From Groups To Individuals

The biological and philosophical implications of the emergence of new collective individuals from associations of living beings. Our intuitive assumption that only organisms are the real individuals in the natural world is at odds with developments in cell biology, ecology, genetics, evolutionary biology, and other fields. Although organisms have served for centuries as nature's paradigmatic individuals, science suggests that organisms are only one of the many ways in which the natural world could be organized. When living beings work together—as in ant colonies, beehives, and bacteria-metazoan symbiosis—new collective individuals can emerge. In this book, leading scholars consider the biological and philosophical implications of the emergence of these new collective individuals from associations of living beings. The topics they consider range from metaphysical issues to biological research on natural selection, sociobiology, and symbiosis. The contributors investigate individuality and its relationship to evolution and the specific concept of organism; the tension between group evolution and individual adaptation; and the structure of collective individuals and the extent to which they can be defined by the same concept of individuality. These new perspectives on evolved individuality should trigger important revisions to both philosophical and biological conceptions of the individual. Contributors Frédéric Bouchard, Ellen Clarke, Jennifer Fewell, Andrew Gardner, Peter Godfrey-Smith, Charles J. Goodnight, Matt Haber, Andrew Hamilton, Philippe Huneman, Samir Okasha, Thomas Pradeu, Scott Turner, Minus van Baalen

The biological and philosophical implications of the emergence of new collective individuals from associations of living beings. Our intuitive assumption that only organisms are the real individuals in the natural world is at odds with developments in cell biology, ecology, genetics, evolutionary biology, and other fields. Although organisms have served for centuries as nature's paradigmatic individuals, science suggests that organisms are only one of the many ways in which the natural world could be organized. When living beings work together—as in ant colonies, beehives, and bacteria-metazoan symbiosis—new collective individuals can emerge. In this book, leading scholars consider the biological and philosophical implications of the emergence of these new collective individuals from associations of living beings. The topics they consider range from metaphysical issues to biological research on natural selection, sociobiology, and symbiosis. The contributors investigate individuality and its relationship to evolution and the specific concept of organism; the tension between group evolution and individual adaptation; and the structure of collective individuals and the extent to which they can be defined by the same concept of individuality. These new perspectives on evolved individuality should trigger important revisions to both philosophical and biological conceptions of the individual. Contributors Frédéric Bouchard, Ellen Clarke, Jennifer Fewell, Andrew Gardner, Peter Godfrey-Smith, Charles J. Goodnight, Matt Haber, Andrew Hamilton, Philippe Huneman, Samir Okasha, Thomas Pradeu, Scott Turner, Minus van Baalen

Refreshing and accessible, this new text guides student and practitioner alike through the maze of approaches to the way in which people interact in organizational life. By building their text around six topics central to those who manage in organizations: people; gender; flexibility; groups; learning; and creativity; the authors of this text have provided a clear, easily used framework for analysing the role of the individual in the group, the group in the organization, and the organization in the environment.

This volume focuses on social perception, the processing of information about people. This issue has always been central to social psychology, but this book brings together literatures that in large part have been separated by the nature of the social target that is involved. Historically, research on person perception developed quite independently from research involving perceptions of groups. Whereas the former research generally focused on the cognitive processes involved in forming impressions of individuals, research on group perception examined the content of stereotypes and the conditions under which they are used in social judgment. There was been little overlap in the theories and methods of these subfields, and different researchers were central in each. The chapters in this book highlight research and theorizing about social perception, exploring the processes involved in social perception from persons to groups. Some chapters describe work that was originally developed in person perception but is being extended to understanding groups. Other chapters illustrate how some processes studied in the domain of stereotyping also affect perceptions of individual persons. Finally, other chapters focus on variables that affect perceptions and judgments of both individuals and groups, proving opportunities for greater recognition of the common set of factors that are central to all types of social perception. This groundbreaking book highlights the research contributions of David L. Hamilton, whose research has played a central role in uniting these previously independent areas of research. It provides essential reading for upper-level courses on social cognition or social perception and could also serve as an auxiliary text in courses on interpersonal perception/relations and courses on stereotyping/intergroup relations.

This volume is an introductory text to the individual and organizational dynamics by an author with extensive experience in the field. It examines the unconscious processes of human behaviour that affect all organizations and institutions. It is aimed at those who are currently employed as managers or consultants, students of management, and others with the opportunity to develop knowledge skills and ability in an area of organizational behaviour, which has been largely inaccessible to the majority.

Brian Hedden defends a radical view about rationality, personal identity, and time. He argues that what it is rational to do should not depend on your past beliefs or actions, which are not part of your current perspective on the world. His impersonal approach holds that what rationality demands of you is solely determined by your evidence.

Individual Motivation within Groups: Social Loafing and Motivation Gains in Work, Academic, and Sports Teams explores the state of our scientific understanding of when and why individuals are most and least likely to work hard as members of groups and work teams. This book addresses key psychological phenomena such as social loafing, social dilemmas, social facilitation, and ostracism, with each chapter creating connections to related topics such as leadership, performance in learning groups, isolated teams, and more. This volume provides a summary of the field’s history, synthesizes related research, and, using the Collective Effort Model and other key motivational theories, looks at the current level of understanding of both motivation losses and gains in groups. Individual Motivation within Groups is a vital resource for social, organizational, and applied psychologists as well as academics and researchers in these fields and related areas such as leadership and team performance. Explores individual motivation in multiple contexts such as work teams, educational settings, sports teams, and more Highlights recent research advances, future directions, and linkages with related research areas Discusses cross-cultural and international implications Examines factors that detract from and contribute to group motivation/individual motivation within groups

Relations between groups of people are determined both by the attitudes and behaviour patterns of the individuals who constitute these groups, and by their social, economic, political and ideological background. Intergroup relations are therefore open to both psychological and sociological explanations, and the study of intergroup relations represents a way in which these two levels of explanation, which so often fail to take account of each other, may be integrated. This is the thesis advanced here by Willem Doise. Professor Doise discusses psychological explanations of social stereotypes and prejudices by examining specific clinical psychologists and then approaches these phenomena sociologically. He also describes the psychological process of category differentiation and its role in intergroup relations. This book, first published in 1978, will be of particular interest to social psychologists, and to all social scientists interested in the problem of integrating psychological and sociological explanation.