Chapter 4 sociology
id, ego, superego
Freud said that there was conscious, which you could control, and the subconscious. He said that the Id was living in the subconscious was just had primordial desires that wanted stuff like food and sex. Then there was the Superego that did not want pleasures of love, and was just pure intellect and rationality. The ego is the middle ground, the referee between the two different things, Id and Superego. All of this is going on the subconscious.
sociobiology
a branch of science that uses biological and evolutionary explanations for social behavior
status
a position in a social hierarchy that carries a particular set of expectations
saturated self
a postmodern idea that the self is now developed by multiple influences chosen from a wide range of media sources
achieved status
a status earned through individual effort or imposed by others
embodied status
a status generated by physical characteristics
master status
a status that is always relevant and affects all other statuses we possess
ascribed status
a status that is inborn; usually difficult or impossible to change
definition of the situation
an agreement with others about "what is going on" in a given circumstance; this consensus allows us to coordinate our actions with those of others and realize goals
Dramaturgy
an approach pioneered by Erving Goffman in which social life is analyzed in terms of its similarities to theatrical performance
cooling the mark out
behaviors that help others to save face or avoid embarrassment, often referred to as civility or tact
Thomas Theorem
classic formulation of the way individuals define situations, whereby "if people define situations as real, they are real in their consequences"
role-taking emotions
emotions such as sympathy, embarrassment, or shame that require that we assume the perspective of another person or group and respond accordingly
role strain
experienced when there are contradictory expectations within one role
role conflict
experienced when we occupy two or more roles with contradictory expectations
expressions given
expressions that are intentional and usually verbal, such as utterances
psychosexual stages of development
four distinct stages of the development of the self between birth and adulthood, according to Freud; personality quirks are a result of being fixated, or stuck, at any stage
feral children
in myths and rare real-world cases, children who have had little human contact and may have lived in social isolation from a young age
front
in the dramaturgical perspective, the setting or scene of performances that helps establish the definition of the situation
total institutions
institutions in which individuals are cut off from the rest of society so that they can be controlled and regulated for the purpose of systematically stripping away previous roles and identities in order to create new ones
stereotyping
judging others based on preconceived generalizations about groups or categories of people
feeling rules
norms regarding the expression and display of emotions; expectations about the acceptable or desirable feelings in a given situation
expressions given off
observable expressions that can be either intended or unintended and are usually nonverbal
backstage
places where people rest from their performances, discuss their presentations, and plan future performances
expressions of behavior
small actions such as an eye roll or head nod that serve as an interactional tool to help project our definition of the situation to others
Agents of Sociolization
social groups, institutions and individuals (especially the family, schools, peers, and the mass media) that povide structured situations in which sociolization takes place
agency
the ability to think, act, and make choices independently
region
the context in which the performance takes place, including location, decor, and props
impression management
the effort to control the impressions we make on others so that they form a desired view of us and the situation; the use of self-presentation and performance tactics
prepatory stage
the first stage in Mead's theory of the development of self wherein children mimic or imitate others
dual nature of the self
the idea that we experience the self as both subject and object, the "I" and the "me"
self
the individual's conscious, reflexive experience of a personal identity separate and distinct from other individuals
nature vs. nurture debate
the ongoing discussion of the respective roles of genetics and socialization in determining individual behaviors and traits
personal front
the performance tactics we use to present ourselves to others, including appearance, costume, and manner
generalized other
the perspectives and expectations of a network of others (or of society in general) that a child learns and then takes into account when shaping his or her own behavior
particular or significant other
the perspectives and expectations of a particular role that a child learns and internalizes
frontstage
the places in which we deliver our performances to an audience of others
social construction
the process by which a concept or practice is created and maintained by participants who collectively agree that it exists
Socialization
the process by which individuals internalize the values, beliefs, and norms of a given society and learn to function as members of that society
emotion work (emotional labor)
the process of evoking, suppressing, or otherwise managing feelings to create a publicly observable display of emotion
Resocialization
the process of learning new norms, values, attitudes, and behaviors, and replacing them with the old ones
role exit
the process of leaving a role that we will no longer occupy
play stage
the second stage in Mead's theory of the development of self wherein children pretend to play the role of the particular or significant other
game stage
the third stage in Mead's theory of the development of self wherein children play organized games and take on the perspective of the generalized other
hidden curriculum
values or behaviors that students learn indirectly over the course of their schooling
copresence
face-to-face interaction or being in the presence of others
looking-glass self
the notion that the self develops through our perception of others' evaluations and appraisals of us
role
the set of behaviors expected of someone because of his or her status
