Deck 4: Social Groups and Format Organizations

Question 1

A group consists of two or more people who share a feeling of unity but who do not necessarily ever interact.

Answer 1

False

Question 2

The concepts of in-group and out-group are important because they highlight the physical barriers to group membership for many different people.

Answer 2

False

Question 3

Groupthink is a decision-making process in which group members share an illusion of invulnerability that leads to overconfidence and a tendency to ignore contrary evidence.

Answer 3

True

Question 4

The old saying that "many hands make light the work" turns out to be true; each person in a group tends to do less work than if he or she were alone.

Question 5

The concept of relative deprivation suggests that we tend to be discontented when we experience a gap between what we have and what we believe we should have.

Question 6

The Kennedy administration's Bay of Pigs invasion illustrates Parkinson's Law.

Question 7

Garrett J. Hardin's tragedy of the commons illustrates a social dilemma in which the consequences of personal self-interest are social disaster.

Question 8

Sociologists have found that emotions tend to play a greater role in larger groups than they do in dyads.

Question 9

Research has shown that the popular adage "two's company, three's a crowd" is meaningless; there's no real difference between a two-person and a three-person group.

Question 10

Instrumental ties tend to dominate secondary groups.

Question 11

Expressive group ties are those social links formed to achieve a specific goal.

Question 12

"Reference groups" is a term used by sociologists to mean categories of citations.

Question 13

Although the leading cause of death for U.S. teenagers is car crashes, the death rate drops when teens travel in groups.

Question 14

Two types of leadership roles tend to evolve in small groups: the instrumental leader and the expressive leader.

Question 15

Recent studies confirm that democratic leadership always yields better results than authoritarian leadership.

Question 16

Primary groups are fundamental to both individuals and society because they are critical to the socialization process, to personal need satisfaction, and to social control.

Question 17

In-groups and out-groups are made up of people who have "innie" and "outie" belly buttons, respectively.

Question 18

Contrary to popular opinion, researchers found that authoritarian leadership tends to produce only low levels of frustration and hostile feelings.

Question 19

Instrumental group ties are those social links formed when a person becomes emotionally committed to other people.

Question 20

Size, face-to-face contact, and the development of group bonds are factors affecting the likelihood that primary groups will arise.

Question 21

Because of advances in technology, U.S. government bureaucracy has decreased steadily in size since George Washington's inauguration.

Question 22

Mental hospitals, the military, and prison are examples of Erving Goffman's total institutions.

Question 23

Max Weber developed a description of bureaucracy as an ideal type.

Question 24

Most Americans are self-employed.

Question 25

According to the text's discussion of group interactions and people's driving behavior,

A) the death rate is lower when teenagers travel in groups.
B) for older drivers, fatal crash rates go up significantly for drivers with passengers.
C) the highest death rate is for teenage drivers who are operating a vehicle alone.
D) the highest death rate among teen drivers is for those who have three or more passengers.

Question 26

Alienation is a pervasive sense of powerlessness, meaninglessness, normlessness, isolation, and self-estrangement.

Question 27

Symbolic interactionists contend that human beings in organizations are spongelike, malleable organisms who passively conform to the bureaucratic requirements.

Question 28

The Sherif and Asch experiments demonstrated that the desire to be accepted by one's group members has little impact on the conformity of the individual.

Question 29

Weber and others have expressed concern that bureaucracies could turn people into "cogs" in organizational machines.

Question 30

Hierarchies of statuses and roles that are based on loosely formed rules and procedures in order to create maximum flexibility of jobs in the labor force characterize bureaucracies.

Question 31

More than a third of all deaths of 15- to 19-year-olds result from

A) drug overdoses.
B) motor vehicle crashes.
C) athletic injuries.
D) drive-by shootings.

Question 32

Two or more people who share a sense of unity and who are bound together in relatively stable patterns of social interaction are known as a

A) group.
B) social class.
C) society.
D) culture.

Question 33

From the conflict perspective, organizations are neutral social structures pursuing clear goals.

Question 34

Sociologist Charles Perrow said that organizations do not actually have goals.

Question 35

"Trained incapacity" refers to bureaucratic training programs designed to insure that workers are unable to do their jobs and will have to be fired.

Question 36

With an ever-increasing population, more farmers are needed to produce enough food for everyone. Today about twenty percent of the labor force is in agriculture.

Question 37

Groups formed deliberately for the achievement of specific objectives are referred to by sociologists as formal organizations.

Question 38

Through its history, the United States shifted from a nonindustrial to a service society and then to an industrial society.

Question 39

When employees are given time to work on projects of their own choosing, they slack off and produce nothing.

Question 40

Ethnomethodology refers to rules and activities that people employ in making social life and society intelligible.

Question 41

One of the principal factors that contributed to the fighting effectiveness of the German military units in World War II was

A) strong primary-group ties.
B) strong secondary-group ties.
C) fear of the Waffen SS troops.
D) the effectiveness of Nazi ideology that made them feel that they were the master race.

Question 42

Primary groups are fundamental to us as individuals and society at large because they

A) have little to do with the socialization process.
B) play a minimal role in the social control of group members.
C) provide the settings in which we meet most of our personal needs.
D) are the groups that focus on achieving goals.

Question 43

Which of the following is true about reference groups?

A) There are only positive reference groups.
B) There are only negative reference groups.
C) There are both positive and negative reference groups.
D) Reference groups are neither positive nor negative.

Question 44

Sociologists call an association between two people characterized by relatively stable mutual expectations a(n)

A) interconnected link.
B) social tie.
C) relationship.
D) dyadic node.

Question 45

We use ____________ to appraise and shape our attitudes, feelings, and actions.

A) primary groups
B) secondary groups
C) reference groups
D) in-groups

Question 46

A group with which we identify and to which we belong is called a(n)

A) instrumental group.
B) secondary group.
C) in-group.
D) out-group.

Question 47

________ is one of a number of conditions that enhance the chances that primary group relationships will develop.

A) Large group size.
B) Face-to-face contact.
C) Infrequent contact.
D) Formal structure.

Question 48

Relative deprivation refers to

A) the welfare gap.
B) the distinction made between rich and poor.
C) the gap between what we have and what we believe we should have.
D) the normative function of the reference group.

Question 49

Expressive ties tend to be more prevalent in

A) secondary group relationships.
B) primary group relationships.
C) impersonal groups.
D) coercive organizations.

Question 50

The social links formed when a group of people gathers to construct a house are most likely

A) instrumental ties.
B) expressive ties.
C) interactional ties.
D) extrapolative ties.

Question 51

Instrumental ties are

A) means-ends oriented to achieve some sort of goal.
B) based on strong emotional investment.
C) based primarily on sexual exploitation.
D) the foundation of in-groups.

Question 52

Compared to larger groups, dyads tend to be

A) less prevalent.
B) more emotionally strained.
C) less fragile.
D) more apathetic.

Question 53

In-groups and out-groups function to provide us with a sense of

A) social identity.
B) self-efficacy.
C) tolerance toward others.
D) values.

Question 54

_____________ represents a secondary group.

A) A family
B) An intimate friendship group
C) A pair of lovers
D) A college class

Question 55

Research seems to indicate that the optimum group size for problem solving is ___________ members.

A) 2
B) 5
C) 15
D) 25

Question 56

__________ are more likely to find "intruders," "outsiders," or "mediators."

A) Dyads
B) Triads
C) Monads
D) Large groups

Question 57

Groups in which the relationships are primarily impersonal and instrumental are

A) primary groups.
B) secondary groups.
C) reference groups.
D) expressive groups.

Question 58

One of the major functions of in-groups and out-groups is to

A) diminish differences that result from such social distinctions as race.
B) reduce hostility that results from competition.
C) dissolve social boundaries.
D) emphasize the significance and importance of social boundaries.

Question 59

The Tajfel experiments are now referred to as the __________ paradigm.

A) minimal group
B) groupthink
C) group polarization
D) reference group

Question 60

The social links among family members bound by their love for one another are called

A) instrumental ties.
B) expressive ties.
C) interactive ties.
D) extrapolative ties.

Question 61

The researchers involved in the BBC's "The Experiment" maintain that Zimbardo's original results

A) provide a reasonable excuse for the powerful abusing the powerless.
B) prove that people do not have responsibility and choice over conditions that lead to tyranny.
C) demonstrate that extreme behaviors cannot be restrained in power situations.
D) are not evidence that people will always abuse those over whom they have power.

Question 62

The person in a small group who is devoted to appraising the task at hand and organizing people to deal with it is known as the

A) instrumental leader.
B) expressive leader.
C) harmony and unity specialist.
D) interpersonal leader.

Question 63

Researchers have found that the simplest and most effective strategy for playing the prisoner's dilemma game is called

A) forgiveness.
B) confession.
C) tit for tat.
D) competition.

Question 64

_________ are deliberately created to accomplish some specific goal.

A) Informal work groups
B) Formal organizations
C) Primary work groups
D) Expressive reference groups

Question 65

Studies on leadership show that

A) democratic leadership is clearly superior to other forms of leadership.
B) authoritarian leadership is clearly superior to other forms of leadership.
C) no single leadership style works best in all situations.
D) laissez-faire leadership is the best for high group productivity.

Question 66

The person in a family who seems to be the member in charge of the emotional climate and interpersonal relationships might be identified as the

A) instrumental leader.
B) socio-emotional specialist.
C) task leader.
D) orientation specialist.

Question 67

As groups become larger,

A) they become more manageable.
B) members find it easier to converse with each other.
C) they become less manageable and less stable.
D) knowledge is shared more easily and the group becomes more stable.

Question 68

Recent research on gender differences in leadership indicate that

A) female leaders exhibit more characteristics of effective leadership than male leaders do.
B) male leaders exhibit more characteristics of effective leadership than female leaders do.
C) few differences exist between male and female leadership capability.
D) older male leaders are more effective than younger female leaders.

Question 69

The "Bay of Pigs fiasco" is an example of decision-making based on

A) relative deprivation.
B) groupthink.
C) dyadic dynamics.
D) cultural diversity.

Question 70

Formal organizations

A) have come into being only in recent times.
B) date back to ancient Mesopotamia, Egypt, and China.
C) have become so out of date, they are no longer considered significant.
D) emphasize the use of expressive ties.

Question 71

"Social dilemmas" represent situations of conflict between

A) maximizing personal interests and maximizing collective welfare.
B) maximizing primary interests and maximizing secondary interests.
C) maximizing in-group interests and maximizing out-group interests.
D) maximizing personal interests and minimizing collective welfare.

Question 72

Social loafing refers to the tendency of people to work harder

A) in occupational groups than in social groups.
B) individually than in groups.
C) in groups than they do individually.
D) when they know that someone is watching.

Question 73

Garrett J. Hardin's social dilemma, called the tragedy of the commons, illustrates

A) the issue of personal interests versus collective welfare.
B) the fact that social welfare is a parasitic system.
C) the value of authoritarian leadership.
D) how laissez-faire leadership and economics lead to the best of all possible group environments.

Question 74

The studies by Muzafer Sherif (utilizing a fixed spot of light) and Solomon Asch (utilizing different line lengths) illustrate that

A) groups have minimal impact on individual behavior.
B) people are autonomous individuals who are not swayed by the group.
C) the group often has a significant effect on individual judgment and behavior.
D) when something is obvious, people are able to judge it accurately under all circumstances.

Question 75

A decision-making process in which group members become so preoccupied with maintaining consensus that their ability to think critically is impaired is called

A) management by objectives.
B) a social dilemma.
C) groupthink.
D) zero-based critical thinking.

Question 76

A shared illusion of invulnerability that leads to undue overconfidence and willingness to take risks is called

A) relative deprivation.
B) groupthink.
C) personal efficacy.
D) cultural diversity.

Question 77

Authoritarian leaders tend to

A) promote stability and group happiness.
B) reduce levels of hostility within groups.
C) produce high levels of frustration and hostile feelings.
D) promote high levels of productivity whether they are present or absent.

Question 78

People tend to attribute their own choices to rational deliberation and those of others to

A) spontaneity.
B) poor logic.
C) conformity.
D) illusion.

Question 79

The social loafing effect suggests that there is

A) a direct relationship between group size and individual motivation.
B) an inverse relationship between group size and individual motivation.
C) no relationship between group size and individual motivation.
D) a one-to-one relationship between group size and individual motivation.

Question 80

In some social situations, one member of a group makes a contribution to the general welfare of his or her group that makes other members feel that their contribution is unnecessary. These noncontributing members are called

A) social loafers.
B) groupthinkers.
C) easy riders.
D) free riders.