1. Social Groups, Organizations and Social Institutions
Chapter 6

2. Social Groups
Two or more people who share some attribute and interact with one another
Primary Group: a small group who engage in intimate face-to-face interaction over an extended period (family, close friends)
Influences an individual’s social identity
Contributes to each other’s personal development, security, and well-being
Secondary Group: a large, usually formal, impersonal, and temporary collection of people who pursue a specific goal or activity ( classes, sport teams, company employees)
pursue a specific goal or activity
Structured
Fulfill instrumental needs

3. Characteristics of Primary and Secondary Groups

4. See what you know Identify each as a primary or secondary group
A single mom and her child
Your sociology class
A married couple
The McDonald’s Corporation

5. In-Groups and Out-Groups
In-groups: People who share a sense of identity
Exclude and devalue outsiders
Promote solidarity and cohesion
Out-groups: Are viewed and treated negatively for having values, beliefs, and features different from people in-group
“We” vs “They”
Your in-group may be someone out-group

6. Reference Groups People who shape behavior, values, and attitudes
Fail to provide personal support or face-to-face interaction over time
People with whom an individual associates, admires, and wants to be a part of
Influence people’s self-identity, self-esteem, and sense of belonging
These reference groups change as you change…example...if you aspire to move up the occupational ladder, your reference group may change form entry level employees to managers, VPs, CEOs.

7. Two important characteristics of a social group is its size and leadership
Dyads: Group with two members
Cohesive in nature
Unstable as it requires the involved people to cooperate
Triads: Group with three members
Stable
Tend to interact less
Leadership
Authoritarian: Gives orders, assigns tasks, and makes all major decisions
Democratic: Encourages group discussion
Laissez-faire: Offers minimum or no guidance to the members

8. Authoritarian: Gives orders, assigns tasks, and makes all major decisions
Focuses on completing instrumental tasks
Effective if the leader is knowledgeable and there is less time for group decision making
Stifles creativity

9. Democratic: Encourages group discussion
Includes all the members in the decision-making process
Concerned about meeting a group’s expressive needs
Engages group members and encourage their creativity
Fails to take charge during crisis and are less productive

10. Laissez-faire: Offers minimum or no guidance to the members
Allows the members to make their own decisions
Effective when members are qualified in an area of expertise
Leads to poorly defined roles, low productivity, and a lack of motivation, less cooperation between the members
Fails to meet a group’s goals

11. Studies on Group Conformity
Solomon Asch’s research
Demonstrated the effect of groups over individual
Even when people know that something is wrong, they go along with the group to avoid ridicule or exclusion.
Irving Janis’s research
Cautioned presidents and other heads of state to be wary of groupthink—a situation in which in-group members make faulty decisions because of group pressures
Focused on high-level decision making
Group members awareness of groupthink, avoids the pitfalls by:
Eliminating disagreements
Seeking advice from informed and objective people outside the group

12. Formal Organizations
Secondary groups designed to achieve specific goals in an efficient manner
Characteristics
Statuses and roles are organized around shared expectations and goals
Norms governing social relationships specify rights, duties, and sanctions
Hierarchy includes leaders or individuals who are in charge

13. Types of Formal Organizations
Utilitarian - Provides an income or specific material reward (government agencies, factories, corporations, and schools)
Normative - Joined by people with shared interests for pursuing goals which are rewarding (political parties, civic organizations, religious organizations, choirs, and cultural group)
Coercive - Contain involuntary membership. People are forced to join because of punishment (prison, treatment hospitals, rehab centers)

14. Social Institutions
An organized and established social system that meets one or more of a society’s basic needs.
5 major social institutions:
Family: Facilitates procreation, socializes children, and legitimizes sexual activity between adults
Economy: Organizes a society’s development, production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services
Political: Maintains law and order, pass legislation, and form military groups
Education: Helps to socialize children, transmits knowledge
Religion: Encompasses beliefs and practices