Study Guide 5 - Social Groups

Sociology 1010

Learning Objectives
1. Be able to distinguish between primary and secondary group characteristics and be able to give examples of each. 2. Why are groups so important for individuals and for society and what power do groups have over individuals? 3. What do the following terms mean?: in-group, out-group, reference group, social networks 4. According to Max Weber, what are the six characteristics of bureaucracy? What are some of the advantages and disadvantages of bureaucracies? How does bureaucracy foster alienation? (refer to the text, video and lectures) 5. What are some of the consequences of hidden values in the corporate culture, especially their impacts on those who are not the inner circle of the organization? 6. What do experiments, such as those conducted by Asch and Milgram, show us about obedience and conformity in social groups? (Refer to text and video) 7. Be able to describe the two types of leadership in groups that Bales describes as well as Lewin's three basic styles of leadership. (Refer to text, video and lectures) 8. What is the effect of group size on stability and intimacy?
Key Concepts Group Aggregate Category Primary Group Secondary Group Voluntary Association Iron Law Of Oligarchy In-Group Out-Group Reference Group Social Network Small World Phenomenon Bureaucracy McDonaldization of Society

Alienation - feeling uninvolved, uncommitted, unappreciated, and unconnected, which occurs when workers are assigned routine, boring tasks that do not have meaning for them. According to Karl Marx, it occurs when people feel cut off from the product of their own labor. According to Max Weber, workers feel like a small cog in a ceaselessly-moving mechanism which prescribes to them an endless, fixed routine. Goal Displacement Bureaucratic Ritualism - concern for the rules, while ignoring the goals of the organization trained in capacity - narrow range of expertise and training so that the worker cannot relate what he or she does to the goals of the organization

Goal Conflict - goals of one part of the bureaucracy conflict with the goals of another part of the Group Aggregate Category Primary Group Secondary Group Voluntary Association Iron Law of Oligarchy Self-Fulfilling Prophecy

that do not have meaning for them. According to Karl Marx, it occurs when people feel cut off from the product of their own labor. According to Max Weber, workers feel like a small cog in a ceaselessly-moving mechanism which prescribes to them an endless, fixed routine. Goal Displacement Bureaucratic Ritualism - concern for the rules, while ignoring the goals of the organization Trained in capacity - narrow range of expertise and training so that the worker cannot relate what he or she does to the goals of the organization Goal Conflict - goals of one part of the bureaucracy

Dyad Triad Coalitions Instrumental Leader (Task Leader) Expressive Leader (Socio-Emotional leader) Authoritarian Leader Democratic Leader Laissez-Faire Leader Groupthink Bureaucracy Corporate Culture In-Group Out-Group Reference Group Social Network Small World Phenomenon Bureaucracy McDonaldization of Society Alienation - feeling uninvolved, uncommitted, unappreciated, and unconnected, which occurs when workers are assigned routine, boring tasks

conflict with the goals of another part of the Bureaucracy Corporate Culture Self-Fulfilling Prophecy Dyad Triad Coalitions Instrumental Leader (Task Leader) Expressive Leader (Socio-Emotional leader) Authoritarian Leader Democratic Leader Laissez-Faire Leader Groupthink

Key People C H Cooley* Max Weber* Karl Marx* Robert Bales* Solomon Asch* Stanley Milgram*