Understanding Culture, Society and Politics

Module 4: How society is organized

 Groups within society: Primary and Secondary
 In-groups and out-groups
 Reference groups
 Networks

Objectives: The learner must be able to:

 Analyze aspects of social organization
 Identify one’s role in social groups and institutions
 Traces kinship ties and social networks
 Describe the organized nature of social life and rules governing behavior

Lesson 11: How society is organized

 A social group exhibits some degree of social cohesion and is more than a simple collection or
aggregate of individuals.
 Social cohesion can be formed through shared interests, values, representations, ethnic or social
background, and kinship ties, among other factors.
 The social identity approach posits that the necessary and sufficient conditions for the formation of
social groups is the awareness that an individual belongs and is recognized as a member of a
group.
 The social identity approach posits that the necessary and sufficient conditions for the formation of
social groups is the awareness that the individual belongs and is recognized as a member of a
group.
Social group: A collection of humans or animals that share certain characteristics, interact with one another,
accept expectations and obligations as members of the group, and share a common identity.
The social identity approach: Posits that the necessary and sufficient condition for the formation of social
groups is awareness of a common category membership.
The social cohesion approach: More than a simple collection or aggregate of individuals, such as people
waiting at a bus stop, or people waiting in a line.

Primary Groups

 A primary group is typically a small social group whose members share close, personal, enduring
relationships.
 Primary groups are marked by concern for one another, shared activities and culture, and long
periods of time spent together. They are psychologically comforting and quite influential in
developing personal identity.
 Families and close friends are examples of primary groups.
 The goal of primary groups is actually the relationships themselves rather than achieving some
other purpose.
 The concept of the primary group was introduced by Charles Cooley in his book, Social
Organization: A Study of the Larger Mind.
Close friends: They are examples of primary groups.
Group: A number of things or persons being in some relation to one another.
Relationship: Connection or association; the condition of being related.
Functions of Primary Groups
 A primary group is a group in which one exchanges implicit items, such as love, caring, concern,
support, etc. Examples of these would be family groups, love relationships, crisis support groups,
and church groups. Relationships formed in primary groups are often long-lasting and goals in
 themselves. They also are often psychologically comforting to the individuals involved and provide
a source of support and encouragement.
Secondary Groups
 Secondary groups are large groups whose relationships are impersonal and goal-oriented; their
relationships are temporary.

 The distinction between primary and secondary groups was originally proposed by Charles Cooley.
He termed them “secondary” because they generally develop later in life and are much less likely
to be influential on one’s identity than primary groups.
 Secondary relationships involve weak emotional ties and little personal knowledge of one another.
In contrast to primary groups, secondary groups don’t have the goal of maintaining and developing
the relationships themselves.
 Secondary groups include groups in which one exchanges explicit commodities, such as labor for
wages, services for payments, and such. They also include university classes, athletic teams, and
groups of co-workers.

In-Groups and Out-Groups

 In-groups are social groups to which an individual feels he or she belongs, while an individual
doesn’t identify with the out-group.
  In- group favoritism refers to a preference and affinity for one’s in-group over the out-group, or
anyone viewed as outside the in-group.
 One of the key determinants of group biases is the need to improve self-esteem. That is individuals
will find a reason, no matter how insignificant, to prove to themselves why their group is superior.
 Intergroup aggression is any behavior intended to harm another person, because he or she is a
member of an out-group, the behavior being viewed by its targets as undesirable.
 The out-group homogeneity effect is one’s perception of out-group members as more similar to one
another than are in-group members (e.g., “they are alike; we are diverse”).
 Prejudice is a hostile or negative attitude toward people in a distinct group, based solely on their
membership within that group.
 A stereotype is a generalization about a group of people in which identical characteristics are
assigned to virtually all members of the group, regardless of actual variation among the members.
In-group bias: It refers to a preference and affinity for one’s in-group over the out-group, or anyone viewed
as outside the in-group.
Intergroup aggression: It is any behavior intended to harm another person because he or she is a member
of an out-group, the behavior being viewed by its targets as undesirable.
In-group favoritism: It refers to a preference and affinity for one’s in-group over the out-group, or anyone
viewed as outside the in-group. This can be expressed in evaluation of others, linking, allocation of
resources and many other ways.

Reference Groups
 Sociologists call any group that individuals use as a standard for evaluating themselves and their
own behavior as a reference group.

 Social comparison theory argues that individuals use comparisons with others to gain accurate
self-evaluations and learn how to define the self. A reference group is a concept referring to a
group to which an individual or another group is compared.
  Reference groups provide the benchmarks and contrast needed for comparison and evaluation of
group and personal characteristics.
 Robert K. Merton hypothesized that individuals compare themselves with reference groups of
people who occupy the social role to which the individual aspires.
Self-identity: a multi-dimensional construct that refers to an individual’s perception of “self” in relation to any
number of characteristics, such as academics and non-academics, gender roles and sexuality, racial
identity, and many others.
Social role: it is a set of connected behaviors, rights, and obligations as conceptualized by actors in a social
situation.
Reference group: it is a concept referring to a group to which an individual or another group is compared.

Social Networks
 A social network is a social structure between actors, connecting them through various social
familiarities.

 The study of social networks is called both “social network analysis” and “social network theory “.
 Social network theory views social relationships in terms of nodes and ties. Nodes are the
individual actors within the networks, and ties are the relationships between the actors.
 In sociology, social capital is the expected collective or economic benefits derived from the
preferential treatment and cooperation between individuals and groups.
 The rule of 150 states that the size of a genuine social network is limited to about 150 members.
 The small world phenomenon is the hypothesis that the chain of social acquaintances required to
connect one arbitrary person to another arbitrary person anywhere in the world is generally short.
 Milgram also identified the concept of the familiar stranger, or an individual who is recognized from
regular activities, but with whom one does not interact.
 Milgram also identified the concept of the familiar stranger, or an individual who is recognized from
regular activities, but with whom one does not interact.
Node: They are the individual actors within the networks, and ties are the relationships between the actors.
Social capital: The good will, sympathy, and connections created by social interaction within and between
social networks.