9.1 What is social stratification?
class
a group who shares a common social status based on factors like wealth, income, education, and occupation
primogeniture
a law stating that all property passes to the firstborn son
social stratification
a socioeconomic system that divides society's members into categories ranking from high to low, based on things like wealth, power, and prestige
caste system
a system in which people are born into a social standing that they will retain their entire lives
meritocracy
an ideal system in which personal effort—or merit—determines social standing
class system
social standing based on social factors and individual accomplishments
wealth
the value of money and assets a person has from, for example, inheritance
endogamous marriages
unions of people within the same social category
exogamous unions
unions of spouses from different social categories
status consistency
the consistency, or lack thereof, of an individual's rank across social categories like income, education, and occupation
income
the money a person earns from work or investments
