Transcript Chapter 5 Social Groups and Formal Organizations Social Groups A collection of two or more people who: • Identify and interact with one another. •

Chapter 5
Social Groups and
Formal Organizations
Social Groups
A collection of two or more people who:
• Identify and interact with one another.
• Also:
– Share a sense of belonging.
– Have a feeling of interdependence.
Categories and Aggregates
• Categories share a similar characteristic:
– Students, elderly, Native Americans
• Aggregates happen to be in the same
place at the same time:
– Airline passengers, shoppers, waiting at a
traffic light
Cooley’s Primary and Secondary
Groups
Primary
group
Secondary
group
Emotion-based interaction over
extended period.
Impersonal, goal-oriented relationships
for a limited time.
Sumner’s Ingroups and Outgroups
Ingroup
Outgroup
Group to which a person belongs and
feels a sense of identity.
Group to which a person doesn’t belong
and feels a sense of hostility towards.
Reference Group
• Influences a person’s behavior and
attitudes, regardless of whether they are a
member.
• We may act more like members of a group
we want to join than members of groups to
which we already belong.
– In this case, reference groups are a source of
anticipatory socialization.
Anticipatory Socialization
• The process by which knowledge and
skills are learned for future roles
Group Size
Dyad
Group composed of two members.
Triad
Group composed of three members.
Formal
organization
Highly structured secondary group
formed for the purpose of achieving
specific goals
Possible Interactions Based on
Group Size
Group Leadership
• Important element of group dynamics is
leadership
• Two leadership roles
– Instrumental leadership
– Expressive leadership
• Instrumental Leadership
– Group leadership that focuses on the
completion of tasks
• Make plans
• Give orders
• Get things done
• Expressive Leadership
– Group leadership that focuses on the
group’s well-being
• Less of an interest in achieving goals
• Focus on promoting the well-being of
members
• Minimize tension and conflict among
members
Three leadership styles
• Authoritarian
• Democratic
•
Laissez-faire Leadership
• Authoritarian Leadership
– Focuses on instrumental concerns
– Takes personal charge of decision-making
– Demands that group members obey orders
– Wins little affection from the group
– Is appreciated in a crisis
• Democratic Leadership
– More expressive
– Includes everyone in the decision-making
process
– Less successful in a crisis situation
– Draw on the ideas of all members to
develop creative solutions to problems
• Laissez-faire Leadership
– Allows group to function on its own
– “Laissez-faire” – French, meaning “leave
it alone”
– Least effective in promoting group goals
Group Conformity
Conformity, Compliance,
and Obedience
Sherif’s Conformity Research
• Subjects in a darkened room were asked
to look at a point of light projected on a
black wall.
• Although the point of light was stationary,
observed believed the light began to move
(the autokinetic effect).
Sherif’s Conformity Research
• When individuals discussed their estimate of the
movement of light with each other, they converged on a
common standard or norm.
• Although the data indicate that influence was present,
subjects denied that they were influenced by others.
• The more uncertain subjects were about reality, the
more they were influenced by others, especially
confident others.
• Norms, once established by the group, were used by
participants even when they were alone.
Asch’s Research
• Asch’s research
assistants tried to
influence participants to
pick Line 1 or 3 as the
match for the line in the
lower card.
• Many (approximately
33%) went along rather
than risk the opposition
of the “group.”
Milgram’s Obedience Experiment
The Teacher’s Desk
Milgram’s Shock Generator
The Student’s Electric Chair
Predicted Results
• Experts/colleagues/students polled by
Milgram predicted:
– Less than 0.1% of subjects would give full
dose of shock
– Only 4% would give more than 300V
– The majority would terminate the
experiment before 150V
The Basic Experiment
• The experimenter asked the teacher to
begin teaching the learner a list of word
pairs
• At first, the learner did well, but then
gradually made errors more frequently
• The teacher found himself being asked to
administer higher and higher shock levels
• The learner increasingly objected to the
shocks
Learner Response
Voltage
• 75
• 120
• 150
• 200
• 300
• 400
Grunt
Loud Complaints
“Get me out of here! I won’t be in this
experiment anymore!”
Screaming
Agonized Screams
Silence
Actual Results
• 65% of teachers were fully obedient and
administered shocks up to 450V.
• By this point teachers were sweating,
stuttering, or biting on their lip.
• What caused this degree of obedience?
Milgram’s Obedience Experiment:
Initial and Subsequent Results
Two Confederates Rebel
10%
Non-Professor Incharge
20%
Teacher, Experimenterr Apart
22%
Teacher Touches Learner
30%
Teacher, Learner Together
40%
Low Prestige Setting
48%
Initial Study
65%
0%
10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70%
Groupthink
• The process by which members of a
cohesive group arrive at a decision that
many individual members privately believe
is unwise.
Types of Formal Organizations
Normative
Organizations we join voluntarily to
pursue a common interest or gain
prestige.
Coercive
Associations people are forced to join.
(Example: boot camps and prisons)
Utilitarian
Organizations we join voluntarily when
they can provide us with a material
reward.
Characteristics and Effects of
Bureaucracy
Alternative Forms of Organization
“Humanizing” the bureaucracy:
1. Greater sharing of power and
responsibility.
2. Encouragement of participants to share
their ideas and try new approaches.
3. Efforts to reduce the number of people in
dead-end jobs and to help people meet
family responsibilities.
Informal Side of a Bureaucracy
• Those 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.