Grid and Group Theory
The Grid and Group theory of human behaviour was formulated by anthropologist Mary Douglas.
Summary from http://www.triarchypress.co.uk/pages/articles/cultural%20theory%20and%20triarchy%20theory.pdf.
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"Twenty-five years ago the renowned anthropologist Mary Douglas invented a typology known as Grid and Group. (Douglas, 1982). ‘Grid’ refers to externally-imposed and formalised regulation of the actions of individuals, achieved through laws or through social discipline. ‘Group’ refers to membership of bounded groups, in which the behaviour of members is determined by relationships within the group.
There are four possible combinations of Grid and Group
Low group combined with low grid leads to individualism, since in this situation people are not much constrained, either by rules or by relations with other members of a group. The culture is one of self-sufficiency. Social interaction is through a loose network. Entrepreneurs of all kinds flourish in theseconditions.
High group and high grid lead to a structured, hierarchical society. People are subject both to socially-imposed roles and to control by other individuals.
High group and low grid combine to produce egalitarian social relations. Individuals exercise power only by appealing to group values and purposes. A self-sufficient Western commune is an extreme example of egalitarianism. Its cultural bias is to reject the values of the surrounding society. Members are expected to be loyal to each other.
Low group and high grid lead to a fatalistic way of life, in which people are controlled from without but themselves exercise no control over others.
Thompson, Ellis and Wildavsky developed Douglas’s ideas into Cultural Theory. They describe individualism, hierarchy and egalitarianism as the three active ways of life. In their view, societies that fail to include any of these three active ways of life lose the wisdom associated with the excluded way.
The three active ways of life of Cultural Theory (CT) correspond to the three ways of getting things done of TriarchyTheory (TT)."