themselves as belonging together.
• Category: People who have similar
characteristics.
• Clique: A cluster of people within a larger
group who choose to interact with one
another.
© 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
Groups Within Society
• Primary Groups: A group characterized
by intimate, long-term, face-to-face
association and cooperation.
– The Family
– Friends
© 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
Groups Within Society
• Secondary Groups: These groups are
larger, more anonymous, more formal, and
impersonal and are based on some
interest or activity.
– Larger, More Anonymous
– Members Interact Based on Statuses
– Fail to Satisfy Need for Intimate Association
© 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
Groups Within Society
• In-Groups and Out-Groups
– In-Groups: Groups toward which people feel
loyalty.
– Out-Groups: Groups toward which people feel
antagonism.
– Loyalty to In-Groups
– Antagonism Towards Out-Groups
© 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
Groups Within Society
• Reference Groups
– Definition: Group whose standards we refer
to as we evaluate ourselves.
– Evaluating Ourselves
– Expose Us to Contradictory Standards
© 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
Groups Within Society
• Social Networks
– Definition: The social ties radiating outward
from the self that link people together
• Interaction takes place within social networks that
connect us to the larger society.
– The Small World Phenomenon
• Milgram his study led to the phrase “six
degrees of separation”—meaning that, on
average, everyone in the United States is
separated by just six individuals.
© 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
Groups Within Society
FORMULA FOR DETERMINING TOTAL
NUMBER OF DYADS
N/2 (N – 1)
N = Total Number of Individuals
Estimate total number when N = 12
12/2
(12 – 1)
6 x (11)
66 possible dyads
© 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
Bureaucracies
• Definition: A formal organization with a hierarchy
of authority and a clear division of labor; emphasis
on impersonality of positions and written rules,
communications, and records.
• Rationalization of Society: Term coined by
Weber to describe the process of how
bureaucracies would increasingly dominate our
lives.
© 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
Bureaucracies
• Five Characteristics of Bureaucracies
– Clear Cut Levels
– Division of Labor
– Written Rules
– Written Communication and Records
– Impersonality
© 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
Dysfunctions of Bureaucracies
• Peter Principle: The members of an
organization are promoted for their
accomplishments until they reach their
level of incompetence; there they cease to
be promoted, remaining at the level at
which they can no longer do good work.
© 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
Group Dynamics
• Group Size Affects Stability and Intimacy
– Dyad: Consists of two persons.
– Triad: Consists of three persons.
– Coalitions: Formed when two group
members align themselves against one in a
triad.
• As Size Increases, So Does Stability
• As Size Increases, Intensity and Intimacy
Decrease
© 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
Group Dynamics
• Effects of Group Size on Attitudes and
Behavior
• The Larger the Group…
– Greater Diffusion of Responsibility
– Increase in Formality
– Division into Smaller Groups
© 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
Leadership
• Leader: Someone who influences the
behaviors, opinions, or attitudes of others
• Who Becomes a Leader?
• Types of Leaders
– Instrumental: An individual who tries to keep
the group moving toward its goals; also
known as a task-oriented leader.
– Expressive: An individual who increases
harmony and minimizes conflict in a group;
also known as a socioemotional leader.
© 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
Leadership
• Leadership Styles
– Authoritarian: A leader who gives orders.
– Democratic: An individual who leads by
trying to reach a consensus.
– Laissez-Faire: An individual who leads by
being highly permissive.
• Leadership Styles in Changing Situations
© 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
Group Dynamics
•
•
•
•
Power of Peer Pressure
Asch Experiment
Study on Conformity
Power of Authority - Milgram Experiment
– Administering Shocks; turning up Voltage
• Recent Replications Consistent with
Earlier
© 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
Asch’s Cards
© 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
Milgram and Obedience
Stanley Milgram
(1933-1984)
• Ground-breaking research conducted at
Yale in the 1950s
• Participants acted as the teacher; the
“learner” was a confederate
• “Teacher” administered increasingly intense shocks
as instructed by experimenter when learner gave
wrong answer
• 65% of participants continued to the end of the
experiment
© 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
Milgram and Obedience (continued)
Milgram’s research scenario
maximized obedience:
• Participants were volunteers
• Participants were alone with
experimenter
• Experimenter was highly credible
authority figure
• Setting was highly credible
university
© 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
Group Dynamics
• Groupthink: A narrowing of thought by a
group of people, leading to the perception
that there is only one correct answer, in
which to even suggest alternatives
becomes a sign of disloyalty.
© 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.