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