Behavioral Sciences: Social Interaction (9.1)

Statuses

• Perceived positions in society meant to classify individuals

Absorbed status

• Given involuntarily

• Race, ethnicity, sex, family background

Achieved status

• Gained as a result of one’s efforts and choices

Master status

• Most identified status

• Typically most important status

• Pigeonholing: viewing individuals through the lens of their master status

Roles

• Set of beliefs, values, attitudes, and norms that define expectations for those who hold the status

Role performance

• Carrying out the behaviors associated with a given role

• Some do better than others

  • Ex: doctors need to translate medical info to patient

• Can change depending on the social situation and context of the interaction

  • Ex: doctors different talking to each other vs. patients

• Can also change due to role partner

Role partner

• Person with whom one is interacting

Role set

• Various roles associated with a status

Role conflict

• Difficulty in satisfying the requirements or expectations of multiple roles

Role strain

• Difficulty in satisfying multiple requirements of the same role

Role exit

• Dropping one identity for another

Group/social group

• 2+ people who share any # of similar characteristics as well as a sense of unity

• dyad: 2 people

• triad: 3 people

In-group

• A social group with which a person experiences a sense of belonging or identifies as a member

Out-group

• A social group with which an individual dos not identify

Group conflict

• Out-group competing with/opposing in-group

Peer group

• Self-selected equals associated by similar interests, ages, or statuses

  • Friendship; sense of belonging

Family group

• Not self-selected but determined by birth, adoption, and marriage

Reference group

• Group an individual uses as a standard for evaluating themselves

Primary group

• Direct interactions

• Last a long time

• Close bonds → warm, personal, intimate relationships

Secondary group

• Impersonal interactions (businesslike)

• Goal of accomplishing a specific purpose

• Lasts a short group time

Ferdinand Tonnies

• Identified 2 major group types

• Gemeinschaft and Gesellschaft theory

  • Community and society

Community (G&G theory)

• Groups united by feelings of togetherness due to shared beliefs, ancestry, or geography

• Ex: family; neighborhoods

Society (G&G theory)

• Less personal groups formed out of mutual self-interests working together toward the same goal

• Ex: companies and countries

Interaction process analysis

• Technique for observing, classifying, and measuring the interactions within small groups

• Revised in 1970s to be System for Multiple Level Observation of Groups

3 fundamental dimensions of interactions

• Dominance vs. submission

• Friendliness vs. unfriendliness

• Instrumentally controlled vs. emotionally expressive

Group conformity

• Individuals are compliant with the group’s goals, even when the group’s goals may be in direct contrast to the individual’s goal

  • Happens when individuals want to be accepted and fit in

Groupthink

• When members focus on reaching a consensus at the cost of critical evaluation of relevant information

Network

• Observable pattern of social relationships among individuals or groups

• Networks have their own demands and expectations of other members

Network redundancy

• Overlapping connections with the same individual

Network analysis

• Gain understanding of the actions of individuals and groups and study broader social structure

Immediate networks

• Dense with strong ties; friends

Distant networks

• Loose with weak ties; acquaintances

Organizations

• Complex secondary groups set up to achieve specific goals

• Have a structure and a culture

Formal organization

• Way to maximize efficiency

• Explicit goals guide members

• Enforcement procedures to seek control

• Hierarchical allotment of formal roles/duties

• Usually large

Characteristic institution

• Basic organization of society

• Changed throughout history

  • Kin, clan, sib during prehistoric times

  • Modern times — bureaucracy

Bureaucracy

• Rational system of political organization, administration, discipline, and control

• Often slow to change; less efficient

6 characteristics of bureaucracy

• Paid, nonelected officials on a fixed salary

• Officials provided rights and privileges due to holding office

• Regular salary increases, seniority rights, and promotions upon passing exams or milestones

• Officials who enter by holding an advanced degree or training

• Responsibilities, obligations, privileges, and work procedures defined

• Meeting demands of one’s positions

Iron law of oligarchy

• Democratic or bureaucratic systems naturally shift to being ruled by an elite group

• Why?

  • Necessity of core body

  • Need for specialization

  • Leadership characteristics

McDonaldization

• Shift in focus toward efficiency, predictability, calculability, and control in societal practices

• Ex: 24 hour news channels with “bite-size” headlines — efficient and predictable sources of information