Groups and Organizations How do groups influence you? © Robert J. Atkins, Ph.D. 1

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What types of groups are there? n Primary n Secondary n Reference n In-group n Out-group 3

What are your primary groups? n Small, personal, intimate –The family –First groups in our lives –Primary importance in our lives & socialization n Socialization n Social identity n Provides comfort and security n An end in itself 4

What are your secondary groups? n E.g. Microsoft n Large, impersonal, formal n Weak emotional ties n Short duration n Lawsuits increase with increasing secondary ties n A means to an end 5

What are your reference groups? n Point of reference in making evaluations and decisions n Family n Friends n Gang n Professors 6

What are your in-groups and out-groups? 7

Your in-groups n In-groups n The group you are in n Family n Friends n Clubs 8

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 9

Do you remember? n What types of groups are there? n What characterizes each type of group? n Can you be in several types of groups at once? 10

What group leadership styles are there? n Instrumental –Completing tasks –Emotionally distant n Expressive –Collective well-being –Emotionally involved –May use humor to reduce tension 11

What kinds of formal organizations are there? n Normative organizations –Voluntary organizations »Red Cross »PTA (Parent Teacher Association) n Coercive organizations –Involuntary commitment –Maximum security prison or mental hospital n Utilitarian organization –Company - Material benefits (money) 12

Do you remember? n What group leadership styles are there? n What group decision making styles are there? n What kinds of formal organizations are there? 13

Will you conform in a group? n Solomon Asch Experiment n Milgram’s experiment 14

What did the Solomon Asch experiment tell us? n Power of conformity to group pressure n Comparison of lines n People will compromise their own judgment to avoid being seen as different 15

What did the Milgram experiment tell us? n People follow both legitimate authority and ordinary individuals 16

Do you remember? n What did the Solomon ash experiment tell us? n What did the Milgram experiment tell us? 17

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