SOCIAL GROUPS
GROUPS

People who think of themselves as belonging
together and who interact with one another
 Provide
intimate relationships and a sense of
belonging

Groups are not to be confused with:
 Aggregate-
a number of people who happen to be in
one place but don’t interact
–
Shoppers standing in line
 Category-
people who share similar characteristics
but don’t interact with one another or consider each
others interest
–
All people who wear glasses
PRIMARY GROUPS

Groups that are characterized by cooperative,
intimate, long-term face- to-face relationships
 Family
and friends
Meets the basic need of humans to have a
sense of belonging and the feeling of being
appreciated
 The values and attitudes of the primary
group become fused into our identity

 Continue
to influence how we see the world
SECONDARY GROUP
•
•
Larger, more anonymous, more formal and more
impersonal than primary groups
Based on some interest of activity
•
•
•
American Sociological Association, Democratic Party,
etc.
Members are likely to interact on the basis of
specific roles: president, manager, worker,
student
Secondary groups tend to break down into
primary groups: cliques at school or work
VOLUNTARY ASSOCIATIONS
•
Voluntary associations are secondary groups
made up of volunteers who have organized on
the basis of some mutual interest
•
•
Boy Scouts for example
Inner circle- key members in the association
•
Iron law of oligarchy- the tendency of the inner core to
dominate the organization by become elites
IN-GROUPS AND OUT-GROUPS
•
In-Groups: groups toward which individuals feel
loyalty
–
•
Out-Group: those toward which the feel
antagonism
–
•
•
provide a sense of belonging
Help to reinforce the loyalty of members in the ingroup
“US” vs. “THEM”
According to Robert K. Merton, the behaviors of
an in-group’s members are seen as virtues,
while the same behaviors by members of an
out-group are viewed as vices
REFERENCE GROUPS

Groups we use as standards to evaluate
ourselves, whether or not we actually belong to
those groups
 Family,
neighbors, teachers, classmates, coworkers, members of your church
 Can

be a group you don’t belong to- college students
Exert great influence over behavior- clothing,
hairstyles, speech, etc.
SOCIAL NETWORKS
•
Consist of people who are linked by various social
ties
–
–
–
•
Cliques for example
Our interactions within social networks connect us to
the larger society
Think Facebook-everyone you know, everyone they
know, and so on.
Tend to perpetuate social inequality in which
whom you know might be more important that
what you know
–
Good old boy network
GROUP DYNAMICS
How individuals affect groups and how groups
affect individuals
 Size of the group is significant

 Dyad-
2 ppl smallest most fragile of all human
groupings
 Triad- 3 ppl bond between 2 of the members is
stronger, someone left out
 As more members are added stability increases but
intimacy decreases
EFFECTS OF GROUP SIZE ON BEHAVIOR

As it grows there is a diffusion of responsibility
 Think
about group work, the more people in the
group the less you actually have to do

As it grows, the group loses it sense of intimacy
 Group

becomes more formal
As it grows, group tends to divide into smaller
groups
 cliques
GROUPS AND BEHAVIOR
Groups generally reward members who
conform to their norms
 Group opinions strongly influence individual
behavior and judgment toward that of the
group.

GROUP LEADERS
People who influence the behavior, opinions, or
attitudes of others
 Who becomes a leader?

 People
who are perceived by group members as
strongly representing their values or as able to lead
a group out of a crisis
TYPES OF LEADERS
•
2 types of leaders:
–
–
•
Instrumental (task-oriented)- try to keep the group moving
toward its goal
Expressive (socioemotional) those who are less likely to be
recognized as leaders but help with the group’s morale
3 types of leadership styles:
–
–
–
Authoritarian leaders- those who give orders and don’t
explain why they praise or condemn a person’s work
Democratic leaders- those who try and gain a consensus
by explaining proposed actions, suggesting alternative
approaches and giving facts as the basis for evaluation
Laissez-faire leaders- those who are passive and give the
group almost total freedom to do as they wish
GROUP DECISION MAKING V. INDIVIDUAL
DECISION MAKING
Group decision making is slower but tend to be
more accurate
 People in groups are more willing to make
riskier decisions

PEER PRESSURE
A study by Dr. Soloman Asch indicated that
people are greatly influenced by peer pressure
 The group is so powerful that most people are
willing to say things that they know are not true
just to go along

POWER OF AUTHORITY

Groupthink- coined by Irving Janis to refer to
the collective tunnel vision that group members
sometimes develop
 As
they begin to think alike, they become convinced
that there is only one “right” viewpoint and a single
course of action
 Comes with great consequences
 Post
9/11 and Guantanamo Bay