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The concept of group standards (pressures toward uniformities in action and attitude) functions to control behavior. Prediction of behavior requires the employment of variables whose definitions are outside the individual. Numerous studies demonstrate the effects of group standards on individual behavior. These show that actual social phenomena of everyday social life can be studied systematically. Details of an experiment in gift giving as an example of the effect of group decisions on behavior regulation are presented, in addition to summaries of similar studies. The next stage is not replicative studies but development of a comprehensive theory concerning the relationship between membership in the small face-to-face group and the behavior of the individual. E. Scott.

Existing studies on employers' preferences towards institutions of class cooperation suggest that certain types of employers support these institutions because they provide economic benefits. To test this thesis, this paper examines attitudes of German employers towards board-level codetermination. It compares firms' attitudes at the individual and the collective level: individual firms' attitudes are analysed using survey data and media statements from individual executives; collective attitudes are analysed using policy statements from the national business federations. The paper finds considerable support for board-level codetermination among individual firms but continued opposition from the federations. The paper suggests that this difference arises from the federations strategically over-representing dissatisfied members. The promotion of voluntary arrangements allows the federations to campaign against board-level codetermination without alienating the satisfied members. The paper highlights the need to complement a micro-foundational analysis of preference formation with an analysis of intra-associational processes of preference aggregation. Adapted from the source document.

Employs the political sociology of Max Weber in an investigation of the emergence of the individual as a political subject. According to Weber, the state emerged as an effective political institution, which succeeded in monopolizing the legitimate use of violence. This allowed states to become the primary protector of individual rights &, thus, to become the primary agent for the development of modern law. At the same time, the state also engaged in improving the moral life of the nation & shaping the national economy, both of which required the collection of information about subjects & citizens. Individuals were thus pulled into the territorial boundaries of the state as particular kinds of subjects whose rights might be protected & about whom information might be gathered. As this process occurred, individuals were transformed into self-disciplining subjects who also possessed the rights of autonomous citizens. This disciplined yet free individual is taken to mark the emergence of the modern political subject. 35 References. D. M. Ryfe

Subgroup optimization occurs when a group solves its internal problems of cooperation, but that cooperation is detrimental to the organization as a whole. Here, small-group experiments designed to model this problem are reported that tested hypotheses from the solidarity & prisoners' dilemma literatures. Data on 76 groups involving 380 Ss (college students & local residents in Logan, Utah) indicate that interacting Ss reject individual, material incentives in favor of maximizing payoff for the subgroup -- even when such action harms an outgroup & collective efficiency. Results also indicate that such parochial tendencies can be offset depending on perception of the outgroup & decision-making structures. Implications include the importance of the concept of the "public interest" to an adminstrator's decision calculus. 6 Exhibits, 1 Appendix, 48 References. AA

Postsocialist nations' engagement with the notion of the individual is investigated. An overview of the emergence of individualism within Central & Eastern European countries after the USSR's dissolution is presented to illustrate the tension between individualism & collectivism in those nations. G. W. F. Hegel's (1991) scientific understanding of history is used to understand how postsocialist countries have treated the individual. An analysis of Enlightenment thought, especially Hegel's, revealed that philosophers of the period attempted to incorporate individuals back into society while allowing the former to maintain their autonomy. Michel Foucault's (1986) rejection of traditional historical narratives & (1991) understanding of power as positive & productive are used to assert that historical texts produce consciousness rather than represent the consciousness of certain historical periods. 36 References. J. W. Parker