Groups and Organizations - Vocab #3

aggregate

a collection of people who happen to be in the same place at the same time but share something else in common

category

a number of people who may never have met one another but share a similar characteristic, such as education level, age, race, or gender

ingroup

a group to which a person belongs and with which the person feels a sense of identity

outgroup

a group to which a person does not belong and toward which the person may feel a sense of competitiveness or hostility

reference group

a group that strongly influence a person’s behavior and social attitudes, regardless of whether that individual is an actual member

instrumental leadership

goal- or task- oriented leadership

expressive leadership

an approach to leadership that provides emotional support for members

authoritarian leaders

people who make all major group decisions and assign tasks to members

democratic leaders

leaders who encourage group discussion and decision making through consensus building

laissez-faire leaders

leaders who are only minimally involved in decision making and who encourage group members to make their own decisions

conformity

the process of maintaining or changing behavior to comply with the norms established by a society, subculture, or other group

groupthink

the process by which members of a cohesive group arrive at a decision that many individual members privately believe is unwise

bureaucracy

an organizational model characterized by a hierarchy of authority, a clear division of labor, explicit rules and procedures, and impersonality in personnel matters

rationality

the process by which traditional methods of social organization, characterized by informality and spontaneity, are gradually replaced by efficiently administered formal rules and procedures

goal displacement

a process that occurs in organizations when the rules become an end in themselves rather than a means to an end, and organizational survival becomes more important than achievement of goals

bureaucratic personality

a psychological construct that describes those workers who are more concerned with following correct procedures than they are with getting the job done correctly