Chapter 5 Networks, Groups,and Organizations

Chapter Outline• Beyond Individual Motives• Social Networks: It’s a Small World• Groups• Bureaucracy• Freedom and Constraint in Social

Life

How Social Groups Shape Our Actions

1. Norms of solidarity demand conformity. – When we form relationships, we

develop norms of solidarity about how we should behave to sustain the relationships.

– Study of the Nazis who roamed the Polish countryside to shoot and kill “enemies” of Nazi Germany felt they had to get their assigned job done or face letting down their comrades.

How Social Groups Shape Our Actions

2. Structures of authority tend to render people obedient. – Most people find it difficult to

disobey authorities because they fear ridicule, ostracism, and punishment.

– Demonstrated in experiment conducted by social psychologist Stanley Milgram.

How Social Groups Shape Our Actions

3. Bureaucracies are highly effective structures of authority. – The Nazi genocide machine was so

effective because it was bureaucratically organized.

– A bureaucracy is a large, impersonal organization composed of clearly defined positions arranged in a hierarchy.

Polling Question• How likely would you be to join an

organization where membership is determined by race?

A. Very likelyB. Somewhat likelyC. UnsureD. Somewhat unlikelyE. Very unlikely

Milgram Experiment• 71% of experimental subjects were

prepared to administer shocks of 285 volts, despite the fact that the actor appeared to be in great distress at this level of current.

• Teaches us that as soon as we are introduced to a structure of authority, we are inclined to obey those in power.

Obedience to Authority Increases with Separation from the Negative Effects of One’s

Actions

The Building Blocks of Social Networks

• Dyad is the most elementary network form, a social relationship between two social units.

• Triad is a social relationship among three social units.

• The social dynamics of these two elementary network forms are fundamentally different.

The Dyad

1. Both are absorbed in the relationship.2. Needs both partners to live but only one

to die.3. No “free riders” are possible.4. Neither can deny responsibility by

shifting it to a larger collectivity.

The Triad1. Intensity and intimacy

are reduced.2. Allows a partner to be

constrained for the collective good.

3. Coalitions are possible.

4. Third-party mediation of conflict between two partners is possible.

The Triad5. Exploitation of rivalry

between two partners is possible.

6. A divide-and-conquer strategy is possible.

7. “Free riders” are possible.

8. It is possible to shift responsibility to the larger collectivity.

The Asch Experiment

• Asch assembled seven men. One was the subject, the others were “actors”.

• Asch showed the men a card with a line on it and asked which line on the card was the same length as a line on card 2.

• All six actors answered wrong. • The subject typically overruled his own

perception and agreed with the majority.

The Asch Experiment

Factors in Conformity1. The likelihood of conformity increases

as group size increases to three or four members.

2. As group cohesiveness increases, so does the likelihood of conformity.

3. People with low status in a group are less likely to dissent than people with high status.

Factors in Conformity4. People in individualistic societies

like the United States tend to conform less than people in collectivist societies like China.

5. Even one dissenting voice greatly increases the chance that others will dissent.

Group Think• Group pressure to conform despite

individual misgivings• Examples:

– President Roosevelt and his advisors refused to believe the Japanese would bomb Pearl Harbor.

– President Nixon decided to cover up the Watergate break-in.

Groups• Groups are clusters of people who

identify with each other.• Primary groups involve intense,

intimate, enduring relations.• Secondary groups involve less

personal and intense ties.• Reference groups are groups against

which people measure their situation or conduct.

Polling Question• Which type of group is the most

important to you?A. Primary groupB. Secondary group

Four Criticisms Against Bureaucracies

1. Dehumanization2. Bureaucratic ritualism3. Oligarchy “rule of the few”4. Bureaucratic inertia

Possible Dyadic Relationships by Number of People in Group

Bureaucratic Structure

Network Structure

laissez-faire Leadership • The least effective,• Leader allows subordinates to work

things out on their own, with almost no direction from above.

• Works best when group members are highly experienced, trained, motivated, and educated and when trust and confidence in group members are high.

Authoritarian Leadership• Authoritarian leaders demand strict

compliance from subordinates. • Most effective in a crisis such as a

war or an emergency room.• May earn grudging respect for

achieving the group’s goals in the face of difficult circumstances.

Democratic Leadership• Offers more guidance than laissez-

faire but less control than authoritarian.

• Leaders try to include all group members in decision-making.

• Except for crisis situations, democratic leadership is the most effective leadership style.

Quick Quiz

1. Stanley Milgram's research, in which subjects used a "shock generator," showed that:a. people become hostile towards

those who disagree with them.b. the conclusions of Solomon

Asch's research were incorrect.c. when norms are put into

writing, they are easier to enforce.

d. people are likely to follow the orders of authority figures.

Answer: d• Stanley Milgram's research, in

which subjects used a "shock generator," showed that people are likely to follow the orders of authority figures.

2. Which of the following is NOT characteristic of a triad?a. Intensity and intimacy are

reduced.b. Individuality is restricted.c. Coalitions are possible.d. Third-party mediation of conflict

is possible.e. No "free riders" are possible.

Answer: e• The characteristic, No "free

riders" are possible, is NOT characteristic of a triad.

3. Which of the following statements is consistent with the findings of Solomon Asch's experiment in which subjects were asked to match lines?a. Many people are willing to

compromise their own judgment to avoid being seen as different.

b. Many people pick friends who tend to agree with them.

c. Ordinary people say things they know to be untrue to people in power.

d. All of these choices are correct.

Answer: a• The statement:

Many people are willing to compromise their own judgment to avoid being seen as different.is consistent with the findings of Solomon Asch's experiment in which subjects were asked to match lines.

4. Which of the following illustrate groupthink?a. A group shares information and

makes an effective recommendation.b. A group leader makes a decision

without consulting anyone, and the decision turns out to be a bad one.

c. A group seeks consensus, discouraging members from speaking freely, and making a poor policy recommendation.

d. None of these choices.

Answer: c• The following illustrates

groupthink: • A group seeks consensus,

discouraging members from speaking freely, and making a poor policy recommendation.

5. The more levels in a bureaucratic structure:a. the more efficiently it operates.b. the less likely is oligarchic rule

to emerge. c. the more difficult

communication becomes. d. the greater the number of

dyadic relationships. e. None of these choices.

Answer: c• The more levels in a bureaucratic

structure the more difficult communication becomes.