• DEFINITION: socially defined position within a group or society
• Status Set:• Refers to EVERY status
that an individual holds at any given point in time
Social Structure: Status
Ascribed v. Achieved Status
• Ascribed Status: • A status assigned according to
standards that are beyond a person’s control
• Achieved Status:• A status acquired by an individual
on the basis of some special skill, knowledge or ability
• DEFINITION: a social position that holds exceptional importance for identity, often shaping a person’s entire life
• What is your master status right now?
Master Status
Social Structure: Role
• DEFINITION: the behavior expected of someone occupying a particular status
• The dynamic expression of status• Role Conflict:• The incompatibility among roles
corresponding to two or more statuses
• Social Group: collection of people who interact, share similar characteristics and have a sense of unity
• Social Category: collection of people who do not interact, but who share similar characteristics
• Social Aggregate: at any given time, a collection of people who are together but who interact very little
Types of Social Gatherings
• Roman Catholics • The Bravehearts• Girls at Milton High School• Fans at a Zac Brown Band
concert• Sigma Phil Epsilon brothers at
UGA• The Silverman Family• People on a bus tour in New
York• Milton High School 2014
Football team
Practice… For each of the following indicate if it is a Group, Category, or
Aggregate(category)
(category)
(group)
(aggregate)
(group)
(group)
(aggregate)
(group)
• Democrats living in Georgia• The cast of Milton’s spring
musical• First time moms• Customers eating at Chipotle
on a Friday night• EagleStix 11U girls lax team• Delta Zeta sisters nationwide• World History PLC members
at MHS• Passengers on a flight to NY
Practice… For each of the following indicate if it is a Group, Category, or
Aggregate(category)
(category)
(group)
(aggregate)
(group)
(category)
(aggregate)
(group)
Primary & Secondary Groups
• Primary Group:• Small social group whose
members share personal & enduring relationships
• Secondary Group:• Large & impersonal social group
whose members pursue a specific interest or activity
Social Networks
• Social Network:• The web of relationships that is
formed by the sum total of a person’s interactions with other people
• Includes direct & indirect relationships
Six Degrees of Separation?
• Experiment by Stanley Milgram in 1967
• Study has been questioned, but theory is interesting…randomly select 2 people in different parts of country and see how many connections would it take to link them
• 2011 Facebook study – average number of links 4.74 (less in US – 4.37)
• Dyad: Group of 2• Most intimate• Each member has direct control
over group existence• Triad: Group of 3• No one person can disband group• Easier decision-making
Size Matters!
• What is happens to groups as they get larger?
Size Matters!
• Characteristics of In-Groups:
• Titles, external symbols & dress • Competition with members of the
out-group; strengthens unity within each group
• Apply positive stereotypes to the in-group; negative stereotypes to the out-group
In-Groups v. Out-Groups
• Conformity:• a change in beliefs
or actions that results in adherence to group norms
• How susceptible are individuals to group pressure?
Conformity within Groups
Conformity within Groups• Pressure to Conform:• Strength of social
pressure • Immediacy of social pressure• Number of people involved in
the source of social pressure
Conformity within Groups
• Asch Experiment: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TYIh4MkcfJA
• WYFFT Elevator Clip:• http://
abcnews.go.com/WhatWouldYouDo/video/fall-elevator-19922451
• Compliance: a change in behavior prompted by a direct request rather than social norms; obedience
• 6 Primary Factors: • Friendship, commitment, scarcity,
reciprocity, social validation, authority…
Compliance in Groups
Compliance in Groups
• Milgram Experiment: • http://
www.youtube.com/watch?v=HwqNP9HRy7Y
• Expressive Leaders:• Affiliation motivated• Cooperative style of management• Instrumental Leaders:• Achievement motivated• Directive style of management
Group Leadership
Group Behavior
• Group-Think:• When members of a
cohesive group endorse a single explanation or answer, usually at the expense of ignoring reality
• No toleration of dissenting opinions
Group Behavior
• Group-Think happens when there is:
• A strong, persuasive group leader• A high level of group cohesion• Intense pressure from the outside
to make a good decision
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qYpbStMyz_I
• Social Loafing:• The tendency to
work less when responsibility for an outcome is spread throughout several members of a group
Loafing & Compensation
Loafing & Compensation
• Social Compensation:• The tendency to work harder
when one is part of a group, rather than when he or she is alone
Pro-social Behavior
• DEFINITION: acting to benefit others
• More likely to help if:• Have a high need for approval• Personal and social responsibility • Sense of empathy
Pro-social Behavior
• More likely to be helped by others if:
• Perceived as a potential leader• Not responsible for predicament• Member of helper’s group• Bystander Effect:• The more people present, the
less likely each individual is to help someone in distress
• Utilitarian Organizations:
• An organization that provides material benefits in exchange for labor
Formal Organizations
• Normative Organizations:
• An organization that pursues what they believe to be a morally worthwhile goal
Formal Organizations