Ch. 6: Groups and Organizations Flashcards
What is a group?
2 or more individuals who interact, share goals and norms, and have a subjective awareness as “we.”
What is the reason we don’t call something, like a line of people in a store, a group?
Because the don’t share a subjective feeling of “we.”
What is a dyad?
A group of 2 people
What is a triad?
A group of 3 people
Why are triads generally unstable?
Because intereactions in a triad often end up as “two against one.”
What tends to happen when a group’s size increases?
Connections within the group become less intense, but the group is more stable
What is the difference between primary and secondary groups?
Primary groups are more intimate and serve emotional needs, while secondary groups are less intimate and serve instrumental needs
Name an example of a primary group.
Family and friends
Name an example of a secondary group.
Sports teams, political groups, corporations
What is a reference group?
A group in which you may or may not belong but use as a standard for evaluating your values, attitudes, and behaviors
Name an example of a reference group.
Major league sports teams, popular bands
What is an in-group?
Social groups that you belong to
What is an out-group?
A group you are not a part of.
What is attribution theory?
The principle that we all explain the behaviors of other people based on assumptions about their individual characteristics or their situational context.
What is attribution error?
Errors made in crediting causes for people’s behavior to their membership in a particular group
What is a social network?
A set of links between individuals, between groups, or between other social units
What is the not-me syndrome?
The gulf between what people think they will do and what they actually do
What did the Asch Conformity experiment reveal about the group size effect?
That even simple objective facts cannot withstand the distorting pressure of group influence
What did the Milgram obedience studies reveal about authority figures?
That the social influence from authority figures are strong; may often override what you believe
What is groupthink?
The tendency for group memebers to reach a consensus at all costs, which may lead to unintended consequences
What is risky/polarization shift?
The tendency for group member, after discussion and interaction, to engage in riskier behavior than they would while alone
Define deindividuation.
The feeling that one’s self has merged with a group.
What is a formal organization?
A large secondary group, highly organized to accomplish a complex task and achieve goals efficiently.
What is organizational culture?
The collective norms and values that shape the behavior of people within an organization
Name an example of a formal organization.
Schools, churches
What are the 3 types of organizations?
Normative, coercive, and utilitarian
What is a normative organization?
An organization having a voluntary membership and that pursues goals
What is a coercive organization?
Organizations in which membership in involuntary
What is a utilitarian organization?
A profit or nonprofit organization that pays its employees salaries or wages
What are bureaucracies?
A type of formal organization characterized by an authority hierarchy, a clear division of labor, explicit rules, and impersonality
What is meant by Bureaucracy’s “other face?”
When employees bend the rules a bit in response to the formality and impersonality of the bureaucracy.
What are the 3 problems that bureaucracies bring?
Ritualism, alienation, and promotes groupthink
What is organizational ritualism?
A situation in which rules become ends in themselves rather than means to an end
What is alienation?
When a person feels psychologically separated from the organization and its goals
What is the McDonaldization of society?
The belief that modern society widely adopts McDonald’s prototype of the fast food restaurant business strategy
What are the benefits of McDonaldization?
Efficient, calculable, predictable, and controllable
How does McDonaldization bring consequences?
It brings problems to workers, such as no worker benefits.
