SOCIAL DIFFERENTIATION 187

the sole fact of participation in more than one group is
sufficient to give the individual a more conscious realization
 of his individuality. Even in cases where this effect
is merely negative, plural participation removes at least
the feeling of the inevitableness and the obviousness of his
original association. Certain organizations have therefore
sometimes opposed the mere formal fact of participation
in other associations quite independently of their content
and purpose.
The amount of sociological determination which the
individual receives from his participation in different social
 circles will be greater if his relative position in each of
these associations is a different one. He may hold in one
circle a place of authority, in another a subordinate place;
in one group a central position, in another a position on
the outskirts. He may be economically interested in one
organization and personally attached to another one. The
structures of these organizations may make it impossible
for another individual to hold a similar place. All these
factors would lead to a sociological determination which
would be impossible in the case of participation in a single
group or even in the case of participation with identical
position in different groupings.!

The Two Aspects of Social Differentiation

Social differentiation shows itself in a variety of forms.
But, in the main, two basic types can be discovered which
appear in various combinations. The first type is manifest
in the formation of large superordinated circles out of
smaller, more specialized circles. The second type is manifest
 in the differentiation of more specialized circles out
of more co-ordinated and more inclusive circles.
Perhaps the most interesting illustration of the first
t Soz., pp. 412-21.