Triad refers to a group of three people in sociology. It is one of the simplest human groups that can be studied and is mostly looked at by
microsociology Microsociology is one of the main levels of analysis (or focuses) of sociology, concerning the nature of everyday human social interactions and agency on a small scale: face to face.Smelser, Neil J. 1997. ''Problematics of Sociology.''. Microsociol ...
. The study of triads and
dyad
Dyad or dyade may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* Dyad (music), a set of two notes or pitches
* ''Dyad'' (novel), by Michael Brodsky, 1989
* ''Dyad'' (video game), 2012
* ''Dyad 1909'' and ''Dyad 1929'', ballets by Wayne McGregor
Other uses ...
s was pioneered by
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
**Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ger ...
sociologist
Georg Simmel
Georg Simmel (; ; 1 March 1858 – 26 September 1918) was a German sociologist, philosopher, and critic.
Simmel was influential in the field of sociology. Simmel was one of the first generation of German sociologists: his neo-Kantian approach l ...
at the end of the nineteenth century.
A triad can be viewed as a group of three people that can create different group interactions. This specific grouping is common yet overlooked in society for many reasons. Those being that it is compared to the lives of others, how they shape society, and how communication plays a role in different relationships scenarios.
It was derived in the late 1800s to early 1900s and evolved throughout time to shape group interactions in the present. Simmel also hypothesized between dyads and triads and how they may differ. A dyad is a group of two people that interact while a triad is another person added on to create more communicational interactions.
For example: adding an extra person, therefore creating a triad, this can result in different language barriers, personal connection, and an overall impression of the third person.
Simmel wanted to convey to his audience that a triad is not a basic group with positive interactions, but how these interactions can differ depending on person to person.
Studies conducted
Sibling relationships
Both tests and studies have been conducted as to how siblings interact and how age, gender, and the amount of siblings can create a triad. A majority of the population has doubled over the last decade and recently has been proven that the more parents conceive, the better outcome a child will have when relating to other siblings. It can all depend on the relationships that different families have acquired as children get older. Creating and distinguishing between how a family can interact is a perfect everyday example of a triad in sociology. Applying the
attachment theory
Attachment theory is a psychological, evolutionary and ethological theory concerning relationships between humans. The most important tenet is that young children need to develop a relationship with at least one primary caregiver for normal ...
created by
John Bowlby
Edward John Mostyn Bowlby, CBE, FBA, FRCP, FRCPsych (; 26 February 1907 – 2 September 1990) was a British psychologist, psychiatrist, and psychoanalyst, notable for his interest in child development and for his pioneering work in attachmen ...
can help decipher the differences between communication and interactions across the world.
Different forms
Closed form
In
triadic closure
Triadic closure is a concept in social network theory, first suggested by German sociologist Georg Simmel in his 1908 book ''Soziologie'' 'Sociology: Investigations on the Forms of Sociation'' Triadic closure is the property among three nodes A, ...
, a group of three people can form relationships between each individual in that group. Therefore, creating both personal and emotional connections amongst all three individuals. This can be extremely important for others to understand that each person in this triad performs different roles and has different characteristics.
Open form
Even though a triad consists of three people, an open form of a relationship can alter because two out of three members in this group can clash. This happens because the relationships for the triad are always interacting with each other which is why they have common things.
This can be due to both ''structural construction'' and ''informational construction''. They both provide a means of stability and assurance to sustain an open form relationship into a closed form relationship.
Structural construction can impose stress and clustering as a sense of bad communication between individuals and their different interactions. Informational construction conveys the need for privacy and how various individuals can clash when knowing something the other does not.
Georg Simmel
The birth of modernity and how it has shaped society
Georg Simmel goes into depth on the idea and how he creates the basis of a triad and what led him to his findings. It goes into discussing how places have taken triads shape. For example, in World War One he categorized the war into three various sections—European nationalism, materialism and imperialism.
These three fall under "mammonism"; this is the support of Americanism in World War Two and its effects that resulted from the war.
Exchange and cohesion in dyads and triads
Simmel conveys how cohesion has played a role in distinguishing between a dyad and a triad. Three main factors that have led to these diverse groups is justified by 1) Dyads result in less behavioral changes when compared to triads, 2) Bonds that coincide more with triads than dyads, and 3) Emotion plays a bigger role when communicating between two people (dyad) versus a group with three people (triad).
The last factor is mainly because communication and trust can be altered when mixing emotions between relationships. While in a group of three people it is less likely because the majority constantly communicate and come to an agreement as to what is best.
Triadic closure
Georg Simmel had studied the means of how interaction including sports can alter or contribute to how a group can communicate.
Going through a list of those that the player is either friends or enemies with, will then result if there is a positive or negative correlation between the two. This theory is known as
triadic closure
Triadic closure is a concept in social network theory, first suggested by German sociologist Georg Simmel in his 1908 book ''Soziologie'' 'Sociology: Investigations on the Forms of Sociation'' Triadic closure is the property among three nodes A, ...
and was introduced by George Simmel.
Network closure has provided a basis of social structure and independent actions amongst other individuals. Social structure and structural action was formed on the foundation of his or her own opinions as one together.
See also
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Antipositivism
In social science, antipositivism (also interpretivism, negativism or antinaturalism) is a theoretical stance that proposes that the social realm cannot be studied with the methods of investigation utilized within the natural sciences, and that ...
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''Gemeinschaft'' and ''Gesellschaft''
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Ideal type
Ideal type (german: Idealtypus), also known as pure type, is a typological term most closely associated with sociologist Max Weber (1864–1920). For Weber, the conduct of social science depends upon the construction of abstract, hypothetical co ...
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Normal type Normal type (in German: ''Normaltyp'') is a typological term in sociology coined by the German sociologist Ferdinand Tönnies (1855–1936). It can be considered both as a forerunner of, and a challenge to, the rather better known concept of ...
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Reflexivity (social theory)
In epistemology, and more specifically, the sociology of knowledge, reflexivity refers to circular relationships between cause and effect, especially as embedded in human belief structures. A reflexive relationship is bidirectional with both the ...
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Simmelian tie
A simmelian tie (can be capitalized as a Simmelian tie) is a type of an interpersonal tie, a concept used in the social network analysis. For a simmelian tie to exist, there must be three (a triad) or more of reciprocal strong ties in a group. A s ...
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Social action
In sociology, social action, also known as Weberian social action, is an act which takes into account the actions and reactions of individuals (or ' agents'). According to Max Weber, "Action is 'social' insofar as its subjective meaning takes ac ...
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Social relation
A social relation or also described as a social interaction or social experience is the fundamental unit of analysis within the social sciences, and describes any voluntary or involuntary interpersonal relationship between two or more individuals ...
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Structure and agency
In the social sciences there is a standing debate over the primacy of structure or agency in shaping human behaviour. ''Structure'' is the recurrent patterned arrangements which influence or limit the choices and opportunities available. '' Agency ...
References
{{Authority control
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Polyamorous terminology
Sociological terminology