Ch. 6: Groups and Organizations

Question 1

What is a group?

Answer 1

2 or more individuals who interact, share goals and norms, and have a subjective awareness as “we.”

Question 2

What is the reason we don’t call something, like a line of people in a store, a group?

Answer 2

Because the don’t share a subjective feeling of “we.”

Question 3

What is a dyad?

Answer 3

A group of 2 people

Question 4

What is a triad?

Answer 4

A group of 3 people

Question 5

Why are triads generally unstable?

Answer 5

Because intereactions in a triad often end up as “two against one.”

Question 6

What tends to happen when a group’s size increases?

Answer 6

Connections within the group become less intense, but the group is more stable

Question 7

What is the difference between primary and secondary groups?

Answer 7

Primary groups are more intimate and serve emotional needs, while secondary groups are less intimate and serve instrumental needs

Question 8

Name an example of a primary group.

Answer 8

Family and friends

Question 9

Name an example of a secondary group.

Answer 9

Sports teams, political groups, corporations

Question 10

What is a reference group?

Answer 10

A group in which you may or may not belong but use as a standard for evaluating your values, attitudes, and behaviors

Question 11

Name an example of a reference group.

Answer 11

Major league sports teams, popular bands

Question 12

What is an in-group?

Answer 12

Social groups that you belong to

Question 13

What is an out-group?

Answer 13

A group you are not a part of.

Question 14

What is attribution theory?

Answer 14

The principle that we all explain the behaviors of other people based on assumptions about their individual characteristics or their situational context.

Question 15

What is attribution error?

Answer 15

Errors made in crediting causes for people’s behavior to their membership in a particular group

Question 16

What is a social network?

Answer 16

A set of links between individuals, between groups, or between other social units

Question 17

What is the not-me syndrome?

Answer 17

The gulf between what people think they will do and what they actually do

Question 18

What did the Asch Conformity experiment reveal about the group size effect?

Answer 18

That even simple objective facts cannot withstand the distorting pressure of group influence

Question 19

What did the Milgram obedience studies reveal about authority figures?

Answer 19

That the social influence from authority figures are strong; may often override what you believe

Question 20

What is groupthink?

Answer 20

The tendency for group memebers to reach a consensus at all costs, which may lead to unintended consequences

Question 21

What is risky/polarization shift?

Answer 21

The tendency for group member, after discussion and interaction, to engage in riskier behavior than they would while alone

Question 22

Define deindividuation.

Answer 22

The feeling that one’s self has merged with a group.

Question 23

What is a formal organization?

Answer 23

A large secondary group, highly organized to accomplish a complex task and achieve goals efficiently.

Question 24

What is organizational culture?

Answer 24

The collective norms and values that shape the behavior of people within an organization

Question 25

Name an example of a formal organization.

Answer 25

Schools, churches

Question 26

What are the 3 types of organizations?

Answer 26

Normative, coercive, and utilitarian

Question 27

What is a normative organization?

Answer 27

An organization having a voluntary membership and that pursues goals

Question 28

What is a coercive organization?

Answer 28

Organizations in which membership in involuntary

Question 29

What is a utilitarian organization?

Answer 29

A profit or nonprofit organization that pays its employees salaries or wages

Question 30

What are bureaucracies?

Answer 30

A type of formal organization characterized by an authority hierarchy, a clear division of labor, explicit rules, and impersonality

Question 31

What is meant by Bureaucracy’s “other face?”

Answer 31

When employees bend the rules a bit in response to the formality and impersonality of the bureaucracy.

Question 32

What are the 3 problems that bureaucracies bring?

Answer 32

Ritualism, alienation, and promotes groupthink

Question 33

What is organizational ritualism?

Answer 33

A situation in which rules become ends in themselves rather than means to an end

Question 34

What is alienation?

Answer 34

When a person feels psychologically separated from the organization and its goals

Question 35

What is the McDonaldization of society?

Answer 35

The belief that modern society widely adopts McDonald’s prototype of the fast food restaurant business strategy

Question 36

What are the benefits of McDonaldization?

Answer 36

Efficient, calculable, predictable, and controllable

Question 37

How does McDonaldization bring consequences?

Answer 37

It brings problems to workers, such as no worker benefits.