SOCIAL DISTANCE We are -not equally involved in all our in-groups. One might, for example, be a passionate Democrat and a rather indifferent Rotarian. Nor do we feel equally distant from all our out-groups. A loyal Democrat will feel far closer to the Republicans than to the Communists. Bogardus [1958, 1959] and others [Westie, 1959] have developed the concept social distance to measure …
REFERENCE GROUPS There are groups which ,are important to us as models even though we may not be a part of the group. the opinions of “high society” may be important to the social climber who has not yet made the social register. At times the in groat and the reference group may be the same, as when the teenager gives”prole weight …
STEREOTYPES As type is a group shared image another cattery of people. Stereotypes can ~ positive (the kindly, dedicated family doctor) negative doled opportunist,politician) or canted pussy, sexless old-maid tea Stereotypes are .applied clinic Inanimately to all members, of the stereotyped group without allowance •. individual differences.-Stereo types Marseilles entirely tune for they must bear remembrance to the character of the persona’stereotyped. or they would not be …
Stereotypes and Humor Out-groups are often shown in stereotyped ways which emphasize their imperfections. This prevents us from seem them as individual human beings with the normal unimportant of virtues and vices. Stereotypes enable us to apply a double standard under which we assume the best of our own group and Ute worst of others. Stereotypes form the basis of ethnic humor, Some years …
TASK GROUPS Some groups are neither clearly primary nor secondary but are intermediate, with some. features of each. Task groups (or task-oriented groups) are small groups formed to do some task or res of tasks [Nixon, 1979, p. 18]. They include work teams, committees, and panels of many sorts. Some scholars consider the task group to be the most common form of group …
GEMEINSCHAFT AND GESELLSCHAFT Somewhat similar to the concept of primary and secondary groups are the concepts of Gemeinsclwft and GesellsduJft, develop by the German sociologist Ferdinand Tennies [1887, tr. 1957]. These two terms translate “community” and “society.’” The gemeinschaft is a social system in which most relationships are personal or traditional, and often both. A good. example is· the feudal manor, a small …
The Secondarily Group Trend Our sentiments and ties are centered in primary groups ‘brat the modern trend toward a gesellsct society based on secondary: groups has been irre & istjble. The small principalities of feudal Europe have given way to national stateless and the intimate association of master and worker in the guild workshop has yielded to the giant corporation employing thousands …
Contributions of the Gesellschaft While the trend to secondary-group relationships in the gesellschaft has brought sacrifices, it has also brought benefits. Mostobvim s is the efficiency of large-scale impersonal organizations in which sentiment surrenders to. practicality. The huge gains in material comfort and in life expectancy in the modem world would be impossible without the rise of goal-directed secondary organizations in which the paternal …
Persistence of Primary Groups The secondary group has not replaced the primary group. In fact, the two major primary groups’, the clique and the family, appear to be more essential than ever. The clique is a small group of intimates with strong in-group feelings based. on common sentiments and interests. It may develop in almost any group situation. Nearly every secondary group …
Primary Groups Within Secondary Groups “I If we classified groups according to the extent to which they show primary- or secondary group traits, the result would be a listing of secondary groups such as the army, the corporation, and the national state, and a list of primary groups such as the family, the clique, and the gang. Proceeding in this fashion, we should then …
