Multidimensional scaling analyses of the perceived social structure of informal groups.

Abstract

Four groups of student hallmates provided similarity ratings of each other, and they rated each other on various characteristics. Group-level multidimensional scaling analyses suggested that there was no consensual social structure in any of the four groups. In contrast, individual-level analyses found that individuals had coherent perceptions of the social structures of their groups, although no 2 members of any group perceived the social structure of their group similarly. Nevertheless, there was considerable similarity among people in the dimensions underlying their perceived structures. Conventionality, friendliness, influence, and interpersonal openness served as organizing dimensions for the majority of participants, and sense of humor, how hard it was to get along with people, introversion, interesting, and academic orientation were important bases for about a third of the participants.The present study examined group members' perceptions of the structures of their informal groups. Data were collected that provided both nomothetic descriptions of group structure (Is there a consensually agreed-on structure to a group?) and idiographic descriptions (What structures do individual members perceive?).The assumption underlying the present study was that informal structures are emergent phenomena that do not correspond to or reflect written or objective criteria; rather, informal structures consist of people's cognitive organization of a set of stimuli (i.e., group members).Determining the nature of the structure of informal groups could have important theoretical and practical implications. Theoretically speaking, the existence of consensually recognized structures is consistent with the existence