Abstract
The usefulness of the reference group concept in social psychology and sociology was established during the 1940s and 1950s by Gerth and Mills (1953), Hyman (1942), Kelley (1952), Merton (1957), Sherif and Sherif (1953), Shibutani (1955), Stouffer et al. (1949) and Turner (1956). Up until the early 1970s, the concept “enjoyed extreme success” and was “utilized in literally hundreds of theoretical and empirical studies by representatives of all the social sciences” according to Schmitt (1972, p. 1). Though it has not been employed nearly as extensively in the research literature during the late 1970s and 1980s, it has continued to be used as a theoretical tool in analyses on diverse subjects. These include traditional social psychological laboratory studies (Lau, 1989; Montgomery, 1980), personality theory (Miller, 1977), use of alcohol and drugs (Hill & Dodder, 1978; Hunt, Lipton, Goldsmith, & Strug, 1984), family and sexuality issues (Houseknecht, 1977; Sebald & White, 1980), patterns of organizational and occupational identification(Kronus, 1976), social stratification (Bock, Beeghley, & Mixon, 1983; Patel, 1973), education (Richer, 1976; Schwarzer & Schwarzer, 1982), politics (Braungart & Braungart, 1979), consumer behavior (Bearden & Etzel, 1982; Sapp & Harrod, 1989), and counternormative behavior (White, 1977).
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Bearden, W. O., & Etzel, M. J. (1982). Reference group influence on product and brand purchase decisions. Journal of Consumer Research, 9, 183–194.
Bock, E. W., Beeghley, L., & Mixon, A. J. (1983). Religion, socioeconomic status, and sexual morality: An application of reference group theory. Sociological Quarterly, 24, 545–559.
Booth, B., & Blair, M. (1989). Thesaurus of sociological indexing terms (2nd ed.). San Diego, CA: Sociological Abstracts.
Braungart, R. G., & Braungart, M. M. (1979). Reference group, social judgment and student politics. Adolescence, 14, 135–137.
Gerth, H. C, & Mills, C. W. (1953). Character and social structure: The psychology of social institutions. New York: Harcourt Brace.
Granberg, D., Jefferson, N. L., Brent, E. E., & King, M. (1981). Membership group, reference group, and the attribution of attitudes to groups. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 40, 833–842.
Hill, R. D., & Dodder, R. (1978). Reference group theory of marijuana use. International Review of Modern Sociology, 8, 75–87.
Houseknecht, S. K. (1977). Reference group support for voluntary childlessness: Evidence for conformity. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 39, 285–292.
Hunt, D. E., Lipton, D. S., Goldsmith, D. S., & Strug, D. L. (1984). Problems in methadone treatment: The influence of reference groups. National Institute on Drug Abuse: Research Monograph Series, 46, 8–22.
Hyman, H. H. (1942). The psychology of status. Archives of Psychology, 269.
Kelley, H. H. (1968). Two functions of reference groups. In H. H. Hyman & E. E. Singer (Eds.), Readings in reference group theory and research (pp. 77–83). New York: Free Press.
Kronus, C. L. (1976). Occupational versus organizational influences on reference group identification: The case of pharmacy. Sociology of Work and Occupations, 3, 303–330.
Lau, R. (1989). Individual and contextual influences on group identification. Social Psychology Quarterly, 52, 220–231.
Luker, K. (1984). Abortion and the politics of motherhood. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.
Merton, R. K. (1957). Social theory and social structure. Glencoe, IL: Free Press.
Meyrowitz, J. (1985). No sense of place: The impact of electronic media on social behavior. New York: Oxford University Press.
Miller, R. L. (1977). Preferences for social vs. non-social comparison as a means of self-evaluation. Journal of Personality, 45, 343–355.
Montgomery, R. L. (1980). Reference groups as anchors in judgments of other groups: A biasing factor in “rating tasks”? Psychological Reports, 47, 967–975.
Patel, H. L. (1973). Reference group behavior of a Kshatriya Caste in a western Indian village. Society and Culture, 4, 1–10.
Pollis, A. (1982). Liberal, socialist, and third world perspectives of human rights. In P. Schwab & A. Pollis (Eds.), Toward a human rights framework (pp. 1–26). New York: Praeger.
Pollis, N. P. (1968). Reference group re-examined. British Journal of Sociology, 19, 300–307.
Pollis, N. P. (1981). Conformity, compliance, and human rights. Human Rights Quarterly, 3, 93–105.
Richer, S. (1976). Reference-group theory and ability grouping: A convergence of sociological theory and educational research. Sociology of Education, 49, 65–71.
Rokeach, M. (1968). Beliefs, attitudes and values. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Sapp, S. G., & Harrod, W. J. (1989). Social acceptability and intentions to eat beef: An expansion of the Fishbein-Ajzen model using reference group theory. Rural Sociology, 54, 430–438.
Sarup, G. (1975). A reference group theory of social movements and identity. Social Science, 50, 219–226.
Schmitt, R. L. (1972). The reference other orientation: An extension of the reference group concept. Carbondale, IL: Southern Illinois University Press.
Schwarzer, R., & Schwarzer, C. (1982). Achievement anxiety with respect to reference groups in school. Journal of Educational Research, 75, 305–308.
Sebald, H., & White, B. (1980). Teenagers’ divided reference groups: Uneven alignment with parents and peers. Adolescence, 15, 979–984.
Seib, G. F. (1986, June 18). Religious discord rises among Israeli Jews, spurs intense debate. The Wall Street Journal, pp. 1, 12.
Sherif, M., & Sherif, C. W. (1953). Groups in harmony and tension: An integration of studies on intergroup relations. New York: Harper and Brothers.
Shibutani T. (1955). Reference groups as perspectives. American Journal of Sociology, 60, 562–569.
Stouffer, S. A., Suchman, E. A., DeVinney, L. C, Star, S. A., & Williams, R. M. (1949). The American soldier: Adjustment during army life. (Vol. 1). Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Turner, R. H. (1956). Role-taking, role standpoint, and reference-group behavior. American Journal of Sociology, 61, 316–328.
White, M. J. (1977). Counternormative behavior as influenced by deindividuating conditions and reference group salience. Journal of Social Psychology, 103, 75–90.
Youssef, I. M. (1990, July 1). Islamic fundamentalism is winning votes. The New York Times, p. 5.
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1992 Springer-Verlag New York, Inc.
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Pollis, N.P., Pollis, C.A. (1992). Reference Groups and Human Rights. In: Granberg, D., Sarup, G. (eds) Social Judgment and Intergroup Relations. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4612-2860-8_12
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4612-2860-8_12
Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY
Print ISBN: 978-1-4612-7698-2
Online ISBN: 978-1-4612-2860-8
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive