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Reframing Durkheim: How Task Specialization Versus Task Overlap Affect the Perceptions That Undergird Social Integration

This research reexamines Durkheim’s classic premise that the division of labor influences whether social integration is founded around collective perceptions of similarity versus mutual dependence. Utilizing a laboratory experiment to examine the division of labor on an interactional level, this paper tackles two questions. First, do task specialization and task overlap differentially encourage collective perceptions of ingroup similarity and mutual need? Second, do task specialization and task overlap differentially utilize perceptions of ingroup similarity and mutual need when developing social attachment? This research investigates whether task-overlapping teams are more likely to develop “mechanically”-based social integration than “organically”-based integration, and vice versa for task-specialized teams. Results show that while task specialization was more likely to foster “expertise-based” need for others, this perception did not produce feelings of social integration. Instead, task-specialized teams were more likely to develop cohesion and attachment based around perceptions of in-group similarity. Further, task-overlapping teams were not more likely to build social solidarity around perceived similarity, but were more likely to foster group cohesion and attachment around perceived need for partners. Findings underscore the importance of reexamining the concept of mutual need and suggest Durkheim’s original argument has unexpected complexities when analyzed on an interactional level.