Reference Group Behavior in Occupational Role Socialization.

Student career commitments of the University of Minnesota Law School were analyzed to test the relationship between two of the attributed functions of an individual's reference group. Although these different functions have been the subject of much discussion, their interrelationships have not been subjected to empirical test. Such an analysis might give an indication of the utility of conceptualizing these functions as behaviorally distinct. The second objective of the research was to test the utility of the reference group model in providing an explanation for occupational role socialization. Although behavior related to occupational systems has been and continues to be extensively treated in sociological literature, it has often been done outside the framework of currently existing theories. The author was of the opinion that socialization into an occupational role represented a process of behavioral change which could be usefully subjected to the reference group model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]