Groups, Social Structure, and Organizations Flashcards
What is social structure?
– patterned web of interactions
- —> position of where one is structurally
- —> positions are always relational
- —> overtime interactions repeat in patterns
- —> interactions build the structure
What is social status?
– comes with status set: different positions that one can occupy in their life (changes over time)
What is the difference between ascribed and achieved status?
– ascribed status: one that you’re sort of born w/ it –> or you come into it
ex: race, sexual orientation
– achieved status: one that one chooses or a set of decisions are made and one works their way into a specific status
What is the master status?
- central
- more salient, more potent in describing you than other statuses
- something you’re more likely to recognize this status first
ex: a celebrity
- something you’re more likely to recognize this status first
- -> status inconsistency
- - all about ranking
What are roles?
– expected behaviors
What is a role set?
– all the roles that come w/ a position
– the expected behaviors that come along w/ specific statuses
What is the role performance? And who is the role theory associated with ?
– what we’re expected to do vs. what we actually do
– Robert Merton
– role theory = acting out categories
What is the difference between role conflict and role strain?
Role conflict: inter-status; there’s a competition between two roles
Ex: being a physician and a parent; having to perform important surgery while also needing to attend your kid’s piano recital
Role strain: intra-status
Ex: physician having to treat patient and wanting to make healthcare accessible while also billing the patient
T or F, learning to cope w/ role strain and conflict is important
– true; these are not recommended states to be in –> deleterious to health
What are social sites?
– they help to create and manage interactions
– the more cross institutional interactions we have the more normative they become
What is a social institution?
- repeated pattern of interactions
- across these, this can comprise of the overall global web of social structure
– group of people that have come together for a common purpose
What is a group?
- people are the main ingredient
- it is at least two people
- interaction between 2 people creates the possibility of group behavior
– groups can be temporary, can also be permanent and long lasting
What were Simmel’s main ideas about groups?
- Diad –> two people
- Triad –> 3 people
– the key is that it’s when we jump from 2 to 3 that the group dynamic shifts
diad – total interdependence
triad – one person can leave, and you still have a group
with a diad –> the presence of lying and politicking is less and easy to get away with
with a triad –> being able to lie and having political alliances is easier to pull off in triad –> cause its likely that one will have someone to accuse
Primary vs. Secondary for relationships
– Primary: tends to be smaller, more intimate and personal relationships
- -> each member of the group is individually important
- -> not as easily replaceable
- -> tend to have a strong influence (this is where primary can be confused w/ reference groups)
- -> ties based on instrumental or emotional
- -> tend to be family and very close friends
Secondary
- -> tend to be larger
- -> reason they come about is bc there is something to accomplish
- -> goal oriented
- -> group purpose is to accomplish a goal
- -> group membership is based on how well one can aid in accomplishing that goal
– other secondary groups can exist within larger secondary group
In group vs. Out group
In group: more privileged, dominant position
- people who see themselves as having certain characteristics that define the group
- based on characteristics
– share identity of “weness” –> exclude and devalue those who don’t match characteristics
Outgroup –> everyone who isn’t apart of the club
