Sociology: A Global Perspective test 2

stigma

a physical trait or other attribute that is deeply discrediting.

nonprejudiced nondiscriminators (all-weather liberals)

people who accept the creed of equal opportunity, and their conduct conforms to that creed. They not only believe in equal opportunity but also take action against discrimination.

nonprejudiced discriminators (fair-weather liberals)

people who believe in equal opportunity but discriminate because because doing so gives them an advantage or because they simply fail to consider the discriminatory consequences of their actions.

prejudiced nondiscriminators (timid bigots)

people who reject the creed of equal opportunity but refrain from discrimination, primarily because they fear possible sanctions of being labeled as racists.

reify

treating labels and categories as if they were real and meaningful and to forget that they are made up.

assimilation

a process by which ethnic and racial distinctions between groups disappear because one group is absorbed into another group's culture or because two cultures blend to form a new culture.

selective forgetting

a process by which people forget, dismiss, or fail to pass on an ethnic heritage.

absorption assimilation

a process by which racial and ethnic minorities adapt to the point where they are completely "absorbed" into the dominant culture.

prejudice

a rigid and usually favorable judgement about an out-group and does not change in the face of contradictory evidence and that applies to anyone who shares the distinguishing characteristics of the out-group.

hidden ethnicity

a sense of self that is based on little to no awareness of an ethnic identity because its culture is considered normative, or mainstream.

discrimination

intentional or unintentional acts of unequal treatment of individuals or groups.

ethnic renewal

occurs when someone discovers an ethnic identity.

prejudiced discriminators (active bigots)

people who reject the notion of equal opportunity and profess a right, even a duty, to discriminate. They express with deep conviction that anyone from the in-group is superior to any members of the out-group.

ethnicity

people who share, believe they share, or are believed by others to share a distinct social trait or socially important physical characteristic.

ethnic group

people within a larger society who possess a group consciousness because that share or believe they share a common ancestry, history, key experience, or some other distinctive social trait.

racial common sense

shared ideas believed to be so obvious or natural about racial groups that they need not be questioned.

stereotypes

simplistic generalizations about categories that are applied to anyone in those categories.

mixed contacts

social encounters involving stigmatized people and so-called "normals".

chance

something not subject to human will, choice, or effort.

scientific racism

the use of faulty science to support systems of racial rankings and theories of social and cultural progress that placed whites in the most advanced ranks and stage of human evolution.

involuntary ethnicity

when a government or other dominant group creates an umbrella ethnic category and assigns people from many different cultures and countries to it.

race

Human constructed categories that assumed great social important. Typically based on observable physical traits.

spatial segregation

a de facto or de jure situation in which racial or ethnic groups attend different schools, live in different neighborhoods, use different public facilities, etc.

individual discrimination

any individual or overt action aimed at someone in an out-group that depreciates, denies opportunities, or does violence to life or property.

melting pot assimilation

cultural blending in which groups accept many new behaviors and values from one another. this exchange produces a new cultural system, which is a blend of the previously separate systems.

involuntary minorities

ethnic or racial groups that were forced to become part of a country by slavery, conquest, or colonization.

minority groups

subgroups within society that can be distinguished from members of the dominant group by visible identifying characteristics, including physical and cultural attributes.

choice

the act of choosing from a range of possible behaviors or appearances.

institutionalized discrimination

the established, customary way of doing things in a society that impede or limit the opportunities and achievements of those in disadvantaged groups.

dominant ethnic group

the most advantaged ethnic group in a society; possesses the greatest access to valued resources.

segregation

the physical and/or social separation of people according to their race or ethnicity.

selective perception

the process in which prejudiced people notice only those supposed facts that support their stereotypes.

context

the social setting in which racial and ethnic categories are recognized, created, and challenged.