George C. Homans facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
George Caspar Homans
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Associate Professor of Sociology at Harvard in 1946
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| Born | August 11, 1910 |
| Died | May 29, 1989 (aged 78) |
| Citizenship | United States |
| Alma mater | Harvard University, Cambridge University (Masters) |
| Known for | The Human Group, Social Behavior: Its Elementary Forms, Exchange Theory |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Sociology |
| Influences | Robert K. Merton, Talcott Parsons, Lawrence J. Henderson, Vilfredo Pareto, B.F. Skinner, Bernard DeVoto, Émile Durkheim, Elton Mayo |
| Influenced | Charles Tilly, Richard M. Emerson, Peter Blau, James Samuel Coleman, Edward Laumann |
George Caspar Homans (born August 11, 1910 – died May 29, 1989) was an important American sociologist. He helped create a field called behavioral sociology. He also led the American Sociological Association as its president.
Homans is famous for his ideas on how people act in groups. He also made big contributions to the social exchange theory. His best-known books are The Human Group and Social Behavior: Its Elementary Forms.
Contents
About George C. Homans
George C. Homans was born in Boston, Massachusetts, on August 11, 1910. He grew up in Cambridge, Massachusetts. His parents were Robert and Abigail Adams-Homans.
He was a direct descendant of two American Presidents. These were John Adams and John Quincy Adams.
His Early Life and Education
Homans went to St. Paul's School from 1923 to 1928. After that, he went to Harvard College in 1928. He studied English and American literature.
During college, George loved writing poetry. He hoped to become a writer. He even published his poems in The Harvard Advocate magazine.
After graduating in 1932, he wanted to work for a newspaper. But the Great Depression made it hard to find jobs. So, he was unemployed for a while. In 1941, he married Nancy Parshall Cooper. She was his partner for life.
Military Service
Homans joined the Naval Reserve in 1941. He loved the sea. He had even helped write a book about Massachusetts and the sea.
He served in the U.S. Navy for five years. More than two of those years were spent commanding small ships. These ships hunted submarines and protected other ships.
How Homans Became a Sociologist
Homans said he got into sociology "by chance." He met a teacher named Bernard de Voto at Harvard. De Voto taught him about American life and people.
Another important person was Lawrence Joseph Henderson. He was a scientist who believed all sciences should share ideas. Homans attended Henderson's classes and was very interested.
Homans also learned from Professor Elton Mayo. Mayo assigned readings from social anthropologists. This helped Homans believe that people in similar situations create similar ways of life.
The Pareto Circle
Homans joined a discussion group at Harvard called the Pareto Circle. It was led by Henderson. They studied the ideas of Vilfredo Pareto, a social scientist.
Pareto's ideas influenced Homans' first book, An Introduction to Pareto. He wrote it with Charles P. Curtis.
From 1934 to 1939, Homans was part of the Harvard Society of Fellows. This group allowed him to study many subjects. He learned about sociology, psychology, and history.
He met B. F. Skinner, a famous psychologist, there. Skinner taught Homans about observing behavior and the idea of "reinforcement." This means people tend to repeat actions that are rewarded.
For his fellowship, Homans studied rural England. He wrote a book called English Villagers of the Thirteenth Century (1941). He never got a Ph.D., but this book was like his doctoral work.
He learned that how people interact is very important. Also, feelings between people grow from these interactions.
Homans as a Teacher
In 1939, Homans became a teacher at Harvard. He taught sociology and medieval history. He also studied poetry and small groups.
He learned about industrial sociology and the work of anthropologists. In 1941, he left to serve in the U.S. Navy during the war.
After the war, he returned to Harvard in 1946. He became a full professor of sociology in 1953. He was also a visiting professor at other universities. These included the University of Manchester and Cambridge University.
Homans cared deeply about his students. He treated everyone with respect. He believed in discussing ideas openly.
He received many honors for his work. He became a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1956. He was also president of the American Sociological Association in 1964. He retired from teaching in 1980.
The Human Group
Homans was interested in Henderson's idea of a "conceptual scheme." This is a way to classify things you need to study a topic. It also shows how these things are related.
Homans used this idea to study small groups. His book The Human Group (1950) included Henderson's teachings.
The book aimed to study how social systems work in different groups. It looked at how group rules develop. It also explored how groups stay together when members act differently.
Homans believed his ideas should apply to all people. He wanted to study small groups first. This way, he could see all the details of how they worked.
One idea from the book is that people who interact often tend to like each other more. This book helped him understand basic social behavior.
In this work, Homans said social reality has three levels:
- social events (what happens)
- customs (how things are usually done)
- hypotheses (ideas about why customs form and change)
He used famous studies in sociology and anthropology to support his ideas. He showed that groups act like social systems. These systems can be studied to see how they stay balanced. He also started using ideas like "reinforcement" and "exchange."
The Exchange Theory
The Exchange Theory says that people try to get the most rewards for themselves. These rewards come from interacting with others. So, people look for good things in their interactions.
Homans' Exchange Theory ideas came partly from B.F. Skinner's work. Skinner studied how pigeons learn. Homans took Skinner's ideas and applied them to how humans interact.
Homans believed his theory could explain all social behavior. He thought it would connect sociology more closely to economics. In short, his theory sees people as trying to get the most "profit" from their interactions.
He wished his theory wasn't called "Exchange Theory." He saw it as a way to apply behavioral psychology to social situations.
Homans also looked at Émile Durkheim's work. Durkheim believed that society is more than just individuals. He thought society could be studied without focusing on individual people. But Homans, through his Exchange Theory, believed that individual actions are key to understanding society.
Albert Chavannes and Exchange Theory
George Homans greatly helped develop the Exchange Theory. But he was not the first to study it. Albert Chavannes wrote about "The Law of Exchange" in the 1880s.
Chavannes' work was similar to Homans'. However, Homans' contributions are what made the Exchange Theory so well-known today.
Social Behavior: Its Elementary Forms
Homans' next big book was Social Behavior: Its Elementary Forms. He wrote it in 1961 and updated it in 1974. This book used ideas from behavioral psychology. It explained basic social behavior in small groups.
He believed his Exchange Theory came from both behavioral psychology and basic economics. Basic economics, also called 'rational choice theory,' explains how economics and human behavior are linked.
Homans thought that explanations in social science should be based on "propositions." These are principles about individual behavior from psychology. He believed no new ideas were needed to explain social behavior. Skinner's laws about individual behavior could explain social behavior. We just need to remember that people reinforce each other.
Homans used everyday examples to explain his ideas. For example, he described two co-workers, "Person" and "Other." "Person" needs help at work. "Other" has more experience and helps "Person." In return, "Person" thanks "Other" and shows approval. This shows the importance of mutual exchange.
The Success Proposition
Homans' "Success Proposition" states: "For all actions taken by persons, the more often a particular action of a person is rewarded, the more likely the person is to perform that action" (Homans, 1974:16).
Let's use the office example. If "Person" asks "Other" for advice and it helps, "Person" will likely ask "Other" for advice again. This makes "Person" more comfortable seeking help. It also encourages "Other" to give help to others.
Homans explained this proposition has three steps:
- 1) A person does something.
- 2) That action gets a reward.
- 3) The person repeats the action.
Homans' Legacy
George C. Homans passed away on May 29, 1989, in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He left behind many important works on social theory. He is best known for his Exchange Theory and his studies of social behavior.
His students and colleagues remembered him as a great influence. Charles Tilly, a historian, said Homans' students learned to be careful with theories. He said Homans "stimulated and refreshed" people. He called Homans "a life-giver."
Selected works
- English Villagers of the Thirteenth Century (1941)
- The Human Group (1950)
- Social Behavior: Its Elementary Forms (1961) [rev. ed. 1974]
- The Nature of Social Science (1967; gathers the Walker-Ames Lectures at the University of Washington in the summer of 1965)
- Coming to My Senses: The Autobiography of a Sociologist (1984)
- Certainties and Doubts (1987)
- Sentiments & Activities: Essays in Social Science (1962)
See also
In Spanish: George C. Homans para niños
