Social Psychology and Organizations

Abstract

The study of organizations and sociological social psychology requires an answer to the macro-micro-macro problem, and thus we propose one such solution. We utilize the new institutional logics perspective to discuss the connections between organizations and social psychological processes. Using this paradigm’s dynamic construction model, which involves causal theoretical connections between macro/organizational-level and micro-level processes, we attempt to integrate some of its notions into influential theories from sociological social psychology. Specifically, we examine status characteristics, status construction, emotion management/labor, affect control, social exchange, and identity theories to recommend ways in which adding concepts from the new institutional logics perspectives might promote theory growth. In so doing, we also demonstrate how concepts from these social psychological theories could enhance the new institutional logics perspective. Our approach is admittedly superficial and not exhaustive; nevertheless, we challenge social scientists to incorporate organizational-level concepts into theories of social interaction to better capture social reality. (Invited Chapter)