George Homans

1
George Homans

• Psychological Behaviorism as Sociology
• The Six Propositions
• Distributive Justice (Equality vs. Equity)

2
Behavioral Psychology as Sociology

• How is this done? Simply by adding an
  interpretive element to this process.
• Elimination of the black box, reductionist and
  tautological phenomenon of stimulusgtgtgtresponse.
• Act is introduced. StimulusgtActgtResult
• This act is based on a rational calculation of
  ProfitReward-Cost
• In short, this mental calculation is the basis of
  Exchange Theory, and allows for the tenants of
  Behavioral Psychology to be applied to more
  complex forms of human behavior.

3
Behavioral Psychology As Sociology Contd

• Does this mean we are all selfish and hedonistic
  creatures?
• Practical Equilibrium. The tendency of behavior
  within small groups to remain consistent over
  time.
• Rewards and costs can take both personal and
  social forms.
• Festinger-Schachter studies. Integrity (personal)
  and cohesiveness (social).
• DQ 1 Given this broader definition of cost and
  reward, can Exchange Theory still account for the
  findings in Festingers cognitive dissonance
  experiment?

4
The Six Propositions

• 1. The Success Proposition
• 2. The Stimulus Proposition
• 3. The Value Proposition
• 4. The Deprivation-Satiation Proposition
• 5. The Aggression-Approval Proposition
• 6. The Rationality Proposition

5
The Success Proposition

• The more often a particular action is rewarded,
  the more likely a person is to perform that
  action.
• The reward follows the action but is not
  necessarily caused by it (i.e. superstition).
• Three qualifiers proximity, value of reward and
  patterns of reward.
• Proximity the sooner the reward follows an
  action, the more likely the action is to be
  repeated.

6
The Stimulus Proposition

• The more similar the stimuli which provoked an
  action which resulted in positive value, the more
  likely the action will be performed.
• Proximity and value of reward are again important
  qualifiers
• Tie in to Cognitive Theory. Stimuli can be
  subject to both generalization and
  discrimination. Also, being able to detect the
  level of similarity between past and present
  stimuli.
• Tie in to S.I. For people, stimuli is largely
  verbal, resulting in far more complex exchanges
  and social behavior.

7
Imitation and Vicarious Reward

• Forms of social learning which may provide
  stimuli for future occasions.
• Further proof that social exchange is not
  tautological.

8
The Value Proposition Reward and Punishment

• The more valuable the result of an action, the
  more likely a person is to repeat it.
• Values can be negative (punishment) and positive
  (reward). Four types of result total. Reward,
  punishment withheld (or minimized), punishment
  and reward withheld (or minimized).
• Values are infinitely varied (learned) and
  layered.
• A value is ultimately primordial, however, its
  link to this primordial state can vary because of
  mans ability to use symbols.

9
The Value Proposition Contd

• Generalized Values (Social Approval) Those
  values furthest removed from the primordial
  state, through symbolic links.
• Values, both personal and generalized, can be
  both altruistic and egotistic.
• DQ 2 Is this last assertion true? Might it be
  tenable to assert that all personal values are
  egotistic and all generalized values are
  altruistic?

10
Deprivation-Satiation Proposition

• The more in the recent past a person has received
  a particular reward, the less valuable any
  further unit of that reward becomes.
• Remember the patterns of reward qualifier to
  the first two propositions? Well, that qualifier
  might be considered a corollary to this
  proposition.

11
The Aggression-Approval Proposition

• A. When a persons action does not receive the
  reward he expected, or receives the punishment he
  did not expect, he becomes angry and will perform
  aggressive behavior, the results of such become
  more valuable to him.
• B. When a persons actions receives a greater
  reward than expected, he will be pleased perform
  approving behavior, which becomes more valuable
  to him.
• Innate and operant

12
The Rationality Proposition

• In choosing between alternative actions, a person
  will choose that one for which, as perceived by
  him at the time, the value V, of the result,
  multiplied by the probability, p, of getting the
  result, is the greater.
• A p(v), where value is reward minus cost, or
  profit.
• Probability is often determined by previous rates
  of success.
• This proposition asserts nothing about what a
  mans values are, however, if his are common
  values, they may be inferred.

13
In Short

• A stimulus (or set of stimuli) inspires a person
  to act out towards a result. His choice of action
  will be contingent on the type of result the
  stimuli has inspired in the past (Prop II), the
  action which has in the past best achieved that
  result (Prop I) and a rational calculation of the
  probability of success multiplied by the value of
  the result (Prop VI), wherein the value of said
  result is profit, or reward minus cost (Prop
  III).
• The more consistently or frequently a positive
  valued result is achieved, the less valuable it
  becomes to the actor (Prop IV). In addition, if
  the person receives an opposite valued result
  from what he was expecting, he will respond
  emotionally, while placing positive value in that
  response (Prop V).

14
In Short Contd

• Values are personal (primordial) and generalized
  (social). The degree of difference is contingent
  upon symbolic links.
• As such, values can be both altruistic and
  egotistic.
• The ability to generalize and discriminate
  stimuli, as well as, being able to distinguish
  between the substance of past and present stimuli
  requires perception, memory (the ability to
  categorize) and the capacity to infer i.e.
  cognition.

15
Distributive Justice (Equity vs. Equality)

• An equitable relationship is achieved when the
  ratio of the two persons worth is equal to the
  ratio of their respective rewards.
• P1/P2 R1/R2
• The only time a relationship can be both
  equitable and equal is when the worth of the two
  people is the same.

16
Distributive Justice (Equity vs. Equality) Contd

• DQ 3 Can we all agree some unequal equitable
  relationships are necessary? For instance, would
  it not be unjust to pay everyone in a corporation
  the same rate, regardless of job class or
  experience?
• If this is the case, at what point does equity,
  at the expense of equality, qualify as
  exploitation?
• Is it possible that exploitation is simply an
  ideologically naïve term which fails to
  distinguish between the concepts of equity and
  equality?