Post on 17-Dec-2015
StructureStructure
• norms• roles
StructureStructure
• norms• roles• intermember relations
Emergent (self-organizing) and/or deliberately designed
What Are Norms?
Norms: Consensual and often implicit standards that describe what behaviors should and should not be performed in a given context.
Feature Description
Descriptive describe how most members act, feel, and think
Consensual shared among group members, rather than personal, idiosyncratic beliefs
Injunctive (or normative)
define which behaviors are "bad" or "wrong" and which are "good" or "acceptable"
Prescriptive set the standards for expected behaviors
Proscriptive identify behaviors that should not be performed
Informal describe the unwritten rules of conduct in the group
Implicit often so taken for granted members follow them automatically
Self-generating emerge as members reach a consensus through reciprocal influence
Stable once they develop, resistant to change and passed from current members to new members
Development of Norms
Sherif’s studies of the development of norms in groups
– Convergence in actions, thoughts, and emotions occurs over time
Sherif's (1936) autokinetic effect studies
Judged distance a dot of light moved in a darkened room
Autokinetic effect: the stationary dot of light will seem to move
It moved about3.5 inches
What if people make their judgments with others, and state estimates aloud?
Looks like 1 inch
I’d say 2 inches
7.5 inches
Conformity! Initially, they differ; but over trials, they converge
Person A
Person B
Person C
Convergence
Alone GroupSession 1
GroupSession 3
GroupSession 2
Ave
rage
di
stan
ce e
stim
ates
Sherif verified that norms form spontaneously and indirectly
Consensual shared among group members, rather than personal, idiosyncratic beliefs
Implicit often so taken for granted members follow them automatically
Self-generating emerge as members reach a consensus through reciprocal influence
Stable once they develop, resistant to change and passed from current members to new members
Do Norms Sometimes Take on a “life of their own”?
Sherif put in a confederate in some groups who made exaggerated distance judgments others conformed
Confederate
Person B
Person C
Alone GroupSession 1
GroupSession 3
GroupSession 2
Ave
rage
di
stan
ce e
stim
ates
Even when the confederate was replaced, the norm remained
Person B
Person D
Person C
Group Session 4
GroupSession 1
GroupSession 3
GroupSession 2
Ave
rage
di
stan
ce e
stim
ates
Newmember
The exaggerated norm lasted for many “generations” of replacements
Person C
Person F
Person D
Group Session 4
GroupSession 1
GroupSession 3
GroupSession 2
Ave
rage
di
stan
ce e
stim
ates
Sherif’s studies of the development of norms in groups - Members often internalize these consensual
standards- Result: norms are self-generating and stable
Examples
• Eating disorders in groups (binging, purging, excessive exercise)
• Alcohol use on college campuses (Perkins and “social norm interventions”)
What Are Roles?
Roles: The types of behaviors expected of individuals who occupy particular positions within the group (e.g., roles in a play)– Independent of individuals– Flexible, to an extent– Structure interaction, create patterns of
action
What Are Roles?
Role differentiation: The emergence and patterning of role-related actions – Task roles pertain to the work of the group – Relationship roles pertain to relations among
members.– Roles tend to become specialized over time– Task and relationship role demands tend to be
incompatible with one another
What Are Roles?
Moreland and Levine's group socialization theory
– Types of members: prospective, new, full, marginal, and former (ex-member)
– Phases: investigation, socialization, maintenance, resocialization, and remembrance
– Processes: recruitment/reconnaissance, accommodation/assimilation, role negotiation, tradition/reminiscence
– Transition points: entry, acceptance, divergence, exit
What Are Roles?
Role stress – Role ambiguity– Role conflict (interrole conflict and intrarole
conflict)– Role fit
What Are Status Networks?
Status network: Stable pattern of variations in authority and power
What Are Status Networks?
Status differentiation – Competition for status
(pecking orders)– Perceptions of status– Expectation-states
theory: diffuse and specific status characteristics
What Are Status Networks?
Status generalization: when irrelevant characteristics influence status allocation
– Minorities, solos denied status
– Online groups and the status equalization effect
What Are Attraction Networks?
Attraction network (sociometric structure): Stable patterns of liking-disliking
What Are Attraction Networks?
Sociometric differentiation– Types of group members: stars, rejected,
neglected– Features: reciprocity, transitivity, homophily
(clusters)– Heider's balance theory: likes and dislikes are
balanced
B
A
C
+
+
+
B
A
C
+
+
-
B
A
C
-
-
+
What Are Attraction Networks?
What factors predict sociometric standing?– Having socially attractive qualities (e.g.,
cooperativeness or physical appeal)– Person-group fit
What Are Communication Networks?
Communication network: formal and informal paths that define who speaks to whom most frequently
What Are Communication Networks?
– Types: wheel, comcon, chain, circle– Centralized vs. uncentralized
What Are Communication Networks?
Network and location in the network influences many processes
– Information saturation: centralized networks are most efficient unless information overload
– Individuals who occupy more central positions are more influential (and more satisfied) than those located at the periphery.
– Hierarchical networks and information flow: More information flows downward and unrealistically positive information flows upward