ABSTRACT
Sociologists have been trying to find ways of tying together more effectively what is known about small groups and what is known about larger groups, organizations, and complete societies. "Micro-systems" and "macro-systems" are believed to be somehow similar in important ways. Social-interaction systems of all sizes, even those as small as two persons, develop and change in ways that tend to elude individual intentions and attempts at control. Something like Adam Smith's "invisible hand" seems to be at work in developments, both desired and undesired, that emerge and persist in many aspects of social relationships. Values are mental parts of the system, that is, they are attitudes and evaluative concepts, often formulated in terms of explicit beliefs, located in the minds of individuals. Each individual has values in some form or other as part of his or her own personality and social identity.
