SOC 101 Lecture Notes - Lecture 23: Social Loafing, Groupthink, Carolyn Sherif
4 Jul 2018
School
Department
Course
Professor
Social Groups
Social groups and organizations comprise a basic part of virtually every arena of modern life.
Thus, in the last 50 years or so, sociologists have taken a special interest in studying these
scientific phenomena from a scientific point of view.
A social group is a collection of people who interact with each other and share similar
characteristics and a sense of unity. A social category is a collection of people who do
not interact but who share similar characteristics. For example, women, men, the
elderly, and high school students all constitute social categories. A social category can
become a social group when the members in the category interact with each other and
identify themselves as members of the group. In contrast, a social aggregate is a
collection of people who are in the same place, but who do not interact or share
characteristics.
Psychologists Muzafer and Carolyn Sherif, in a classic experiment in the 1950s,
divided a group of 12 year old white, middle class boys at a summer camp into the ‐ ‐ ‐
“Eagles” and the “Rattlers.” At first, when the boys did not know one another, they
formed a common social category as summer campers. But as time passed and they
began to consider themselves to be either Eagles or Rattlers, these 12 year old boys ‐ ‐
formed two distinct social groups.
In-groups, out-groups, and reference groups
In the Sherifs' experiment, the youngsters also erected artificial boundaries between
themselves. They formed in groups‐ (to which loyalty is expressed) and out groups‐ (to
which antagonism is expressed).
To some extent every social group creates boundaries between itself and other groups,
but a cohesive in group typically has three characteristics:‐
Members use titles, external symbols, and dress to distinguish themselves from
the out group.‐
Members tend to clash or compete with members of the out group. This ‐
competition with the other group can also strengthen the unity within each group.
Members apply positive stereotypes to their in group and negative stereotypes to‐
the out group.‐
In the beginning, the Eagles and Rattlers were friendly, but soon their games evolved
into intense competitions. The two groups began to call each other names, and they
raided each other's cabins, hazed one another, and started fights. In other words,
loyalty to the in group led to antagonism and aggression toward the out group, including‐ ‐
fierce competitions for the same resources. Later in the same experiment, though,
Sherif had the boys work together to solve mutual problems. When they cooperated
with one another, the Eagles and Rattlers became less divided, hostile, and competitive.
People may form opinions or judge their own behaviors against those of a reference
group (a group used as a standard for self appraisals). Parishioners at a particular ‐
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
Social groups and organizations comprise a basic part of virtually every arena of modern life. Thus, in the last 50 years or so, sociologists have taken a special interest in studying these scientific phenomena from a scientific point of view. A social group is a collection of people who interact with each other and share similar characteristics and a sense of unity. A social category is a collection of people who do not interact but who share similar characteristics. For example, women, men, the elderly, and high school students all constitute social categories. A social category can become a social group when the members in the category interact with each other and identify themselves as members of the group. In contrast, a social aggregate is a collection of people who are in the same place, but who do not interact or share characteristics.
