Emergenz und Reduktion

The micro-macro-link is a common problem in nearly every scientific field. In contemporary philosophy of mind a new concept of emergence has been developed which could also be useful for sociology. After a brief overview of the debate in the field of philosophy of mind, three different answers to the micro-macro problem are being distinguished and then transferred to sociology: an eliminative (e.g. R. Collins), a reductionist (e.g. rational choice theories) and a non-reductive answer based on the concept of emergence (e.g. Emile Durkheim, and, partly, N. Luhmann). Using the argument of “multiple realization” the article argues for a “conceptual dualism”.     

Adorno und die autoritäre Persönlichkeit

“The Authoritarian Personality” is a milestone study in social science research. Based on a series of research and investigations, the study, conducted in 1945/46, had to pass controversies and delays until its publication in 1950. Theodor W. Adorno’s involvement in this research appears to be less central than has frequently been assumed. Gradually, the importance of Erich Fromm’s contribution to the theoretical foundation and methodology of the study was recognized. Nevertheless, in many publications it is still acceptable to neglect the major contribution of Erich Fromm and Adorno’s further co-authors, Else Frenkel-Brunswik, Daniel J. Levinson and R. Nevitt Sanford. During the fifties, the Frankfurt Institut für Sozialforschung (IfS) conducted only two large-scale interview-and questionnaire-based studies pertaining to authoritarian personality issues. However, in further studies innovative research perspectives were not evident, and the most obvious task, to investigate former perpetrators and supporters of National Socialism, was not realized. The most probable of these deficit motives were based on Adorno’s dismissive view of empirical social psychology and differential psychology. However, the expertise of both are indispensable for such research programs. This historical review of “The Authoritarian Personality” demonstrates why there has been so little innovative and comprehensive research on the subject in postwar Germany.     

Der Ebenenwechsel und seine Folgen Eine Gruppe experimentiert

Today, professionality is no longer safeguarded only by a specific professional membership. Particularly in the field of supervision, even organized supervisors have problems with quality safeguarding. For this reason the authors insist on a continuous reflection and development of concepts, and they report on their activities relating to this demand. The shift of level is a method of group dynamics based on the concept ”shift of perspectives“ in phenomenology.     

Kommunikationsprobleme in Teams mit hoher aufgabenbezogener Diversität: Ursachen und Möglichkeiten zur Intervention

This paper starts with an analysis, based on the communication theories of Schulz von Thun (2000) and Clark (1996), of the reasons why teams with a high task-related diversity are particularly susceptible to communication problems. To reduce communication problems, a modularly composed training- and team-development concept, which applies on “individual” and “team” levels, is subsequently presented. Communication problems are defined as failure in understanding as well as low level of task-related openness and as absence of esteem and acceptance between communicating participants.     

Kostenstruktur und Ästhetisierung?

Life style research has become an independent branch of social structure analysis, that systematically complements classical research on social inequality in the explanation of social action and of attitudes. However, there are important theoretical gaps in life style research: firstly, there is a lack of theoretical proposals to explain the statistical connection between life styles on the one hand and social action and attitudes on the other hand. Secondly, it remains unclear, why life styles sometimes are very good predictors of social action and at other times they are not. In a first step this article puts forward an action theoretic framework as foundation for life style research, that implies a conceptual shift from life styles to cultural preferences. In a second step I develop three theses, that state relatively precisely the conditions for a high or low explanatory power of cultural preferences. They are empirically tested in a secondary data analysis, that supports the applicability of the theoretical ideas developed in the paper.     

Kann der regionale Kontext zur „Arbeitslosenfalle“ werden?

The focus of this paper is on mobility between local labour markets. Using multilevel data, the effect of local unemployment on mobility between local labour markets is investigated. A distinction is made between several dimensions of unemployment: (1) unemployment as a status in the life course at the individual level, (2) unemployment duration, (3) the unemployment rate at the regional level. One of the main results contradicts neoclassical economics: the rate of mobility between local labour markets decreases with increasing local unemployment. In a sense, persons become “trapped” in the local context because under bad labour market conditions unemployed persons, too, tend to immobility. As a result, a devaluation of human capital might be possible.     

Positive Effekte sozialen Faulenzens beim Lösen komplexer Probleme

The term “social loafing” refers to a decrease in motivation and achievement in group work due to sinking responsibility of the individual for the groups’ outcome. Recent studies assume a paradoxical relation between motivation and outcome, which should produce better outcome with decreased motivation. The current study addresses this question. Two experiments with N=60 subjects working in groups of 3 are reported. Subjects had to deal with a computer simulated scenario of a fire fighting situation. There was a simple and a more complex version; also, individual responsibility for the groups’ outcome was either given (coactive condition) or not (collective condition). During experiment 1, subjects could only deal with their own section of the scenario; in experiment 2, they were allowed to work on the whole field. Dependent variables were effort (in terms of commands given) and achievement (in terms of space saved). It turned out that under collective responsibility effort was reduced but this did not lead to decreased achievement. Under the complex condition, with decreased effort even an increase in achievement could be demonstrated. Implications for the collective effort model presented by Karau and Williams are discussed.