Understanding Social Structures: Groups and Networks

Social Collectives Shaping Our Actions

Four kinds of social collectives shape our actions:

1. Social Groups
2. Networks
3. Formal Organizations
4. Whole Societies

Social Groups

Primary & Secondary Groups. Group Leadership. Group Conformity. Reference Groups. In & Out Groups. Group Size

Primary Groups

Shapes attitudes, behavior, social identity. “A small social group whose members share personal & lasting relationships” (Cooley)

Conformity is an integral part that ensures group cohesion. Primary groups exert more pressure to conform than secondary groups. Emotional intimacy ensures similar beliefs.

Secondary Groups

Large & impersonal groups whose members pursue a specific goal/activity. Weak emotional ties, typically impersonal (co-workers). Many people working together in the same organization, goal-oriented.

Group Leadership

Two Leadership Roles: Instrumental & Expressive

• Instrumental: Group leadership that focuses on the completion of tasks. Gives orders, gets things done, respected by members, concentrates on performance.
• Expressive: Group leadership that focuses on the group's well-being. Raises morale, offers sympathy & lightens moods, gains personal affection from members.

Leadership Styles (3): Authoritarian, Democratic, Laissez-Faire (leave-it-alone)

• Authoritarian: Instrumental concerns, fast-acting, takes charge of decision-making, demands members obey, members show little to no affection.
• Democratic: Expressive, includes everyone in the decision process, draws ideas & solutions from members, less successful in a crisis.
• Laissez-Faire: Group functions on its own, least effective for promoting group goals.

Group Conformity

Actions that wouldn’t have been contemplated individually by the people involved become possible in the group context.

• Power of Conformity: Primary group cohesion = main factor motivating soldiers to engage in combat.
• “Groupthink”: Tendency for group members to conform, resulting in a narrow view of some issue.

Reference Groups

How we assess our own attitudes & behavior. Serves as a point of reference for people making evaluations & decisions (can be primary or secondary). (Ex. a man who imagines his family's response to a woman he is dating is using his family as a reference group)

We also use groups we do not belong to for reference, a strategy to win acceptance: illustrates anticipatory socialization.

In-Group

Social group where a member feels respect & loyalty.

Out-Group

Social group where a person feels a sense of competition/opposition.

In & out groups foster internal loyalty while generating conflict.

Diversity influences intergroup contact in 4 ways:

1. Large groups turn inwards: large, more likely members will have relationships exclusively among themselves.
2. Heterogeneous groups turn outward – diverse membership promotes interaction with outsiders.
3. Social Parity (Equality): within a setting encourages people from diverse backgrounds to mingle & form ties.
4. Physical boundaries – create social boundaries, segregation of groups makes contact limited.

Group Size

Triad – 3 members (restricts individuality, encourages rivalry & domination)

Dyad – (relationship between 2 nodes/people)

As the number of people in a group increases, relationships that link them increase faster. 6-7 people share a conversation, the group divides into two.

Networks

“Fuzzy” group containing people who occasionally come into contact. Lacks a sense of boundaries & belonging. “Social web” - group of friends.

Granovetter – acquaintances are more likely to provide useful information about employment than friends or family.

Four principles of McDonaldization:

• Efficiency: Customers do part of the work.
• Predictability/Calculability: Do it according to a plan.
• Uniformity: Same product everywhere.
• Control through automation: Humans = the most unreliable factor, but people could be controlled & dehumanized by the system.