Sociology Chapter 2: Culture & Construction
culture-as-value thesis
the idea that we're socialized into culturally specific moralities that guide our feelings about right and wrong
Culture-as-rationale thesis
the idea that we're socialized to know a set of culturally specific arguments with which we can justify why we feel something is right or wrong
socialization
the lifelong learning process by which we become members of our cultures
dual inheritance theory
the notion that humans are products of the interaction of genetic and cultural evolution
Ethnocentrism
the practice of assuming that one's own culture is superior to the cultures of others
cultural relativism
the practice of noting the differences between cultures without passing judgement
social construction
the process by which we layer objects with ideas, fold concepts into one another, and build connections between them
media socialization
the process of learning how to be culturally competent through our exposure to media
social learning
the transmission of knowledge and practices from one individual to another
signifiers
things that stand for other things (emojis, the christian cross)
culture shock
this cultural diversity makes travel captivating, but also quite disorienting, as out cultural competency becomes compromises
biosocial research methods
tools of sociological inquiry that investigate relationships between sociological variables and biological ones
social networks
webs of ties that link us to each other and, through other people's ties, to people to whom we're not directly linked
cultured physiques
bodies formed by what we do to and with them
binaries
categories we see as opposites or otherwise in opposition
When a person is able to understand and navigator cultures with ease, this is known as being
culturally competent
culture
differences in groups' shared ideas, as well as the objects, practices, and bodies that reflect those ideas
In 1893, the Supreme Court ruled that tomatoes are
fruit
The Court ruled that tomatoes are___ so the Nix family had to pay the tax
fruit
beliefs
ideas about what is true and false
sequences
ideas arranged into a specific chronological order (outline, draft, edit and hug, kiss, fondle)
hierarchies
ideas placed into ranked relationships (Nordstrom is higher end than Kohl's)
associations
ideas that we have nothing in common except for the fact that they're connected by a third idea (rainbows/flags, red/green)
cultured capacities
our cultures also influence us to acquire culturally specific skills
norms
shared expectations for behavior
cultural cognitions
shared ideas and values (the idea that red means stop)
social media
social networks mediated by the internet
Webs of ties that link us to each other and, through other people's ties, to people to whom we're not directly linked are known as
social ties
We don't accept _____ passively
socialization
symbolic structure
a constellations of social constructs connected and opposed to one another in overlapping networks of meaning
social network analysis
a research method that involves the mapping of social ties and exchanges between them
culturally competent
able to understand and navigate our cultures with ease
interpersonal socialization
active efforts by others to help us become culturally competent members of our cultures
self-socialization
active efforts we make to ensure we're culturally competent members of our cultures
social construct
an influential and shared interpretation of reality that will vary across time and space
mass media
mediated communication intended to reach not just one or a handful of people but many
cultural objects
natural items given symbolic meaning, or natural resources extracted and molded to serve cultural purposes (stop sign)
values
notions as to what's right and wrong
homophily
our tendency to connect with others who are similar to us
Which of the following was NOT listed as a select agent of socialization?
pets
embodied
physically present and detectable in the body itself
cultural practices
produce cultural bodies, culturally influenced shapes and sizes, capacities, and physiological processes
subcultures
subgroups within societies that have distinct cultural ideas, objects, practices, and bodies
categories
subsets of things that we believe are sufficiently similar to one another to be considered the same (blue, blouses)
culturally conditioned
taught to respond physiologically to a socially constructed reality
social ties
the connections between us and other people