Chapter 5: Interaction, Groups, and Organizations: Connections that Work

1. Chapter 5: Interaction, Groups, and Organizations: Connections that Work Dr. Santos Soc 100

2. Networks and Connections in Our Social World • Social networks-- micro-level contacts and exchanges between individuals and other individuals, small groups, and large (even global) organizations • Networking -- using our social networks to get information, favors, or resources

3. Family and Friends: Micro-Level Networks • Network links • casual and personal , or • based on official positions and channels • Close Networks • Personal ties are tight • Shared personal interest held very high

5. Meso- and Macro-Level Networks • How are we linked: • The internet • Local civic, sports, and religious organizations • Community or national institutions • Our nation(s) • Global entities • Networks can open opportunities • But obligations can limit freedom • Meso- and macro-level interactions are more formal than micro-level ones

6. The Elements of Social Interaction • Social interaction is two or more individuals purposefully relating to each other • All interaction has three important components: • An action • A common goal • A social context • The action, goal, and context helps us interpret the social meaning of our interaction

7. The Elements of Social Interaction • People assume that others will share their interpretation of a situation • Shared assumptions create cues for behavior • Shared assumptions dictate what is appropriate in a situation • Dress • Manner • Speech • Actions • Socialization helps us determine the expectations of social interaction & vice-versa

8. The Elements of Social Interaction • People interact using verbaland non-verbal communication • Non-verbal communication are interactions using facial expressions, the head, eye contact, body posture, gestures, touch, walk, status symbols and personal space • Non-verbal communication are: • Culturally specific • Learned through socialization • Used in all cultures

9. The Elements of Social Interaction • Personal space is non-verbal language • The amount of personal space needed varies by: • Cultural setting • Gender • Status • Social context • Personal space communicates social positions • Higher positions and status have greater control of physical space • Gender differences are customary in most societies

10. Four categories of social distance in U.S. culture (Hall): • Intimate distance • Private and affectionate relationships • 0 – 18 inches • Personal distance • Friends and acquaintances • 18 inches – 4 feet • Social distance • Impersonal business relations • 4 – 12 feet • Public distance • Used in formal settings • Especially with high-status speakers • 12 feet and beyond

11. Theoretical Perspectives on the Interaction Process • Exchange/Rational Choice Theory • Assumes that relationships are formed (and persist) based on the rewards and costs of the interaction to the individual • When benefits of the interaction are high and costs are low, interaction will be valued and sustained • If the benefits of interaction are low and if the costs are high, the interaction will not be valued nor sustained • For exchange theorists, every interaction involves: • Calculations of self-interest • Expectation of reciprocity • Actions that have current or eventual pay-off for actors

12. Theoretical Perspectives on the Interaction Process • Symbolic interaction theory • Ethnomethodology– the use of empirical methods to study how people develop shared meanings and consider how common rules originate by • Breaking norms to discover rules of interaction • Being interested in people’s responses to norm violations • Not taking interaction norms for granted

13. Theoretical Perspectives on the Interaction Process • Symbolic interaction theory (continued) • Dramaturgy – the study of social life from the framework that life is similar to a play or drama on stage, with scripts, props, and scenes to be played • Dramaturgical analysts believe interaction occurs on two stages • Front stage behavior • Backstage behavior • Working to create a definition of self through social interaction

14. Theoretical Perspectives on the Interaction Process • Assumptions of Dramaturgical analysts: • We create an impression for our audience as in acting in a play • Individuals learn new lines to add to their scripts through socialization • Individuals perform scripts for social audiences in order to maintain certain images, much like the actors in a play • Individuals use props as visible symbols to create or reinforce our roles • Individuals perform according to society’s script for the situation • Individuals work to create a positive, advantageous impression through impression management • Individuals use tact, humor, and other strategies to try to create positive impressions • Dramaturgical analysts believe interaction occurs on two stages: front stage & backstage

15. Social Status: The Link to Groups • Social Statusesare positions that individuals hold in the social world • Define interaction with others • A status set is the combination of statuses held by an individual • Ascribed statusesare statuses that are assigned at birth and do not change during an individual’s lifetime • Achieved statusesare statuses that are chosen or earned by decisions one makes or by personal ability • Master statusesare statuses that are most important and take precedence over others

16. Social Status: The Link to Groups

17. Roles are the expected behaviors, rights and obligations associated with a status Statuses (positions) Roles (behavioral obligations of the status) The Relationship between Status and Roles

18. Individuals hold formal and informalstatuses

19. Role strainis tension between roles within one status Role conflict is conflict between the roles of two or more statuses

20. Groups in Our Social World: The Micro-Meso Connection • Groupsare two or more people who interact with each other because of shared common interests, goals, experiences, and needs • Create a sense of belonging among members • Share a common goal • Members are in contact with one another • Defined membership norms • Rules for members’ behaviors • Groups form through a series of steps: • Initial interaction between potential members • A collective goal emerges • Attempt to expand collective goals by building membership and pursuing new goals

21. The Importance of Groups for the Individual • Groups establish our place in the social world and deeply influence of state of mind: • Anomieor a state of normlessness • Suicide (Durkheim) • Egoistic suicide • Anomic suicide • Altruistic suicide

22. Primary groups are groups with close contacts between members with whom members have lasting personal relationships Characteristics of primary groups: Strong sense of belonging Strong group loyalty Strong influence on behavior Main purpose is belonging Primary groups have intrinsic value Secondary groups are groups with formal, impersonal, businesslike relationships between members Characteristics of secondary groups: Large membership base Task-oriented Relationships based on accomplishing A clear division of labor Specialized communication Membership can be short-term or long lasting Types of Groups

23. Types of Groups • Reference groups are groups composed of members who act as role models to one another and establish standards against which members measure their conduct • Peer groupsare people who share similar age or social status; they can also serve as reference groups • Ingroups are groups to which individuals feel a sense of loyalty and belonging • Outgroups are groups to which individuals do not belong, but that exists in competition or opposition to an ingroup

24. Organizations and Bureaucracies:The Meso-Macro Connection

25. The Evolution of Modern Organizations • Organizational structure depends on the type of society • Modern organizations and bureaucracies began with industrialization • Rationality or the attempt to reach maximum efficiency, is the governing principle of most modern organizations • Formal organizations are complex secondary groups formed to pursue and achieve certain goals • Organizational societiesare societies where a majority of the members work in organizations • Bureaucraciesare specific types of very large formal organizations with the primary goal of maximizing efficiency

26. Characteristics of Modern Organizations • Organizations are categorized by their ability to get members to comply with the rules: • Utilitarian organizations gain compliance by providing income that individuals need to live in exchange for their labor • Coercive organizationsare involuntary organizations where compliance is achieved by force • Normative organizations are groups where compliance is based on moral or political beliefs; individuals tend to join normative organizations for personal satisfaction • Voluntary organizations are groups individuals join on their own accord, typically because they believe in a cause, or because they enjoy the social contact or activity

27. Characteristics of Bureaucracies • Max Weber was the pioneer thinker on them • Weber found 6 characteristics of ideal type bureaucracies • Division of labor based on technical competence • Administrative hierarchy • Formal rules and regulations • Impersonal relationships • Emphasis on rationality and efficiency • Provision of life-long careers • Bureaucracies also have an informal structure (fiefdoms, informal networks, gossip, etc.)

28. Characteristics of McDonaldization • McDonaldization– George Ritzer’s term for the process through which the principles of the McDonald’s corporation have been integrated into the operation of all organizations • The principles of McDonaldization: • Efficiency • Predictability • Calculability • Increased control • The dysfunctions of McDonaldization • Dehumanization • Irrationality • The desire for efficiency taking over creativity and human interaction • Loss of uniqueness and local flavor

29. Individuals in Bureaucracies • Professionals • Alienation • Autonomy • Minority-status groups • Glass ceilings -- to barriers which keep females and other minority group members from reaching high levels of management in organizations • Disproportional representation in middle or low occupational levels

30. Problems in Bureaucracies • Dysfunctions of Bureaucracy • Alienation • Worker dissatisfaction • Oligarchy • The iron law of oligarchy • Goal Displacement • Parkinson’s Law • Alternatives to Bureaucracy • Alternative organization structure • Democratic-collective organization

31. National and Global Networks: The Macro-Level • Multinational corporations • National systems and international organizations • The Internet

32. Policy Issues: Women and Globalization • Around the world, women are the most economically, politically, and socially marginalized group of people • The United Nations has created may policies to help raise the status of women worldwide • Education initiatives • Micro-lending agencies