Foundations of Sociometry

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Foundations of Sociometry: An IntroductionAuthor(s): J. L. MorenoReviewed work(s):Source: Sociometry, Vol. 4, No. 1 (Feb., 1941), pp. 15-35Published by: American Sociological AssociationStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2785363 .

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FOUNDATIONS OF SOCIOMETRYAN INTRODUCTION

J.L. MorenoSYNOPSIS

An inquiry into the natureof the foundationsof humanociety becamenecessary as a preliminaryto any genuine plan for its reconstruction n accordwith the requirements f well-balanced humannter-relations. Sociometry s concernedwith both of theseproblems nd their interdependence. No collection--howeverarge--of sociometrictechniquescan coverthe whole domain f sociometry. Some f the chiefconcepts are discussed: the conceptof the Moment,tele, the social atom ndpsycho-social networks. Anumberf the moestignificant discoveries whichhavebeenmade n the course of sociometricstudies--suchas the socio-genetic law, the patterningof socialatomsand the racial saturation point--are stressed.Thepaper ends with a discussion of the dialecticcharacter of sociometry.

THE PROBLEMThe discoverythathuman societyhas an actual, dynam-ic, central structureunderlying' nd determining ll its periph-eral and formalgroupingsmay one day be consideredas thecornerstoneof all social science. This central structure--once it has been identified--is itherfound r discernible inevery formof human society,from the most primitive o themost civilized: it is in the genesis of every typeof society.In addition, t exerts a determiningnfluence ponevery spherein which thefactor of human nterrelationss an active agent--in economics, biology, social pathology, olitics, governmentand similar spheres of social action.It seems to be established beyondany reasonable doubtthat the tele factor, the social atom (with ts specific types of1See page 23, last paragraph.

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16 SOCIOMETRYpatterns),the stages whichare intermediaryetween tomsand more inclusive configurations,hepsycho-socialnetworksand theirpatternings,he principleof socio-genetic evolution--all these have always been operating n all humansocietyandwill continue o do so. These conceptsand structureshavebeen eitherisolated or demonstratedy methodscalled "socio-metric." Every othergenuinemethodbentuponthe studyofsocial processes shouldbe able to verify heirexistence.In thepast, as long as the individualscomposing hu-man societyremainedpassive agents--moreor less immobileentities,carried hither nd thither y fate or circumstance--these key structurescouldnotbe found. Per se, theydo notbecome manifest n a human ociety. A reagent--a catalyzer--is necessary in order thattheymaybe brought o view. Thiscatalyzer is, on the social level, the spontaneityf all the in-dividualsin the givensociety. Up to the adventof sociometricexploration fhuman ociety,we had seen the social scientisthimselfbeginningo come intocontactwiththe life-situationwhichwas to be explored,but the subjects--thematerial of theinvestigation--hadeen leftout of anyparticipationn the studyof this, theirownlife-situation. This meantshutting ffthespontaneityf the subjects--themost importantource of in-formation. In otherwords, the methodsused to explore thesubjects were those whichhad been successful in physical,chemical,geological and astronomicalexploration, or example,where--metaphoricallypeaking--the pontaneityf the subjectsstudieddid not enter intoor disturbthe experiment. But inhuman nterrelations nd in human ociety,the spontaneityfthe individual s the alpha and the omega, the crux, of everysocial situation nd of the wholeexperiment.The task of the social scientistis to invent dequatetools forthe exploration f a chosendomain. On the level ofhuman nterrelations, his domain s made up of the interactivespontaneities f all the individuals omposing t. Therefore,the task of the social scientistbecomes the shapingof tools insuch a fashionthat theyare able to arouse the individualstothe requiredpointon a scale whichruns all the wayfromzeroto themaximum. But individualscannotbe aroused--or.onlyto an insignificantegree--byundynamicnd automaticmeans.The individualsmustbe adequatelymotivated o that theysum-mon fromthedepthsof theirbeings the maximum f theirspontaneity.Thus, the inventionnd shapingof methodsforsocial investigation,nd the stirringup of the actions, thoughts,and feelingsof the people on whomtheyare used, mustgohandin hand.



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18 SOCIOMETRYThe technology f machines and tools was perhaps thefirst phenomenono shockman out of his roseate dream ofprogress ad infinitum,ut the effect f technology pon the

spontaneity f the humanorganismwas not studiedand re-mained,therefore, ncontrolled;ts influencewithin ur socialstructurehad remainedunadjusted. It was realized, then,thatthe foundations f humansociety must first be uncoveredbe-fore any extra-human uperstructure such as machine technol-ogy and the technology f cultural conserves) could be fitted othem.My firstdefinition f sociometrywas, in accordancewith ts etymology, romthe Latin, but the emphasis was laidnot onlyon the second halfof the term, i.e., on "metrum,"meaningmeasure, but also on the first half of the term (i.e.,on "socius," meaningcompanion).3 Bothprinciples, it seemedto me, had been neglected,but the socius" aspect had beenomittedfrom deeper analysis far more than the "metrum" s-pect. The "companion," ven as a problem, was unrecognized.Whatremains of a societyto be investigatedf the individualsthemselves and the relationshipsbetweenthemare consideredin a fragmentaryr wholesale fashion? Or, to put it in apositiveway, the individualsthemselvesand the interrelationsbetweenthem, n toto,cannot be omittedfromany studyof asocial situation. Can thefoundationsf human ocietybereached and, perhaps, uncovered f we do notbeginwith thataspect of human nterrelationswhich all types of human ociety,fromthe mostprimitivepatternof thepast to the most com-plex patternof the future,musthave in common--the atternsof relationshipswhich humanbeings form with one another ndwhichpersist underground,egardless of whatreligious, social,political and technological tructure s superimposeduponthem and rules on the surface?The technologicaldevices which aroused man's deepestsuspicionwere the productsof the printing ress, the motionpicture industry nd, later, the radio; in otherwords, of theso-called "cultural conserves." Man, as an individual reator,was outwitted y the productsof his own brain--his books, hisfilms,his radio voice. He saw himselfbeing more and morereplaced by them. He began to look upon himselfas a negligi-ble, archaic entity. At the same time,these identicaldevicesrevolutionized ll previous methodsof interhumanommunica-tionof ideas, feelings,opinions,news, etc., to an unprecedent-ed degree. These new methodsof communication egan to

3See "Trends in Sociometrics and Critique," by F. StuartChapin, SOCIOMETRY, ol. 111, No. 3, pp. 245-262.



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FOUNDATIONSOF SOCIOMETRY 19play havoc with the old, natural methods f communicationwhose laws and configurations ad not been studied. Now thattheyseemed to be in dangerof beingobliteratedor, at least,distorted n their functions, heir significancebegan to loom onthe horizon of man's awareness.The analysis of technological nd culturalconserves, es-pecially of the book, thefilm,and the radio, was thus an im-portant, lbeit negative,theoreticalpreparationfor the develop-ment of sociometry. This analysis stimulated heprojectionofconstructs s diverse as the categoryof the Moment, pon-taneous creative actions, the categoryof the cultural conserve,a social geometry f ideas and things, nd the original stateand situation f a 'thing"--its status nascendi. The theoreticalgroundwas thusgradually aid for a positive beginning f asociometrywhichwas concerned with the patternsof socialstructureswhich actually exist in human society. The core ofa social structure s the patternof relationshipsof all the in-dividuals within he structure. Around his core, influencingthe configurations f these patterns, re arrayed many evelsof stimuli--economic, ulturaland technologicalprocesses, forinstance. A human ociety which functionswithout ne or an-other of these stimuli is conceivable,but one cannotconceive asociety functioning ithout ome consideration or the individ-uals themselvesand the relationshipsbetweenthem. The coreof a social structure s, of course, never entirelyseparablefrom these various stimuli; hence, the studyof their stratifica-tion and their gradual integrationwith the core becomes an es-sential part of sociometry.The original vision of the larger sociometricexperimentwas thatthe data obtained n any particular research musthave, as a frame of reference, the total patternof humansoci-ety in order thatthese data maybe useful as a basis for theconstructionr reconstruction, or the partial or total readjust-ment,of human ociety. In order to enlist everyindividual'sinterestduringthephase of reconstruction,he social scien-tist must,ofnecessity, acquaint himself, n the research phase,withthe individuals hemselves and the interrelations etweenthem. Analaysis and action, social research, and social con-struction, re interwoven.

THE SOCIOMETRIC EXPERIMENTIt is significanto differentiate etweenthe major,exper-iment n sociometry nd the minor experiments. The majorexperimentwas visualized as a world-wideproject--a scheme



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20 SOCIOMETRYwell-nighUtopian n concept--yet t must be recalled again andagain to our attention est it be crowded outby our more prac-tical, daily tasks in sociometry.

We assumed--naively,perhaps--that f a war can spreadto encircle the globe, it should be equallypossible to prepareand propagatea world sociometry. But this vision did notarise whollyout of thin air. Once we had successfullytreatedan entirecommunity y sociometric methods, t seemed to usat least theoretically ossible to treat an infinitelyarge num-ber of such communities y the same methods--all the com-munities, n fact,ofwhich human ocietyconsists.The ground s still graduallybeing preparedforthemajor experiment. Schemes like Marxism,and others,whichhave attemptedworld-widereorganization f humanrelation-ships, have been analyzedand the causes of their failure dis-closed. Their failure seems to have been due to a lack ofknowledge f the structureof human ocietyas it actuallyex-isted at the time of the attempt. A partial knowledgewas notsufficient; nowledge f the total structurewas necessary. Weknowthat, n order to attain this total knowledge, ll the indi-viduals in a society must become active agents. Every indi-vidual, everyminorgroup, every major group,and every so-cial class mustparticipate. The aim is to gain a total pictureof humansociety; therefore,no social unit,howeverpowerless,shouldbe omittedfromparticipation n the experiment. In ad-dition, t is assumed that, once individuals re aroused by so-ciometric procedures to act, to choose and to reject, everydomainof humanrelationshipswill be.stirred up--the economic,the racial, the cultural,the technological, nd so on--andthattheyall will be broughtntothe picture. The sociometric ex-perimentwill end in becomingtotalisticnotonly in expansionand extensionbut also in intensity,husmarking he beginningof a political sociometry.It is a fact that the workto date has consisted in minorexperiments nd studies. Sociometric nvestigatorshave turnedtheir attentionway froma general experiment owardsa morestrategicand practical objective--therefining f old methodsand the invention fnew ones; the studyof every typeof chil-dren's group,adolescentgroupand age group; the investigationof communities, losed and open, primitive nd metropolitan.The investigatorshave been concernedwithevery aspect of acommunity--theconomic,the cultural and the technological--forwhichtherewas found ome degree of aspirationor expres-sion within he community.At times a projectwas carried tothe maximumpointof its domain,not onlyexploring he



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FOUNDATIONS OF SOCIOMETRY 21structure f a communityutalso applying he findings o thecommunityituations nd thus relieving ensionsand producingsocial catharsis. At othertimes,however, ossible upheavalwithin hepolitical administrationf a communitynd resist-ance on thepart of its citizenshindered horoughociometricexperimentation.Cases have occurredwherethe investigatorhadto be contentwithgatheringnlypartialdata (andthisbyindirection) ecause of the low sociometric daptabilityf thepopulation nderobservation, esultingn studieswhichwereonlyhalfwayociometric. In these cases, the findings ouldnecessarilycover onlya peripheralsegment f a community,andtheapplicationof these data to the people themselveswasnotconsidered. Nevertheless, critical surveyof all the sD-ciometric tudieswhichhave been made to date, evaluatinghemethods sed and the results obtained n all cases, whethercompletely ociometricor onlypartially o, wouldbe of sub-stantialassistance in thepreparation fmore dependable ocio-metricproceduresforfuture se.The resultof these small scale experiments as beentwofold.On the one hand,they ed to importantiscoveries intherealm ofhumanrelationswhichwere confirmedy everynewstudy, nd, on the otherhand,theymade it possible to puttogether,ike a jig-saw puzzle, the pieces of sociometric truc-turewhichhadbeen foundn various communitiesnd get,with heassistance of theseminiature atterns, bird's-eyeviewof the sociometricfoundationf societyat large. Thegreaterthe number f valid studiesin theyears to come, themore accurate and completewill be our psycho-geographicalmodelof the world,as comparedwith he still sketchyndprimitivemodelwhich s available to us today.

SOME FUNDAMENTALCONCEPTSThe status nascendi.4 The mostneglected spectof social science is the functionf theMomentina social sit-uationor, in other words,therelationship f a social situationto themoment f its emergence. In a philosophyftheMo-ment hereare threefactorsto be emphasized: the locus, thestatusnascendi,and the matrix. These represent hreeviewsofthe same process. There is no "thing"withoutts locus,no locus withoutts status nascendi,and no statusnascendi1See"Das Stegreiftheater,"byJ. L. Moreno1923), a trans-lation of whichwill be published in SOCIOMETRYorMay,194]. Thisnote refers to pp. 22, 23 of the original.



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22 SOCIOMETRYwithoutts matrix. The locus of a flower,for instance s inthebed where it is growing. Its statusnascendi is that of agrowing hing s it springsfromthe seed. Its matrix s thefertileseed, itself.Everyhuman ct or performance as a primary ction-pattern--astatusnascendi. An example is theperformance featingwhichbeginsto developthe r8le of the eater in everyinfant oon afterbirth.5 The patternof gestures and move-ments eadingup to the state of satiation s, in this instance,the warming-up rocess. With atiationcomes an anti-climax.In the case of a very complexhumanperformance, uch as inthe creative arts, the statusnascendi and the warming-up roc-ess takeplace in the course of theprocess of creation. Fromthe pointof viewofproductivity,he anti-climaxfor the artistis reached when his creationis divorcedfromhimand becomesa culturalconserve. The last act in a process--the last crea-tive brush-stroke n a painting, or instance--is to us onlyasimportants everyotherphase in the process. The commonmisconceppi-onccurswhenthe last act ofprdpctiQnor crea-tionistaken for, or sub4stituted-or,the wholeprocess and alltheprecedingphases in the developmentre ignored. Thislast act undergoes still more significant hangewhenthetechnological rocess enters intothe situation. The finishedpainting s removedfrom ts place at the end of the course ofcreationor productionnd, by means of various machines,technologically eproducedover and over again, thusbecomingculturalconserve.In the case of a social situation, uch as a love rell-,tionship, or instance,the statusnascendi exists whenthe loversmeet and beginto warmup to one another. The last phase,thephase beforethe anti-climax, n a love-relationship mar-riage, for example) is all too likelyto be a stereotype, nd inmanysocial relationships imilar stereotypednstitutionsrethe end-products, arallel to the culturalconserve stage in aworkof art. Moreover,in the contemplationf, say, the mar-riage relationship etweentwopeople, the consideration f allthephases leadingup to it is omitted. It is not to be assumed,however, hatprocesses of humanrelationscease to exist whena culturalconserve or a stereotyped elationship ntersthepicture. In eithercase, a new social situation s begunwhichrequires special methodsof investigation.The social sciences have been too muchpreoccupied

5See "Normaland AbnormalCharacteristics of PerformancePat-terns," by Anita M. Uhl and Joseph Sargent, SOCIOMETRY, ol. 111,No. 3, pp.38-57.



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FOUNDATIONS OF SOCIOMETRY 23with studies of processes after they have become cold. Thestatus nascendi has been neglected. Most of the studies ofman-woman elationships ccur whenthe anti-climax has beenreached--when he flow of feeling between he man and thewoman has dried up and the love whichbrought hemtogetheris over. The studyof finishedproducts,of cultural conservesand of stereotypeshas, of course, its place and its meaning na systemof social science. The preoccupationwiththem snot surprising. It is mucheasier to study relationshipwhenit is finished nd established and when t has the deceptive ap-pearance of beingan end-result. Perhaps this is whysociolo-gyhas been chiefly oncernedwiththe studyof the tangiblestructures n society. But it is fromthe social situations nstatu nascendi thatthe more important nspirations nd deci-sions come. Their deep impress upon all human nterrelationshas been demonstrated. The problem has been how to get atthese intangible, soteric phenomena--how o study hem. It is,of course, important hat theybe studied systematically. Ahuman society without hese phenomena n statu nascendiwouldpresent a lifeless appearance. Therefore,social researchwhichdoes notgive its main attention o these phenomenamustbe sterile. Any plan for the betterment f society, forthe m-provement f human relations, is hopeless without hem. There-fore, theories and methodshad to be found.6 It is at thiscardinal point that sociometric and psychodramatic tudies havestepped into the breach. The results to date are meager, itmustbe admitted, ut the road is now open.A studyof human nterrelations roceedingforward romtheir status nascendi, instead of proceedingbackwardfromtheir end-product, as great theoretical advantages. A study fthis sort is able to do away with the dualistic characterascribed to social processes. There is no true dichotomy e-tween,for instance, underlying nd surface structures,or be-tween genetic phenomena nd symptoms. Just s every causeis a part of its effect nd every effect part of its cause,every underlyingtructurepartakes of the peripheral and vice

6Studies contributive to sociometry n their emphasis n in-ter-personal systemshave been madeby: C. N. Allen, R. Borden,J. H. Criswell, K. Curtis, D. M. Davidson, Jr., S. C. Dodd,M. Feld-stein, J. G. Franz, F. Herriott, H. H. Jennings,A. D. Johnson,N. C. Kephart, L. M. Kerstetter, C. P. Loomis, G. A. Lundberg,J. L. Moreno, A. J. Murphy,T. M. Newcomb,W. J. Newstetter, M. L.Northway,. Price, W. Richmond,. T. Sanders, J. Sargent, B. Sol-by, M. Steele, C. C. Taylor, M. B. Treudley, A. M. Uhl, S. C. Wol-man and L. D. Zeleny.



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24 SOCIOMETRYversa.7 This is the case if we begin withthe status nascendiof a situation nd follow ts warming-up rocess throughtageafterstage. Dual constructions uch as cause and effectbe-come, then, llogical.The "Tele" Concept. The tele concept s not apurelytheoretical construction. It has been suggestedby so-ciometricfindings. The statisticaldistribution f attractionsand repulsionsis affected y some esoteric factor. The normaldistributionntowhichpracticallyall psychologicalphenomenathus far investigated it is notfollowedby attraction nd re-pulsionpatterns. The trendtowardsmutualityf attraction ndrepulsionmanytimes surpasses chance possibility.8 The fac-tor responsiblefor this effect s called 'tele'" It may explainwhythere are not as manyhuman ocieties as there are indi-viduals--a situationwhich s at least theoretically ossible--withall social relationsthe productof individual maginations.Tele canbe assumed to be responsiblefor the operationof themultiplefoci in any relationship etweentwopersons, or asmanypersons as compose a givensocial situation. It is de-pendentupon both,or all, the individuals nd is notthe subjec-tive, independent roductof each person. Out of these opera-tions of the tele factora productresults whichhas the charac-ter of an objective,a supra-individual, ystem.Althought is clear that the tele factoroperates, nothingis as yetknown bout its "material" structure. It mayhavesome relationto gene structure nd sexual attraction. It maybe that the studyof tele psychologywill provideclues to abetterunderstandingf sex attractions.

The Social Atom. As the individualprojects hisemotions nto the groupsaround him,and as the membersofthese groups in turnproject theiremotions toward him,a pat-tern of attractions nd repulsions,as projectedfrombothsides,can be discernedon the threshold etween ndividual-and roup.This pattern s called his asocial atom." It is not identicalwiththeformal positionan individual ccupies in the group(his position n thefamily,for instance). It evolves as aninter-personal tructure rom thebirth-levelonward.The size

71n the sociometric analysis of homegroups, for instance, wehave found that some relationships on the formal level are identi-cal with those on the underlying level-.8See 'Statistics of Social Configurations,' by J. L. Morenoand H. H. Jennings, SOCIOMETRY, olume 1, part 1, pp. 342-378.



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FOUNDATIONS OF SOCIOMETRY 25of the social atom of anyparticular individual annot accurate-ly be discernedunless thewhole communityr group in whichhe lives is sociometricallystudied. Sociometric case-work ofa single individualmay be tolerated n practice, but we mustbe aware that some positive or negativetele may exist in ref-erence to him which cannotbe calculated unless all the indi-viduals around him are tested in conjunctionwith him. The so-cial atom is the firsttangible structureempiricallydiscerniblein theformation f a humansociety. It is its smallest unit.The studyof Jennings9emonstrates learly that it developsdifferentatterns. In fact, she differentiates ight differentpatterns. Thus, an individual an be diagnosed from the pointof view of how his social atom is patterned. A communityanbe diagnosed from the pointof view of what types of socialatoms are in the minority. A studyof this sort may suggestthe optimum atternfor a well-balanced communityn whichthis or that patternpredominates.The discovery of social atom patternings s an excellentillustrationof howsociometricideas develop and change n ac-cord with the findings. The first construction f sociometricconcepts, ike the social atom,for instance,was intuitive, ug-gested by slight, empiricalmaterial. "Social atom" was firsta purely descriptive termfor a social configuration hichwasevident n every inter-personalrelationsystemof a communi-ty, butwe did not then knowwhat dynamicmeaning t had inits formation. Onlylater did we suspect that t mightbe abasic social unit.In an early phase of sociometry, t a time whenwewere studying roupstructuresfromthe outside, as participantobservers (watchinghildren at play, or sitting n a spontanei-tytheatreand watching he formation f pairs on the basis ofvarious roles, notinghowcertainpersons assumed a leaderposition in respect to certain others and how some were ableand othersunable to beginor end an action),we were able todeterminewith some precision the outer structureof thegroup.v But the deeper structureof the group remainedun-disclosed and, with t, the social atom. Accordingly, he firstchartingof inter-personalrelation systems showed blank areas.When sociometric tests were applied to a formalgroupin a

9See "Quantitative Aspects of Tele Relationships in a Commun-ity" by Helen H. Jennings, SOCIOMETRY, ol. 11, No. 4.1 See "Who hall Survive?" by J. L. Moreno, pp. 169-191; alsothe section on Experiment in "Des Stegreiftheater," by J. L. Morenomentioned in Note 1.



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26 SOCIOMETRYpublic school,"1 the findings ermitted n analysis of innerstructures,percentagesof attractions nd repulsions,the num-ber of isolates, pairs, triangles chains, etc., but the socialatom could not yet be discerned--not ven on the descriptivelevel--because the tests were limited to the classrooms. Therelationshipsof the pupils to the families, to theneighborhoodsand to other situations n whichtheywere involvedwere notpart of the study. It was notuntila still further dvancedphase was reached,when a whole community as approachedsociometrically, hat the social atom became discernible.Now that we are able to studysocial atoms bothdescrip-tivelyand in theirdynamicdifferentiations,he earlier struc-tural analysis of a communitys beingmade up ofpairs, iso-lates, etc., looks rather artificial, although,within ts limits,it is still valid. From the point of view of the total communi-ty structure, true pair, for instance, cannot exist independentof relationshipswithother persons. Our previous procedureof structure nalysis may, in the course of time,be supersed-ed by the use of more dynamicpatternings f the social atomas a more penetrating uide to the depth structureof a com-munity.The great theoretical advances which have been made asthe result of sociometric experiments ecome more pointed fwe considerthem n the lightof the contributions f two socio-logical pioneers, von Wiese12 and Cooley.13 From theformal-istic distinction etweenvonWiese's patternsof associationand disassociation in humanrelationsto the modern ociometricconceptsis a long way. Sociometricconcepts had to be con-structedanew, as inspired by the dynamicsof actual situations.Cooley's concept of primarygroups comes closer to the reali-ties of social structure. But, although ocial atoms are cer-tainly primary,theyare not exactly "face-to-face" groups. Tobe sure, an individualknows "face-to-face" a certain numberof the people composinghis social atom--theymay belong tohis family,home or workgroup--buthe may be ignorant r un-conscious of the existenceof many ndividualswho feel strong-ly abouthim and theremaybe some individuals boutwhomhefeels strongly utwho are, in turn,either ignorant r uncon-scious of this fact. In otherwords, there are primary socialconfigurations,ocial atoms, psycho-social networks, nd others,which are notprimary groups.

"'See "Application of the GroupMethod o Classification," byJ. L. qqreno, 1932, Pp. 98-103.See "System f Sociology," by Becker-Wiese,1931.3See "Social Organization,' byCharles H. Cooley, 1909.



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FOUNDATIONSOF SOCIOMETRY 27Another spect of the social atomwhichmay standinneed of revision is its relationto thefindingswhichhave cometo us from spontaneityestingof the individualscomprising t.

Originally,we constructed wotests, the sociometrictest andthe spontaneityest. The sociometrictest producedfindingswhichsuggestedthe settingup of the concept"social atom,"viewedas an attraction-repulsionattern. The spontaneitytest, aided bypsychodramatic rocedures,producedfindingswhichsuggestedthe construction f an additional concept,theaculturalatom,"whichwas viewedas a patternof role rela-tions. Now, in reality,there is butone atom. From the pointof view of the actual situation, he distinction etweensocialand culturalatom is artificial. It is pertinent or constructionpurposesbut it loses its significancewithin livingcommuni-ty. We mustvisualize the atomas a configurationf inter-personal relationships n whichthe attractions nd repulsionsexistingbetween ts constituentmembersare integratedwiththe manyrole relationswhichoperatebetweenthem. Everyindividual n a social atom has a range of roles, and it isthese roles which give to each attraction r repulsionits deep-er and more differentiated eaning..Psycho-Social Networks. If we continue o in-vestigatethe larger and more inclusive sociometric structureswhich can be discernedon thepsycho-geographicalmap of anytypicalcommunity,14 e can discover many ntermediate tagesbetween he social atom and the psycho-socialnetwork.We cansee, for example,the coalescing of threeor foursocial atoms,the central individualsof whichare mutually ttracted,forminga triangleor a square. At otherplaces on the map we maysee halfa dozen social atoms whichexist in close geographical

proximity o a dozen other social atoms, butwithno visiblerelationsbetweenanyof theirconstituentndividuals. Else-whereon the map we may encounter groupof social atomswhose central individualsshowa negativetele to the centralindividualsof anothergroup of social atoms, in the same geo-graphicalarea. Very little is known bout these and more11Individuals cluster together and form psycho-social networksof varying configurations and the communities in which they liveare held together by specific emotional currents which can today be

mappedwith the same precision as the physical geographyof that-region. In contrast to ethnological concepts such as class, race,etc., patterns of social atoms, psycho-social networks, and manyother similar structures actually exist as dynamicparts of humansociety.



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28 SOCIOMETRYcomplexstructures,beyond heirdescriptivepattern. Localinvestigationmay disclose that, n the firstillustration bove,the central individuals re of the same kinship. In the secondillustration, heymay belongto differentocial strata--theonegrouphaving higherculturaland economicstatus,the othera lower. The third llustrationmay represent ndividualsofcompetitive ituations. Furtherexploration s requiredwhichcannotbe made by even the most inspiredspeculation. Thecommunitiesmustfirstbe mappedas wholes; thena studycanbe begun.The psycho-social networks re not readily visible on apsycho-geographicalmap. We became interested n the possi-bilityof theirexistencewhen we noted thatrumordistributeditself irregularly,reachingone section of a communitymoreeasily than another. We saw individualswho were unacquaint-ed with one anotherand belonging ither to differentarts of acommunityr to differentommunities, oingor sayingthingsso similar and so simultaneouslys to seem to indicatesomemysterious orrespondence--thegrapevines" of folk-sociology.It seemed logical to assume thatindividuals,howeverfar aparttheyappeared to be geographically r on the social scale butwho are associated withone anotherthrough hedevious linksand counterlinks f mutualtele, wouldproducea smoothchan-nel for the transmissionof news, opinions,etc. We liftedfromthe originalmap all the individualswhowere interconnectednthe fashion described, regardless of the specific groupstowhichtheybelonged,and thentransferred hem to a new map.Thus, we saw the entire communityrokenup into several so-called "psycho-socialnetworks." We saw thempartlyoverlap-pingone another;we saw that ndividuals s a rule belongedtomore thanone network;we saw thatonlya small proportion fthe individualswhobelongedto the same network neweachotherpersonally--the arge majoritywere tied to one anotherby a hiddenchain of tele-links. We saw thatonlya small pro-portionof the social atoms of a community elongedto any onenetwork; thersbelongedto different etworks r remainedun-related and scatteredbetweenthenetworks, doubly solated--isolated as individuals, nd leftout of the networks.Once the networks n a community ere described andmapped, t was easy to demonstrate heirdynamicexistencebya simple experiment. In a closed community hich was underinvestigation,we were aware thatrumorspassed continuallyback and forth rommouth o mouth. The object of the experi-ment was to demonstrate hatthese rumorsfollowed he pathsof the networkswhichwe had mapped. The experimenter



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FOUNDATIONSOF SOCIOMETRY 29entered Group I and approached an individual, M, who, accord-ing to the map, belongedto NetworkA. M was a key individ-ual, that s, he was linked up with 22 otherindividuals, omeof whombelongedto his Group , and others to Groups I, III,IV and V. M was chosen to be theperson withwhom to startthe spread of the rumor, whichconcerned leading personalityin the community's dministration. We had found hat, n net-workscomprisingmore than 100 individuals, nly veryfewpar-ticipated n any one other network. It seemed, therefore, hatthe chances were that the rumor wouldspread with ease andspeed throughM's own network,NetworkA, and thenwouldneed a longertime to filter through o the other networks. Weassumed that t would take its longesttime to reach Network ,intowhich therewas no overlapping romNetworkA. It wasgratifyingo see our assumptionsverifiedwith great accuracy.Checks from time to time showed thatthe rumorwas, indeed,following he paths we had expected t to follow.From thematerial whichhad been available, it can bededucedthatthereare many specificpatternings f psycho-social networks. This field is little explored,but some futurestudymaybe able to show thatcommunities iffer n accordwiththe typesof networkswhichprevail within hem. It willprobablybecome apparent that the size of the various networksdiffersgreatly. Some, we knowalready,are limitedto a par-ticular locality; others operate throughouteveral communities;still othersmaycross thewhole country, romcoast to coast.Microscopic studies of networkswill also showthatthe tele-links between he connectedndividuals re held together yideal images (such as Christ) or sacred symbols (such as theCross and the Swastika). The different haracteristicsof itspsycho-socialnetworkswill indicate the growth r decay of acommunity.5It is obviousthatthe relationship etween he networksand the modern echnological pparatusfor thedistributionfideas, opinions, nd news--theprinting ress, the motionpic-ture and the radio--is of prime importance. The distorting f-fect whichtheprintedpage has upon individual pontaneityndthe mouth-to-mouthransmissionof ideas was, indeed, myfirstapproachto the sociometricconceptof the network ndthe realization that this superimpositionf a mechanical-social

15See Loomis' Istayer-" and "mover-" networks in "Measurementof the Dissolution of In-Groups in the Integration of a Rural Re-settlement Project" by C. P. Loomis and D. M. Davidson, Jr.,SOCIOMETRY, olume 11, number2.



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30 SOCIOMETRYnetwork pon a psycho-social network roduces a situationwhich takes societyunawaresand removes it more and morebeyondhumancontrol.16 The developmentf the film,theradio, and modernpropagandahas accelerated this process ofwhichwe are largelyunconscious,to an unprecedented egree.In an age like ours, the most importantmessage, iftransmitted y mouth, an be keptfrom dissemination y thefirst manto hear it if he does notchoose to pass it on, whilethemostharmful nd least culturedexpression,if uttered tthepsychologicalmoment ver a prominent adio network, anreach, affect, nd disturb almost the whole world. It would beof interestto studywhat the technologicalnetworks, he print-ing press, and the radio, for instance, actually, o to thepsycho-social networks fwhichhumansocietyconsists. There is,however,one important eneficialeffectwhich our modernradio systemshave uponthepsycho-socialnetworks. At onestroketheycan bringthousandsof independent sycho-socialnetworksn differentarts of the countryntoa confluencewhichcould nothave been producedby a mouth-to-mouthrans-fer ofnews or opinion, xcept aftera long period of time.It is interestingo note the relationship etweenpoliticsand sociometry. There is hardlyanything hich s more im-portant o a manthan his position n the group, or how peoplefeel abouthim. The ebb and flowof attractions nd repulsionswithinhis social atommaybe responsiblefor tensionswithinhim,since he cannotbe entirelyunaware of how muchsympathyor hatred s directed towardhim. This is more significantstill for the positionhe has in the psycho-social networks nwhich he is either active or passive. He maymake a guessat what s brewingfor or againsthim--as an individualor asthe memberof a group,but he cannotknowfor certain. Polit-ical leaders are keenlyaware of the 'grapevine' phenomenon;theyare 'practical" sociometrists. In a political campaign,for example,theypick thekey individuals n a communityndoperate throughhem. Their psycho-geographicalmaps are,of course, entirely ntuitive. If, however,theyhad real psycho-geographicalmaps of the communities t theirdisposal, theycould make theirselectionof key individualswithgreaterpre-cision and prepare theircampaignswithbetter chances of suc-cess. The network heory s able to interpret olitical phenom-ena difficulto understand therwise. One illustration s the

16See "Die Gottheit als Autor" (The Godheadas Author), byJ. L. Moreno, Berlin, 1918.



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FOUNDATIONS OF SOCIOMETRY 31purges attributed o Stalin. Whywere extensive mass murderscommittedwhenbut relativelyfew men had actually been foundguiltyof treason? It would seem unnecessaryto punishmorethan a few, but thecold politician, Stalin, knewthat,besidesthe few men who had been direct associates of Trotsky, herewere literally thousandsmore, potentially qually dangerous,who could be just as threateningo his regime. He knewthat,to each of the, say, twelve guiltymen, a numberof sympa-thizers must be linked,and to each of these sympathizers,nturn, others were linked,and to this larger circle manyotherswere inter-linked, ither directly or indirectly,whomight e-come infectedwith the same political ideas. In otherwords,he visualized a myriadof psycho-social networks pread overall Soviet Russia in whichthese actual or potentialenemiesacted in roles whichmightbe dangerousto him. Unfortunate-ly, he had onlya rough, nstinctive ictureof the networks;hedid not knowthe actual men and their actual positions n theirrespective communities. So, in order to reach and exterminatehis potential s well as his actual enemies withthe highestpossible efficiency, e gave orders that not onlythe friendsofTrotskybut also thefriends of these friends, and thefriendsof these friends of the friends of Trotskybe 'purged," even ifthe suspicionof anyfriendly elationshipwas very slight.Principle of Socio-Genetic Evolution. When-ever repeated sociometric tests have been administered t in-tervals to the same (or nearlythe same) population, he regu-laritywithwhich certain specific patternsof inter-personalre-lations have occurredhas arrested the attention f investiga-tors. The material demonstrating his regularityhas been theresult of two research projects. One project studiedthe for-mationand evolution f a community17nd the otherstudiedtheformation nd evolution f groups frombirth evel up to theage of fourteen.18Most of the sociometric studies of communitiesmade todate were of communitieswhichwere already established. Itwas almost impossible to trace the principle of socio-genetic

17See description of a resettlement project at Mitterndorf,Austria, 1815 to 1918, in "Who hall Survive?" by J. L. Moreno, pp.17 and 18, and "Sociometric Planning of a NewCommunity," byShepard Wolman,SOCIOMETRY, olume 1, part 1, pp. 220-254. See alsodiscussion by C. C. Taylor of C. P. Loomis'- paper on "InformalGroupilngs n a Spanish-American Village," in this issue.8See description of a sociometric project in a public schoolwith a re-test after a period of two years; "Who hall Survive?" byJ. L. Moreno, 1934, pp. 23-28.



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32 SOCIOMETRYevolution n these communitiess theirpast history ndtheirbeginningsre unknown.An investigatorwhoattempts o dem-onstrate he operationof thisprinciplemustbe presentwhenthe communitys in theprocess offormation,n statu nascendi,and he must followup its development,tep by step. The fol-low-upmust consist of the application f sociometrictests; thesuccessive maps of the community ill disclose its genesis. Anopportunityo make a studyof this sorthas, up to now,beengivento an investigator nlytwice.Sociometricprojects, arbitrarily tudying roups of chil-dren at one or another ge level, cannotbring the workings fa socio-geneticevolutionntorelief. The investigator,n or-der to reach valid material, must approach groups whichpre-sent a cross section of all the age levels frombirthto ado-lescence. Onlythenwill he be able to comparethe most in-fantilegroupstructure group tructure n statu nascendi) witheach successive step in structure ormation, rom month omonth nd fromyear to year. It is uponmanymore studiesof this sort that a competent iscussion of the formand ex-istence of socio-genetic volution an be based.

THE DIALECTIC CHARACTER OF SOCIOMETRYThe dialectic attitude f the soclometric nvestigatorsbroughtbouton one handby thenaturalresistanceof the com-munityo a schemewhichcarries the democraticprocess toa maximum egree of realization (for which t is as yet unpre-pared and uneducated) nd, on theotherhand,by the resistanceofpeoplewhofavorother earlier methods nd ideologies in themanipulationfpopulation roblems. When ociometry eganto arouse public attention everal years ago, the number fprocedures whichwere ready for applicationwas few as com-pared withthenumber f social problemswhichwere to befaced in any communitytudy. Economic, technological ndpolitical problemsof all sorts pressingforan immediate olu-tioncouldneither xperimentwithuntried roceduresnor waituntiltheywere ready. I recommended, herefore,hatsupple-mentary echniques houldbe used aroundthe true sociometriccore, even if theydid notfulfill he requirements f genuinesociometricprocedures. To the category f supplementarytechniquesbelong, amongothers,public opinion tudies,studiesof attitudes nd socio-economicmeasurements.When introduced ermslike 'sociometry,""sociometrictechniques" nd "sociometricscale," I anticipated hatsuch



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FOUNDATIONS OF SOCIOMETRY 33terms would be applied to types of social measurementwhichare in some degree sociometric (near-sociometric),19 n addi-tion to methodsdevelopedby me and my closer associates. Ialso anticipated hat,partly because of the influence f sociom-etry,and partlyas a result of the naturaldevelopment f so-cial science, methods nd. concepts in sociology, psychology,and psychiatrywould become moreflexibleand realistic andthus approach thepoint of view whichhas been fosteredbysociometry. An illustration s the development romBogar-dus,20 who studies attitudestowardspeople as a race or as aclass and gets an answerwhich cannotbe but a symboliconeand the scale based upon similar data a symbolicscale of at-titude o studies like that of Ford,21who asks questionswhichdeal withpersonal contacts. This time the answers mustbemore concrete--theymustbe based upon"experiences"--butthey are still a far cry fromthe specific individualwithwhomthe contact took place although t is within he field of thestatus nascendi of a relationship. An attempt s made, at least,to shape a questionnaire n such a fashionthat it more nearlycovers the actual inter-individual tructureswhichexist.Another llustration s the development rom the olderpublic opinionquestionnaire,whichexpecteduniform esponsesfrom a rigid, set question, to the more recent refinementsnpre-testing uestionnaires--adjustinghe questions to the groupwhich s to be studied.22 The latter procedure is also far re-moved, however,fromthe sociometricapproach whichwoulddisclose to the investigator hekey individuals n the group,thepsycho-socialnetworks hroughwhichopinionmoves, and,whether he opinionswhichare collected represent the opinionsof thekey individualsonlyor the opinionsof the groups undertheir influence. Consequently,what these investigatorsmeasuremaynotbe what they ntend t to be, an opinion of the public,buttheprivate opinionsof a small numberof people. It can be

19"Near-sociometric" can mean procedures which fall short ofthe full meaning of the term 'sociometric" either in its "socius"aspect or in its "metrum"spect (see page 18 of this paper).Bogardus and Thurstone provide examples which fall short in the"socius" aspect, while case-work studies are typically short inthe "metrum"spect.20Bogardus, E. S., "Social Distance and Its Origin," 1925.2IFord, Robert N., "Scaling White-Negro Experiences by theMethodof Equal-Appearing Intervals," SOCIOMETRY, olume III, num-ber t4 2Blankenship, A. B., "Pre-Testing a Questionnaire for a PublicOpinion Poll, SOCIOMETRY, olume III, Number .



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34 SOCIOMETRYexpected that sociometricmethodswhich nclude the inter-personal relation systems in their tests will gradually replacemethodswhich nvestigate ocial situations n a more or lessindirect nd symbolisticfashion.The other field in which sociometry an demonstrate tsvalue is that of social planning. There are manyconcepts andhypotheses n the conductof human ffairswhich stand in theway of the applicationto their fullestextentof sociometricideas. The philosophy f anarchism,for instance, maycriti-cize the various schemes of present-daygovernments, oweverliberal, as authoritarian egimes, but in a society which ssociometricallyplanned,a special niche for anarchists is notnecessary because sociometry s based upon the principle ofspontaneity nd gives expression to even the most extremein-dividualism. The philosophy f communism, articularly fMarxism, maymaintain hat the rule of one social class whichrepresents the mass of the producers is necessary in orderthata maximum f justice, perhaps arbitrary,may prevail, butin a sociometrically planned society the genuine contributionofcollectivism could be brought to its fullest expression withoutany necessityof resortingto arbitrarymeasures. The econom-ic factor, and with t the production nd distribution f goods,cannotbe artificiallydivorced fromthe total systemof inter-personal relations. Within he scope of sociometric investiga-tion a first clue to the solutionof this knotty roblemhas beenfound n the relationshipbetweenthe socio-dynamiceffect23and the distribution f wealth. The philosophy f totalitarian-ism proposes a regime in which a master race, self-chosen,is to rule all other peoples, the master race itself beinggov-ernedby a leader at the topwith a numberof auxiliarylead-ers carryingout his orders. But the central problems of thisideology,the leader and the race question,can be handledwith-in a sociometricscheme without iolence and certainlywithafar greater precision and with a minimum f friction. Withina totalitarian ociety,the group of leaders who have inaugurat-ed the regime,whether elf-chosenor elected, may go stale.This maybecome the Achilles' heel of the totalitarian ociety,relying s it does upon a distorteddistribution f the totalavailable spontaneity hich places, if possible, all the spontane-ityin the leaders (maximum pontaneityt the top) and nospontaneityn thepeoples (minimumpontaneityt the bottom).This crucial problem,the proper equilibriumbetween eaders

23See "Statistics of Social Configurations," byJ. L. Morenoand Helen H. Jennings,SOCIOMETRY,Volume, part 2, pp. 342-374.



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FOUNDATIONSOF SOCIOMETRY 35and followers,can be dealt withby means of sociometric plan-ningwithout avin& o resort to a totalitarianregime. It hasbeen demonstrated within community hich s administeredalong sociometric ines that the set of individualswho are inkey positions today can easily be ascertained by sociometrictests. In the course of routinere-testing t regular intervalsit becomes dramatically pparentthat these key individualswane in influence nd others come up to take theirplaces (instatu nascendi). This raises the question as to whether eader-ship artificiallymaintainedmay not become a 'conserve" andtherefore stultifyingnstead of a spontaneous nd inspiringagent. In addition, he problem of race is managed as an in-herentpart of the sociometricscheme. By means of conceptslike race cleavage and the racial saturationpoint,populationswhichdiffer thnologically an be distributedwithin given geo-graphic area without aving to resort to forced and hit-or-missmigration.Sociometry an well be consideredthe cornerstoneof astill undeveloped cience of democracy. The so-called demo-cratic process is not trulydemocraticas long as the largespheres of invisible processes disclosed by sociometricpro-cedures are not integratedwithand made a part of the politi-cal scheme ofdemocracy.?5ociometry an assist the UnitedStates, with ts population onsistingof practically all the raceson the globe, in becomingan outstandingnd permanent xam-ple of a societywhich has no need of extraneous deas or offorces whichare not inherentn its own structure.

21See discussion of leaders and leadership. "Whohall Sur-vive?" byJ.-L. Moreno,pp. 163, 161, and "QuantitativeAspectsofTele-Relationships in a Community,"y Helen H. Jennings,SOCIOME-TRY,Volume 1, No. 4, pp. 93-100.-25See "Human ature and Conduct,"byJohnDewey,HenryHolt& Co., NewYork, 1922; and "Cross Cultural Survey,"byGeorgeP.Murdock, merican ociological Review,June, 1940.

Foundations of Sociometry

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