Sociology 101 Chapter 4: Social interaction

Which of the following have sociologists observed about laughter?

laughter is an emotional performance

When meeting the expectations of one role precludes a person's ability to meet the expectations of another role, the person is experiencing __________.

role conflict

Tannistha stood up to a classmate who was bullying another classmate. In the language of the sociology of interaction, which of the following describes what Tannistha did?

she "took the role of the other"

Ron decides to go to the same college as his best friend Ken. Which of the following terms best describes Ken's position for Ron?

significant other

Jace is known among his friends as a loud-mouthed practical joker, but his family sees him as a quiet, responsible young man. What will likely happen if Jace invites his friends over to meet his family?

Jace will experience role conflict

According to the chapter, why do people sometimes follow informal rules, even when they contradict formal rules? a) People interpret situations and apply informal rules so that the social world runs more smoothly. b) People only apply informal rules when they do not understand formal rules. c) People only follow informal rules when attempting to be deviant. d) People from high status groups follow informal rules, while people from low status groups follow formal rules.

a

Conversational precision refers to __________. a) the often subtle physical and verbal cues people deploy to converse successfully with others b) the inability to improvise while conversing with others c) how one's self-understanding depends on the signals received while conversing with others d) the process by which someone comes to fulfill the expectations that another person places on him or her during a single conversation earlier in life

a

One worker at a local grocery store chain is unhappy with the company's sick leave policy. The worker wants to start a petition to present to upper management. According to what sociologists know about social conformity, which of the following situations would most likely result in the worker actually starting the petition? a) The worker has at least one other ally to support the petition. b) The worker loses their job because they called out sick. c) The worker is not supported by coworkers. d) The worker calls the store manager to ask permission first.

a

Which of the following have ethnomethodologists observed about emotion? a) People often exercise control over their emotions, and the way they express emotion differs from society to society. b) People exercise control over their emotional expressions with the exception of laughter, which is the one expression beyond human control. c) Dancing at funerals is a universal taboo among human societies. d) People only control emotions during social interaction in parts of east Africa and along the Satpura Range in India.

a

Which of the following observations comes from analyzing people's methods during conversations? a) People who have more power and status often interrupt those who have less. b) People always deny requests by saying "no" just as quickly as they accept requests by saying "yes." c) Hand gestures have multiple meanings, but words such as "love" and "kill" have fixed meanings. d) Conversations are surprisingly democratic. People with more status and power rarely interrupt those with less.

a

Which of the following is the best definition of the self?

an identity developed through social interaction

Which of the following statements best explains the relationship between formal and informal rules? a) Informal rules dictate our behavior in legal situations and formal rules in casual situations. b) Informal rules fill the spaces between formal rules by allowing for exceptions in social behavior that are generally acceptable. c) Formal rules are only used in cases of conversational precision, whereas informal rules exist in various social settings. d) Informal rules are universal, whereas formal rules are always applied to specific situations.

b

Which of the following couples BEST represent a significant other relationship? a) Josephine really likes the way Sarah dresses. She begins to buy the same style of clothing and dress in a similar fashion. b) Ron decides to go to the same college as his best friend, Ken. Ken continues to motivate Ron's behavior, influencing the classes he takes and the activities he participates in. c) Jane tells Tanya that she thinks she is a really good skater. As a result, Tanya begins to believe she is a really good skater. d) Jared sees Manuel every week at church. They typically sit near each other and speak pleasantly to one another.

b (Significant others denote individuals close enough to us to have a strong capacity to motivate our behavior.)

Which individual BEST reflects the concept of the looking-glass self? a) Dawn is unable to develop her sense of self because her parents are divorced and disagree about what activities she should engage in, what time her curfew should be, how much responsibility she should take, and how much money she can spend on the items she wants to buy. b) Tomas develops his sense of self from observing that his parents are happy to be with him, his siblings often praise him, and his teachers compliment his intelligence c) Katrina develops her sense of self when she can understand that the person she sees in the mirror is a reflection and not another person. d) Charles is unable to develop his sense of self because the person he believes he is is not the person his parents believe him to be.

b (What we believe to be our "self" is the result of how we think others see us.)

What does the chapter author observe about emoticons? a) People use emoticons because digital communication is destroying human creativity. b) People use emoticons to express civil inattention. c) People use emoticons and other signs to avoid confusion. d) People who use emoticons are known as deviants.

c

What is one of the conclusions ethnographer Christena Nippert-Eng made about the items found in people's wallets and purses? a) People have relatively static identities that resist change over time. b) Americans spend 30 percent more time shopping than their European counterparts. c) People carefully consider what aspects of their identities they want to reveal and under what circumstances they want to reveal them. d) Wallets, purses, and other accessories inhibit people from expressing their true self.

c

Which of the following is the best definition of civil inattention? a) the conflict one feels in regard to conflicting public and private roles b) the tendency to engage with people who are most similar to ourselves c) the act of ignoring other people to an appropriate degree even when you notice they are nearby d) the growing number of people in a democratic society who choose not to vote

c

Which of the following best defines the term "generalized other"? a) individuals who are incorporated into a group through conversational precision b) the process of excluding people from a group or organization c) modeling one's behavior on the actions of particular individuals in a group d) social control exercised by commonsense understandings of what is appropriate in a specific time and place

d

Which scenario illustrates the importance of social contact on the development of the self? a) Marion enjoyed social contact has a child, but later in life lived in isolation. Since she chose to live in isolation, this had no impact on her sense of self. b) Robin was kept in protective confinement while William was not. Robin never experienced any violence in prison while William, who found friends in a prison gang, was killed while trying to escape. c) Genie, who was left in a crib without social contact until she was three years old, never developed mentally past the age of twelve. d) Infants do not need social contact to develop a sense of self, but the importance of social contact for the development of self increases with age.

c (Research demonstrates that lack of social contact is detrimental to the development of the self on a number of levels.)

People use the word "love" to express their preferences for flavors of ice cream as well as their feelings toward their children, but it is safe to say that the word means something different in each of these situations. This is an example of the way __________ give(s) meaning to words and situations.

context

According to labeling theory, how do people become deviant? a) A person or institution may label a person or group as good, but the stress of the "good" label leads individuals to embrace deviant behavior. b) Informal syndicates mentor people in crime and teach them how to engage in deviant behavior. c) Due to a cognitive deficiency, some individuals are unable to identify which behaviors society has deemed as deviant, and they engage in those behaviors accidentally. d) A person or institution labels a person or group deviant, and that label may influence future behavior.

d

Which of the following is an example of what Erving Goffman described as the "presentation of self"? a) People receive information about themselves when interacting with others. b) People often calculate the amount of time it takes to complete tasks in order to manage their schedules. c) People experience punishment when they are caught breaking the law. d) People attend to the details of their social media profiles.

d

Which of the following statements best describes the relationship between changing roles and role expectations? a) Taking on new roles sometimes matters and sometimes doesn't. b) Role changes have little effect on the behavior of well-rounded individuals, as long as they have strong social networks. c) Role changes never result in role conflicts. d) Changes in roles confer different challenges and opportunities for individuals.

d

Which of the following scenarios BEST describes a sociological view of uniqueness? a) Carla is unique from her parents and her siblings because each of them has a completely unique genetic make-up. b) Marcos loses his uniqueness when playing soccer because he and his teammates all share the same uniform. c) Pam is shy, Jim is outgoing, Dwight is aggressive, and Michael is foolish. Therefore, each of them is unique. d) Darla and Xander are each unique because each one has a unique array of social interactions.

d (Sociologists define the self as one's own identity and social position, as made and reformulated through interaction.)

Which of the following statements correctly classifies the significant other relative to the generalized other? a) Both the significant other and the generalized other develop only in individuals with a positive looking-glass self. b) Both the significant other and the generalized relate to social norms. c) Both the significant other and the generalized other involved individuals who motivate our behavior. d) Both the significant other and the generalized other affect our behavior.

d (The generalized other refers to social control exercised by commonsense understandings of what is appropriate in a particular social context, and the significant other refers to individuals close enough to have a strong capacity to motivate our behavior.)

People sometimes signal with a long pause that they do not want to engage in a conversation. What is the name for this type of signal?

disaffiliative gesture

The sociological subfield that refers to the study of the methods people use during everyday interactions is known as __________.

ethnomethodology

Which social psychologist conducted a famous conformity experiment in 1963 in which people believed they were being asked to administer painful electric shocks to others?

stanley milgram

A __________ is a distinct social category, such as a parent or a teacher, and it has associated with it a set of expected behaviors.

status

From a very young age, a child is told by his parents that he is good at sports. As he gets older, he tries out for many different sporting teams, spends time practicing, and eventually becomes an excellent athlete. This scenario illustrates __________.

the concept of a self-fulfilling prophecy