Reference group (sociology / social psychology)

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Under reference group or reference group is in Sociology and Social Psychology a social group understood that an individual either as a normative or as comparative serves reference. In the first case, the individual identifies with this group, embraces its norms and values, but without having to belong to it as a group member or to have direct social interaction with its members . In the second case, the individual measures his or her social status against that of the members of a comparison group, for example when a skilled worker compares himself with the group of employees.

Reference group theory

Robert K. Merton and other sociologists have primarily used the normative reference group to explain certain empirical results ( relative deprivation ) from Samuel A. Stouffer's study The American Soldier .

Walter G. Runciman has further refined the concept of the reference group and operationalized it for his study of perceived social justice versus injustice in England in the 20th century. The groups he formed were based on class ( manual - non-manual ) and political orientation ( Labor - Conservative ).

Ralf Dahrendorf linked his role theory with reference group theory. According to him, reference groups can be both outgroups and ingroups. They determine expectations (in the form of social norms ) of certain social roles and sanction their violation. He also counts "society with its legal system" among the reference groups.

See also

literature

  • Ralf Dahrendorf: Homo Sociologicus. An attempt at the history, meaning and critique of the category of social role . 16th edition. with a new foreword 2006. VS Verlag Wiesbaden, ISBN 978-3-531-31122-7 . (1st edition 1965)
  • Robert King Merton, Paul Felix Lazarsfeld: Studies in the Scope and Method of "The American Soldier." Free Press of Glencoe, 1950.
  • Herbert H. Hyman: Reference Groups. In: David Sills (Ed.): International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences. vol. 13. Free Press, New York 1968, pp. 353-359.
  • Herbert H. Hyman, Eleanor Singer (Ed.): Readings in Reference Group Theory and Research . New York 1968.
  • Walter G. Runciman: Relative Deprivation and Social Justice: a Study of Attitudes to Social Inequality in Twentieth-Century Britain . Routledge & Kegan, London 1966.

Web links

Single receipts

  1. ^ Samuel A. Stouffer: The American Soldier: Adjustment During Army Life. Sunflower University Press, 1977, ISBN 0-89126-034-X .
  2. ^ Ralf Dahrendorf: Homo Sociologicus. An attempt at the history, meaning and critique of the category of social role. 4th edition. Westdeutscher Verlag, Cologne / Opladen 1964, p. 40.