2. Outline
What is a group?
Primary and Secondary Groups
Anomie
In-groups and Out-groups
Group Cohesion
Social Influence
Qualities of Leadership
3. What defines a group?
Group-collection of people who share some attribute,
identify with one another, and interact with each other
Not groups:
Crowd-temporary gathering of people in a public
place; might interact, but don’t identify w/ each other-
won’t remain in contact
Aggregate-collection of people who share a physical
location but do not have lasting social relations
4. Primary and Secondary Groups
Primary groups-people Secondary groups-larger
who are most important to and less intimate than
our sense of self; relations primary groups;
characterized by: *relationships usually
Face-to-face interaction organized around a
High levels of specific goal
cooperation often temporary
Intense feelings of Ex.: your job
belonging
Ex. Family
5. Social Networks
Social network-the web of
direct and indirect ties
connecting an individual to
other people who may also
affect her
Social ties-connections
between individuals
Direct or indirect
Social networks
Sociologists study construction
and influence of social
networks
Social ties directly and indirectly Ex.: We may change our minds
connect people
whom we vote for if enough of
our friends vote for other
candidate
6. Separate from Groups: Anomie
Anomie- normlessness; alienation and loss of purpose
that result from weaker social bonds and an increased
pace of change
Durkheim believed group membership keeps us from
feeling anomie
More common with modernization?
7. In-Groups and Out-Groups
In-group-a group that one identities with and feels
loyalty toward
Out-group-any group an individual feels opposition,
rivalry, or hostility toward
Both can come from our ethnic, familial, professional,
educational backgrounds
We may feel a sense of superiority towards those
excluded from our in-group
At their worst in-group/out-group dynamics create the
backdrop for social tragedies like slavery and genocide
8. Group Dynamics
How do groups form, change, achieve goals,
disintegrate, etc…?
Group Dynamics-patterns of interaction between
groups and individuals
Dyad-two-person social group
Intense, unstable
Triad-three-person social group
More stable because conflicts can be refereed
*The smaller a group is, the more likely it is to be
based on personal ties; large groups are more likely to
be based on rules and regulations
9. Reference Groups
Reference group-group that provides a standard of
comparison against which we evaluate ourselves
can be crucial to our sense of self
Ex.: Family, celebrities, pro athletes etc…
Live up to its standards
Sometimes you may aspire to belong, but are not yet a
part
10. Group Cohesion
Group cohesion-the sense of solidarity or loyalty that
individuals feel toward a group to which they belong
Force that binds members together
Relies on shared values or demographic traits (race,
age, gender…)
Excessive group cohesion can bring about negative
consequences
Groupthink-in very cohesive groups, the tendency to
enforce a high degree of conformity among members
May punish those who threaten to undermine consensus
11. Challenger
explosion
Groupthink may have played
a role in the Challenger
shuttle explosion. Scientists
may have not taken
weaknesses in the shuttle’s
design seriously.
12. Social Influence
Social influence (peer pressure)-the influence of
one’s fellow group members
Part of being in groups
Can affect all ranges of behavior
We conform because we want to gain acceptance
Prescriptions-behaviors approved of by social group
Proscriptions-behaviors a particular social group wants
members to avoid
13. Social Influence
Social influence results in one of three kinds of
conformity
Compliance-mildest type of conformity, undertaken
to gain rewards or avoid punishments
Identification-type of conformity stronger than
compliance and weaker than internalization, caused
by a desire to establish or maintain a relationship with
a person or group
Internalization-strongest type of conformity; occurs
when an individual adopts the beliefs or actions of a
group and makes them her own
14. The Asch
Experiment
Study on compliance conducted by
Solomon Asch in 1951
Groups of 7-8 “students” each to
participate in “visual perception”
Only one student in group was real
research subject
Results:
33%: yielders-gave wrong answer
though they knew it was wrong
Another 40% yielded less frequently
Only 25% were independents
refusing to give in to majority
15. Qualities of Leadership
Power-ability to control the actions of others; getting
people to do things they may or may not want to do
Quality of all leaders
Coercive-backed by the threat of force
Influential-supported by persuasion
Authority-legitimate right to wield power
Max Weber identified three types of authority found in
social orgs.
16. Types of Authority
Traditional authority-
based on custom, birthright,
or divine right
Legal-rational authority-
based on laws, rules, and
procedures (not on heredity
or personality)
Charismatic authority-
based in the perception of
remarkable personal qualities
in a leader
3 types not necessarily
mutually exclusive
17. Bureaucracies
McDonaldization of Society
Bureaucracies-secondary McDonaldization-Ritzer’s
group designed to perform term spread of bureaucratic
tasks efficiently rationalization and the
Specialization accompanying increases in
Technical competence efficiency and dehumanization
Make us aware of “iron cage” of
Hierarchy
bureaucracy
Rules and regulations
Rationalization-
Impersonality implementation of formal
Formal written rules in order to be more
communications efficient w/out consideration
of subjective concerns
