1. Separate and Together: Life in Groups
Chapter 5
Separate and Together:
Life in Groups

2. Overview Social Groups Social Influence Group Leadership Bureaucracy
Social Networks
Group Dynamics
In-Class Exercise
Social Influence
Video Presentation
Group Leadership
Teamwork
Bureaucracy
The McDonaldization of Society

3. What is a Group? Mid-level between macro and micro Groups
Large or small
Groups
Aggregates—Crowds
Temporarily share physical location
No common identity
No lasting social relations
Social Groups
Share some attribute
Identify with one another
Interact with each other
Groups have a powerful influence

4. Primary Groups Family, friends, gangs Intimate face-to-face contact
Most important to our sense of self
High level of cooperation
Intense sense of belonging

5. Secondary Groups Co-workers, neighbors, classmates
Larger and less intimate
Organized around specific goal
Often temporary
May break into primary groups

6. In-Groups and Out-Groups
Members identify with and feel loyalty
Out-Groups
To whom we feel opposition, rivalry or hostility
Divided into “us” and “them”
Can produce prejudice and discrimination
Same qualities viewed as positive in us, negative in them

7. Reference Groups and Social Networks
Provides standard of comparison
Against which we evaluate ourselves
Social Networks
Web of direct and indirect ties connecting to others
Video clip: History of Social Networking
Others may affect us
Jobs, gender and networks
Contagion and STDs

9. Group Dynamics
The pattern of interaction between groups and individuals
Smaller groups
Fewer ties
More intimate
As groups grow larger:
More stable
Less personal interaction
More formal structure

10. space shuttle disaster
Group Dynamics
Group cohesion
Solidarity, loyalty, or team spirit
Feeling strongly tied to membership
Factors that enhance cohesion
Shared values
Same demographic traits
Attraction to group
Groupthink
Highly cohesive groups
Demand conformity
Punish violations
Anomie
State of “normlessness”
Alienation and loss of purpose
Results from weaker social bonds
The Challenger
space shuttle disaster
Bowling Alone

11. The Twenty Statements Test
In-Class Exercise:
The Twenty Statements Test

12. Social Influence (Peer Pressure)
Influence of group on our attitudes and behaviors
What is conformity?
Attitudes and behavior that result from real or imagined social pressure
Types of conformity
Compliance
Identification
Internalization
Why do we conform?
Norms (pre- and pro-scriptions)
Positive and negative sanctions
Is conformity good or bad?
Critical for social order
May depend upon context
Problems of “over-conformity”

13. Case Studies in Conformity
Historical Cases: “Crimes of Obedience”
Nazi Germany and the Holocaust

14. Social Scientific Experiments in Conformity: The Asch Experiment

15. Social Scientific Experiments in Conformity: The Milgram Experiment

16. “Basic Instincts: Milgram Revisited”
Video Presentation:
“Basic Instincts:
Milgram Revisited”

17. Qualities of Leadership
Power
The ability to control others
Coercive—backed by threat of force
Influential—supported by persuasion
Authority
The legitimate right to power
Traditional—based on custom, birth, or divine right
Legal-rational—based on laws, rules and procedures
Charismatic—based on perception of remarkable personal qualities
Leadership Styles
Instrumental
Task or goal oriented
Expressive
Emotional and relational

18. Bureaucracies A secondary group Examples: Organizational Traits
Designed for maximum efficiency
Examples:
Government agencies, Armed Forces, U.S. Post Office, DMV, banks, fast food restaurants, hospitals, courts, ministries, schools, corporations, etc.
Organizational Traits
Specialization
Technical competence
Hierarchy
Rules and regulations
Impersonality
Formal written communication
Bureaucracies increasingly dominate our lives

19. Bureaucracies Max Weber -- “The Iron Cage”
Rationalization
Implementing formal rules and regulations
Disregards subjective or individual concerns
Characteristics
Functions:
Standardization
Efficiency
Dependability
Predictability
Dysfunctions:
“Red tape”
Dehumanization (alienation)
The McDonaldization of Society (George Ritzer)
Trickle-down of rationalization into everyday lives

20. Responding to Bureaucratic Constraints
How to get benefits but not be controlled
Resisting alienation
Interpersonal interactions to humanize
“Enlightened bureaucracies”
Responding to needs of both individuals and organization
Life outside bureaucracy
Example:
Burning Man

21. In-Class Exercise:
College Bureaucracy