Sociology Terms And Theory Ch.6

Front 1

social group

Back 1

Two or more people who regularly interact on the basis of mutual expectations and share a common identity.

Front 2

social category

Back 2

A collection of individuals who have at least one attribute in common but otherwise don’t necessarily interact.

Front 3

social aggregate

Back 3

A collection of people who are in the same place at the same time but who otherwise don’t necessarily interact, except in the most superficial of ways, or have anything else in common.

Front 4

primary group

Back 4

A group that is usually small, that is characterized by extensive interaction and strong emotional ties, and that lasts over time.

Front 5

secondary group

Back 5

A group that is larger and more impersonal than a primary group and that exists to achieve a specific purpose.

Front 6

reference group

Back 6

A group that sets a standard for guiding our own behavior and attitudes.

Front 7

in-group

Back 7

A group to which members feel particularly loyal and take great pride in belonging.

Front 8

out-group

Back 8

A group with which an in-group feels it is competing for various kinds of rewards and compared to which the in-group feels superior.

Front 9

social network

Back 9

The totality of relationships that link us to other people and groups and through them to still other people and groups.

Front 10

dyad

Back 10

A two-person group.

Front 11

triad

Back 11

A three-person group.

Front 12

instrumental leader

Back 12

A leader whose main focus is to achieve group goals and accomplish group tasks.

Front 13

expressive leader

Back 13

A leader whose main focus is to maintain and improve the quality of relationships among group members and more generally to ensure group harmony.

Front 14

authoritarian leadership

Back 14

Leadership with a primary focus on achieving group goals and on rigorous compliance with group rules.

Front 15

democratic leadership

Back 15

Leadership that involves extensive consultation with group members on decisions.

Front 16

laissez-faire leadership

Back 16

Leadership that allows a group to function on its own.

Front 17

groupthink

Back 17

The tendency of group members to remain silent and, against their better judgments, to go along with the desires and views of other group members.

Front 18

formal organization

Back 18

A large group that follows explicit rules and procedures to achieve specific goals and tasks.

Front 19

utilitarian organizations

Back 19

Organizations that people join to provide them an income or some other personal benefit.

Front 20

normative organizations

Back 20

Formal organizations that people join to pursue their moral goals and commitment.

Front 21

voluntary organizations

Back 21

Normative organizations.

Front 22

coercive organizations

Back 22

Formal organizations that people enter involuntarily.

Front 23

bureaucracy

Back 23

A formal organization with certain organizational features designed to achieve goals in the most efficient way possible.

Front 24

bureaucratic ritualism

Back 24

In a bureaucracy, a greater devotion to rules and regulations (red tape) than to organizational goals.

Front 25

iron law of oligarchy

Back 25

Robert Michels’s prediction that large organizations inevitably develop an oligarchy, or the undemocratic rule of many people by just a few people, because their leaders monopolize knowledge and act to advance their own positions.

Front 26

whistle-blowing

Back 26

The revealing by an employee of organizational practices that the employee believes to be illegal and/or immoral.