Chapter 5 HOW SOCIETY IS ORGANIZED A group is where people have the chance to i nteract with other people and thi nk of themselves as belonging together. The group exists as long as individuals are interested in belonging to it. Each society is made up of smaller groups and associations that are built on social class, personal interest, or common goals. Muzafer Sherif, a well-known social Psychologist, proposed to define a social group as a number of individuals interacting with each other with respect to: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
Common motives and goals An accepted division of labor, i.e. roles Established status (social rank, dominance) relationships Accepted norms norms and values with reference to matters relevant to the group Development of accepted sanctions if and when norms were respected or violated
According to Charles Horton Coole y, a primary group is a sm all social group whose members share personal and lasting relationships. There are some primary groups: 1. Family – Family – families families spend a significant amount of time together, allowing the members to support, comfort and encourage one another. Families are connected for a lifetime and are significant to each member’s personal growth. 2. Friends – Friends – They They often spend a lot of time experiencing different adventures together, chatting about personal stories and simply enjoying each – others’ company. 3. Love Relationships – Relationships – A A couple in a love relationship is first brought together as a result of a mutual physical and emotional attraction. They spend a significant amount of time together, whether that involves learning about one another or collectively sharing new experiences. GROUPS WITHIN SOCIETY: SECONDARY Secondary groups are large clusters of people who have a mutually shared purpose, often aiming to complete tasks. They are much less likely to be an influence to a n individual’s identity. Examples of secondary groups are: 1.
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School/Class – School/Class – A A classroom consists of students and a teacher, in which the teacher is in charge of creating a structure and environment that help the students learn. Much less of being emotional with each other. Workplace or Place of Employment – Employment – The The goal of the structured environment in the workplace is to fulfill a predetermined assignment.
IN - GROUPS AND OUT GROUPS An in – in – group group is a group wherein people feel that they are part of the social group group. It is a social category or group with which you identify strongly. On the other hand, the out – out – group group is the complete opposite. It is where a social group with which an individual does not identify to be part of. It is a social category or group with which you do not identify. There are lot of factors which create the identify if a n individual is in the in – in – group group or out – out – group. group. These are some: 1. Race: Asians vs. Caucasians
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Culture: Filipinos vs. Chinese Gender: Males vs. Females Age: Teenagers vs. Senior Citizens Religion: Muslims vs. Infidels
REFERENCE GROUPS A reference group to which we com pare ourselves. It serves as a standard to which we measure our behaviors and attitudes. Reference groups are used in order to guide our behavior and attitudes and help us to identify social norms. Reference groups are used in order to evaluate and determine the nature of given individual or other group’s characteristics and sociological attributes It is a group to which the individual relates or aspires to relate themselves psychologically. It acts as a frame of reference if an individual want to be part of the norms of the group. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.
Informal reference groups – It is based on the groups shared interests and goals. Members react on a personal level. Examples are family and friends. Formal reference groups – have a specific goal or mission. Examples are Employee Union. Membership reference groups – groups that are in agreement with in regards to attitude, norms, and behaviors. Disclaimant reference groups – group we do not agree with in regards to attitudes, norms, and behaviors. Aspirational reference group – a group an individual doesn’t belong to but aspires to become a part in the future. Dissociative reference group – a group an individual doesn’t belong to and disapproves of inn regards to attitudes, norms, and behaviors. NETWORKS
The social network is a theoretical construct useful in the social sciences to study relationships between individuals, groups, organizations, or even entire societies. It is a social structure exists between actors (individuals and organizations). Social networks where divided into three levels of analysis: Micro, Meso, and Macro. 1.
Micro – smallest level of analysis of social networks. It explains that a social netwo rk typically starts with an individual. The micro level is divided into 4 levels. Dyadic Level – Social relationship starts with two individuals. Triadic Level – Social relationship starts with three individuals. Actor Level – The smallest unit of analysis in a social network is an individual in their social setting. Subset Level – May focus on distance and reachability, cliques, cohesive subgroups, or other group actions or behavior.
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Meso – Meso – level of analysis begins with a population size that falls a between the micro – and macro – levels. Examples of Meso level of analysis are: Organizations – group of people that has distributive task for a collective goal. Scale Free Networks – a scale-free network is a network whose degree distri bution follows a power law, at least asymptotically In network theory a scale-free ideal network is a random network with a degree distribution that unravels the size distribution of social groups.
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Macro – it analyses generally trace the outcomes of interactions, such as economic or other resource transfer interactions over a large population.
