C273_Mod 8 & 9_Social Groups and Group Dynamics and Formation

What is a primary group?

A group of people who a person is close to such as friends or family.

What is a secondary group?

People who a person shares a functional relationship - often short and oriented around a common task

What is an aggregate?

People that come together for a short period of time, without regularity, and without knowing each other (a crowd)

What is a category?

People who share a trait or characteristic

What is an in-group?

The groups to which a person belongs.

What is an out-group?

The groups to which an individual does not belong.

What are the functions of an in-group? (3)

They provide signals about appropriate behavior, teach ways to interact with other people, and help shape a sense of self

What are the functions of an out-group? (2)

They show boundaries of in-groups and help a person define what they are and are not

What is a reference group?

Any group to which a person compares him or herself

What is status?

A position within a social structure.

What is role?

The actions and behaviors expected from a person who occupies the status

What is a status set?

All the roles a person has at a given time

What is a master status?

A special status that more defines the individual than the other statuses they possess. The “primary” one, so to say.

What is a role conflict?

The experience of occupying 2+ statuses with conflicting roles

What is role strain?

The tension among the role expectations associated with one status

What is a formal organization?

Groups comprised of secondary members who gather for an explicit purpose

What is a utilitarian organization?

One whose membership is determined by payment

What is an instrumental leader?

One who leads by focusing on completing the task

What is an expressive leader?

One who leads by focusing on relationships, morale, and emotions of their team members first

What is an authoritarian or autocratic leadership?

Tells others what to do, makes majority of decisions, best in situation where leader has expertise and when time is short

What is a democratic leadership?

Opens up communication between themself and the group, solicits opinions but retains final control over decision making. Often solicits greater investment from employees, is best when subordinates have some expertise leader does not

What is a laissez-faire leadership?

Most of the decision power is with the group, though the leader bears responsibility for the decision, is best when employees have most of the expertise

What is social loafing?

Lessed quantity or quality of an individual’s work when operating as a group versus when working alone

What is social dilemma?

When an individual must weigh a personal benefit against the benefit to all

What is conformity?

Process in which people suppress their individual needs in favor of those of a group

What is normative social influence?

Dynamic of conformity that is influenced by desire to be accepted and liked by a group

What is informational social influence?

Dynamic of conformity that describes tendency to assume group judgement or answer is correct

What is groupthink?

Practice of thinking or making decisions as a group in a way that discourages creativity or individual responsibility

What did Marx mean when he describes a worker’s labor as “alienation of labor”?

The fact that the worker’s labor belongs to the company and not themself

What is a voluntary organization?

Organizations that a person willingly joins because they align with his or her interests or beliefs.

What is a bureaucracy?

An organization with defined terms of membership and methods for replacing members (interchangeability), written governance and communication, and a division of labor, responsibility, and accountability.

What is goal displacement in regard to bureaucracies?

When the means used to achieve a goal become more important than the goal itself