COGNITIVE COMPLEXITY AND COMPLETION OF SOCIAL STRUCTURES

1977 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 305-310 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. J. Mower White
Keyword(s):  
Social Structure ◽  
Cognitive Complexity ◽  
Social Structures ◽  
Balance Principle ◽  
The Social

Seventy-two Ss, of whom half were cognitively complex and half cognitively simple, made predictions about unknown relations in four-person social structures. Structures differed in the number of relations given. For those with two or three relations given, predictions of cognitively complex and cognitively simple Ss did not differ, all Ss making balanced predictions. For those with four or five relations given, cognitively complex Ss, to a greater extent than cognitively simple Ss, made balanced predictions. Cognitively simple Ss tended to make predictions based on consideration of fewer relations in the social structure. It is suggested that this result supports the contention that cognitively simple Ss become “overloaded” by smaller amounts of information than do cognitively complex Ss, and that such an explanation has relevance to the interpretation of the balance principle as a conceptual rule.

Profit as Social Rent: Embeddedness and Stratification in Markets

2019 ◽  
Vol 37 (2) ◽  
pp. 162-183 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sascha Muennich
Keyword(s):  
Economic Theory ◽  
Income Inequality ◽  
Social Structure ◽  
Social Stratification ◽  
Main Part ◽  
Social Structures ◽  
Rent Extraction ◽  
Free Competition ◽  
The Social

This article shows how research on the social structure of markets may contribute to the analysis the growing income inequality in contemporary capitalist economies. The author proposes a theoretical link between embeddedness and social stratification by discussing the role of institutions and networks in markets for the distribution of economic profits between firms. The author claims that we must understand profit and free competition as opposites, as economic theory does. In the main part of the article the author illustrates six typical mechanisms of rent extraction from networks or formal and symbolic rules that embed markets. They emerge from material as well as symbolical access to and influence on the orientation of other market actors. Social structures in markets lead to unequal chances for rent extraction, even if actors produce them for coordination rather than for accumulation purposes. This is how market sociology and theory of capitalism can be linked more closely.

Feminist Challenges to the Social Structure and Sex Roles

1979 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 16-31 ◽  
Author(s):  
Helen R. Kearney
Keyword(s):  
Social Structure ◽  
Sex Roles ◽  
Historical Context ◽  
Social Structures ◽  
Social Psychological ◽  
Feminine Identity ◽  
Voluntary Childlessness ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Family ◽  
Complex Relationships

A social-psychological and historical context for understanding contemporary sex roles, fertility, parenting, and the family is provided by reviewing origins and objectives of the Women's Movement. Feminist efforts to change social structures affecting women's choice of roles and fertility require continued attention. Increased voluntary childlessness seriously challenges the concept of motherhood as central to adult feminine identity and legitimization of choice in whether or not to become a parent provides a new context for studying women, sex roles, fertility, and their complex relationships to the social structure. Continued challenges to premises, methodologies, and conclusions of such research are urged.

“Taking the Gravel Road”: Educational Aspirations of Working Class Malay Youths

2012 ◽  
Vol 40 (2) ◽  
pp. 153-173 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fadzli Bin Baharom Adzahar
Keyword(s):  
Working Class ◽  
Social Structure ◽  
Cultural Practices ◽  
Educational Aspirations ◽  
Theoretical Framework ◽  
Social Structures ◽  
Malay Peninsula ◽  
Close Correspondence ◽  
The Social ◽  
Gravel Road

Abstract Applying Bourdieu’s theoretical framework on the correspondence between mental structures and social structures, this paper examines the persistence of educational underachievement among working class Malay youths in Singapore. Accordingly, my first objective is to document the social structure, namely a largely working class neighbourhood where these Malay youths have grown up. My second aim is to analyse how everyday cultural practices and interactions among peers in the neighbourhood significantly reinforced these youths’ levelled aspirations. I maintain that by believing in ‘taking the gravel road’, which is symbolically rough, uneven and uncertain, these youths justified the irrelevance of doing well in school. Succinctly, this essay demonstrates the close correspondence between the perceptions of the odds of success and the educational underperformance of the Malay youths. Hence, this paper would be of interest to scholars in the Malay Peninsula, as well as experts concerned with the intertwining of education with class and ethnicity.

Logics of History as a Framework for an Integrated Social Science

2008 ◽  
Vol 32 (4) ◽  
pp. 535-553 ◽  
Author(s):  
George Steinmetz
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Social Science ◽  
Social Structure ◽  
Traumatic Event ◽  
Social Structures ◽  
Event History ◽  
Historical Event ◽  
The Social ◽  
Historical Social Science ◽  
The Relationship

This essay surveys the contributions of William H. Sewell Jr.'sLogics of History and concludes that the book sketches a compelling agenda for an integrated historical social science. The author first summarizes Sewell's ontological and epistemological claims concerning social structure and event, history and temporality, and sociohistorical causality. The author then discusses five main areas in which ambiguities in Sewell's approach might be clarified or his arguments pushed farther. These concern (1) the relationship between historical event and traumatic event; (2) the idea of the unprecedented event or “antistructure”; (3) the theory of semiosis underlying Sewell's notion of a multiplicity of structures; and (4) the compatibilities and differences between the concepts of structure and mechanism (here the author argues that social structures are the distinctive “mechanisms” of the human or social sciences). Finally, (5) Sewell's call for “a more robust sense of the social” in historical writing locates the “social” mainly at the level of the metafield of power, or what regulation theory calls the mode of regulation; the author suggests a possible integration of this society-level concept with Pierre Bourdieu's theory of semiautonomous fields.

Sociology of social structures

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ирина Подойницына ◽  
Irina Podoynicyna
Keyword(s):  
Social Structure ◽  
Social Stratification ◽  
Social Structures ◽  
Class Formation ◽  
Regional Society ◽  
The Social ◽  
Rich People ◽  
The Republic ◽  
New Perspective ◽  
Scientific Truth

The study of social structure, social stratification of society is the main topic of sociology. Knowledge of the social structure helps sociologists to perform a creative function to transform society. In the textbook I. I. Podoinitsyna examines the evolution of the views of foreign and domestic scientists on the processes of class formation and stratogenesis, comprehensively discusses the theoretical and methodological approaches to differentiation and analysis of class groups and factors of class formation. The textbook analyzes in detail the post-perestroika socio-structural processes in the Russian Federation, new approaches to the study of social differentiation of society, which began to develop in Russia due to transparency, restructuring, openness to ideological teachings penetrating from Abroad. The profile of social stratification of modern Russia appears to us in a new perspective, as if "bifurcated": we see Russia marginalized and Russia entrepreneurs, Russia, immersed in even greater poverty than we have seen in Soviet times, and Russia new managers, rich people, entrepreneurs and innovators. Exclusive are the chapters of the textbook devoted to the analysis of the regional social structure — in this case, the Yakut society, or the society of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia). The transformation of the social structure of Yakutia is considered in retrospect, since the XVIII century. The author analyzes the socio-professional, socio-cultural "lattice" of the social structure of the Republic, the ways and lifestyles of the population, the "breakthrough" of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) in the information society. The author of the textbook focuses on the methods by which you can study the social structure of society, including the technology of mathematical and statistical analysis. The Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) acts in this textbook as a kind of model of local, regional society, which should be studied by special methods. The tutorial has tests, control questions for each Chapter. Each Chapter is also provided with a detailed summary of the findings of the material presented. The scientific book discusses the prospects for the development of sociology of social structures in postmodern conditions, the emergence of a new approach to scientific truth. A large number of empirical, factual material — the results of studies in Russia and the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) - is not just illustrative material that enriches the text of the textbook, but also helps to establish a bridge between theoretical and applied methods of analysis, on the example of these studies, the author demonstrates how to interpret the primary sociological data.

scholarly journals The interplay between social networks and culture: theoretically and among whales and dolphins

2013 ◽  
Vol 368 (1618) ◽  
pp. 20120340 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mauricio Cantor ◽  
Hal Whitehead
Keyword(s):  
Social Learning ◽  
Social Structure ◽  
Network Topology ◽  
Foraging Behaviour ◽  
Bottlenose Dolphins ◽  
Social Structures ◽  
Cultural Symbols ◽  
Begging Behaviour ◽  
Specific Behaviour ◽  
The Social

Culture is increasingly being understood as a driver of mammalian phenotypes. Defined as group-specific behaviour transmitted by social learning, culture is shaped by social structure. However, culture can itself affect social structure if individuals preferentially interact with others whose behaviour is similar, or cultural symbols are used to mark groups. Using network formalism, this interplay can be depicted by the coevolution of nodes and edges together with the coevolution of network topology and transmission patterns. We review attempts to model the links between the spread, persistence and diversity of culture and the network topology of non-human societies. We illustrate these processes using cetaceans. The spread of socially learned begging behaviour within a population of bottlenose dolphins followed the topology of the social network, as did the evolution of the song of the humpback whale between breeding areas. In three bottlenose dolphin populations, individuals preferentially associated with animals using the same socially learned foraging behaviour. Homogeneous behaviour within the tight, nearly permanent social structures of the large matrilineal whales seems to result from transmission bias, with cultural symbols marking social structures. We recommend the integration of studies of culture and society in species for which social learning is an important determinant of behaviour.

scholarly journals Social Structure of Pods' Correlation to Frequency of Repetitive Pacing in Captive Beluga Whales

2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Gianna Perugini ◽  
Jamela Orrego
Keyword(s):  
Social Behavior ◽  
Social Structure ◽  
Mental Distress ◽  
Behavioral Observation ◽  
Beluga Whale ◽  
Social Structures ◽  
Mental Wellbeing ◽  
Beluga Whales ◽  
The Social ◽  
In Captivity

Beluga whales in captivity currently show signs of mental distress through stereotypical behaviors such as repetitive pacing. It is currently well established that the social structure of beluga whale pods can alter beluga whale social behavior. This study aims to determine how differing social structures of beluga whale pods correlate to the frequency of repetitive pacing. In this context repetitive pacing is when a beluga whale paces three or more laps in the same pattern and direction. To test the hypothesis that beluga whales in larger more diverse pods will repetitively pace less than beluga whales in smaller more uniform pods, a behavioral observation was conducted at Seaworld Orlando and Georgia Aquarium. Over 20 observation periods, the amount of times repetitively paced, amount of laps while repetitively pacing, and the amount of laps repetitively paced per hour were all noted. The results supported the hypothesis, correlating the more diverse pod to less frequent repetitive pacing. These results suggest that pod social structure can play a role in captive beluga whales’ mental wellbeing. On this basis, during future transfers, more diverse pods should be put together to try to limit the amount of repetitive pacing and improve the mental wellbeing of captive beluga whales.

scholarly journals The evolution of female-biased kinship in humans and other mammals

2019 ◽  
Vol 374 (1780) ◽  
pp. 20190007 ◽  
Author(s):  
Siobhán M. Mattison ◽  
Mary K. Shenk ◽  
Melissa Emery Thompson ◽  
Monique Borgerhoff Mulder ◽  
Laura Fortunato
Keyword(s):  
Social Structure ◽  
Social Systems ◽  
Social Structures ◽  
Comparative Approach ◽  
Evolutionary Significance ◽  
Theme Issue ◽  
Numerous Species ◽  
The Social ◽  
Males And Females ◽  
Evolutionarily Stable

Female-biased kinship (FBK) arises in numerous species and in diverse human cultures, suggesting deep evolutionary roots to female-oriented social structures. The significance of FBK has been debated for centuries in human studies, where it has often been described as difficult to explain. At the same time, studies of FBK in non-human animals point to its apparent benefits for longevity, social complexity and reproduction. Are female-biased social systems evolutionarily stable and under what circumstances? What are the causes and consequences of FBK? The purpose of this theme issue is to consolidate efforts towards understanding the evolutionary significance and stability of FBK in humans and other mammals. The issue includes broad theoretical and empirical reviews as well as specific case studies addressing the social and ecological correlates of FBK across taxa, time and space. It leverages a comparative approach to test existing hypotheses and presents novel arguments that aim to expand our understanding of how males and females negotiate kinship across diverse contexts in ways that lead to the expression of female biases in kinship behaviour and social structure. This article is part of the theme issue ‘The evolution of female-biased kinship in humans and other mammals’.

Understanding the Social Structure of Academic Social Networking Sites: The Case of ResearchGate

Libri ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 69 (3) ◽  
pp. 189-199 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chengsong Huang ◽  
Xianjin Zha ◽  
Yalan Yan ◽  
Yunzhi Wang
Keyword(s):  
Social Structure ◽  
Social Networking Sites ◽  
Information Exchange ◽  
Structuration Theory ◽  
Structural Features ◽  
Social Structures ◽  
Adaptive Structuration Theory ◽  
The Social ◽  
Adaptive Structuration ◽  
Types Of Information

Abstract The goal of ResearchGate (RG) is to help users exchange scholarly information around the world. This study drew on adaptive structuration theory (AST) to investigate the social structure of RG, which had been largely overlooked by prior research. Data were crawled from RG and results were presented based on content analysis. For the social structure embedded in RG, the most frequent updates of structural features and spirit occurred in the first two years. Six representative updates for information exchange were analyzed and the newly embedded social structures were presented. For the social structure emerging in using RG, users were more willing to answer questions than ask questions, which countered intuition. Three categories were elicited to present the purpose and expectation of questions. Users were more willing to publish publications than publish projects. Compared with reading publications and projects published by others, users seldom commented on them. For the comparison between the two social structures, this paper analyzed and compared the two social structures in terms of three types of information exchange, finding that the social structure emerging in using RG differed from that embedded in RG. We suggest that this paper could potentially help the two social structures of RG promote the optimization of each other.

scholarly journals Beyond Content of Conversation

2016 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 50-71 ◽  
Author(s):  
Namkje Koudenburg ◽  
Tom Postmes ◽  
Ernestine H. Gordijn
Keyword(s):  
Social Interaction ◽  
Social Structure ◽  
Social Relationships ◽  
Structural Features ◽  
Social Structures ◽  
Dynamic Nature ◽  
Shared Reality ◽  
The Social ◽  
Group Members ◽  
Transfer Of Information

Social interaction is pivotal to the formation of social relationships and groups. Much is known about the importance of interaction content (e.g., the transfer of information). The present review concentrates on the influence of the act of conversing on the emergence of a sense of solidarity, more or less independently of the content. Micro-characteristics of the conversation (e.g., brief silences, smooth turn-taking) can profoundly influence the emergence and the regulation of relationships and of solidarity. We suggest that this might be because the form of a conversation is experienced as an expression of the social structures within the group. Because of its dynamic nature, moreover, the form of conversation provides group members with a continuous gauge of the group’s structural features (e.g., its hierarchy, social norms, and shared reality). Therefore, minor changes in the form and flow of group conversation can have considerable consequences for the regulation of social structure.

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