Groups and Organizations
How do groups influence you?
© Robert J. Atkins, Ph.D.

© Robert J. Atkins, Ph.D.

What types of groups are there?
 Primary
 Secondary
 Reference
 In-group
 Out-group

What are your primary groups?
 Small, personal, intimate
– The family
– First groups in our lives
– Primary importance in our lives & socialization
 Socialization
 Social identity
 Provides comfort and security
 An end in itself

What are your secondary groups?
 E.g. Microsoft
 Large, impersonal, formal
 Weak emotional ties
 Short duration
 Lawsuits increase with increasing secondary ties
 A means to an end

What are your reference groups?
 Point of reference in making evaluations and decisions
 Family
 Friends
 Gang
 Professors

What are your in-groups and out-groups?

Your in-groups
 In-groups
 The group you are in
 Family
 Friends
 Clubs

Your out-groups
– The groups you are out of.
» A social group toward which we feel competition or opposition
» Lead to unfairly negative views of out-groups

Do you remember?
 What types of groups are there?
 What characterizes each type of group?
 Can you be in several types of groups at once?

What group leadership styles are there?
 Instrumental
– Completing tasks
– Emotionally distant
 Expressive
– Collective well-being
– Emotionally involved
– May use humor to reduce tension

What kinds of formal organizations are there?
 Normative organizations
– Voluntary organizations
» Red Cross
» PTA (Parent Teacher Association)
 Coercive organizations
– Involuntary commitment
– Maximum security prison or mental hospital
 Utilitarian organization
– Company - Material benefits (money)

Do you remember?
 What group leadership styles are there?
 What group decision making styles are there?
 What kinds of formal organizations are there?

Will you conform in a group?
 Solomon Asch Experiment
 Milgram ’ s experiment

What did the Solomon Asch experiment tell us?
 Power of conformity to group pressure
 Comparison of lines
 People will compromise their own judgment to avoid being seen as different

What did the Milgram experiment tell us?
 People follow both legitimate authority and ordinary individuals

Do you remember?
 What did the Solomon ash experiment tell us?
 What did the Milgram experiment tell us?