Intro to Sociology; Exam 1
There is a social tie between me and my best friend's uncle even though I've never met him.
True
At what pace does culture change?
Usually changes very slowly and incrementally, though change can also happen rapidly.
Paradigms
a school of thought. ways of thinking or "theoretical umbrellas" meant to provide broad explanation.
Culture Shock
a sense of disorientation that occurs when you enter a radically new social or cultural environment.
Harriet Martineau
a social activist who wrote about social changes that were radical for her time period. translated Comte's work into English, making is accessible in America
Structure
a social institution that is relatively stable over time and that meets the needs of society by performing functions necessary to maintain order and stability
Bureaucracy
a type of secondary group designed to perform tasks efficiently. impersonal but efficient, and provide many basic necessities.
Structural Functionalism
assumption that society is a unified whole that functions because of the contributions of its separate structures.
Group Cohesion
the sense of solidarity or loyalty that individuals feel toward a group to which they belong; groups are more cohesive when the individual members feel strongly tied to the group.
Sociological Imagination
from C. Wright Mills allows us to understand the relationship between our particular situation in life and what is happening at a social level. understand the connection between biography and history.
Society
group of people who shape their lives and are distinguished from other groups.
Out-group
group that a person feels opposition, rivalry, or hositlity towards
Reference group
group that provides a standard of comparison against which people evaluate themselves could be positive or negative
What does the looking-glass self explain?
how we develop a self-concept based on our perceptions of others' judgments of us.
Primary Groups
involve the greatest amount of face-to-face interaction and cooperation and the deepest feelings of belonging
Secondary Groups
larger, less personal groups usually organized around a specific activity or the accomplishment of a task
Expressive Leadership
leadership concerned with maintaining emotional and relational harmony within the victory.
Instrumental leadership
leadership that is a task or goal oriented
Sociological Perspective
looking at the world through a sociological lense.
Feminist Theory
looks at both gender inequalities in society and the way that gender structures the social world and considers remedies to these inequaliites
Folkway
loosely enforced norm that involves common customs, practices, or procedures that ensure smooth social interaction and acceptance.
Hidden Curriculum
schools provide education and socialize us through teaching many of the behaviors that will be important later in life.
Symbolic interactionism
sees interaction and meaning as central to society and assumes that meanings are not inherent but rather are created through interaction
Values
shared beliefs about what a group considers worthwhile or desirable guide the creation of norms
Dyad
smallest possible social group, two members, it is unstable because of the small size -- if one person leaves the group, it ceases to exist.
Conflict Theory
social conflict is the basis of society and social change
Power
the ability to control the actions of others
Emotion Work
the process of evoking, suppressing, or managing feelings to create a public display of emotion.
Resocialization
the process of replacing previously learned norms and values with new ones as a part of a transition in life.
Looking-glass self
"I am what I think you think I am" The self develops through our perception of others' evaluations and appraisals of us.
Anomie
"normlessness" describes the alienation and loss of purpose that results from weak social bonds and increased change
According to sociologists, an individual's genetic makeup will determine what kind of personality and character traits he develops in life.
False
Primary and secondary groups are distinct and unique from one another. There is no overlap.
False
Secondary groups cannot be geographically dispersed.
False
What is the single most significant agent of socialization?
Family, because it teaches us the basic values and norms that shape our identity.
Children raised without human interaction or with a minimum of human contact are referred to as ____________ children.
Feral
According to the symbolic interactionist George Herbert Mead, a distinct sense of self is developed in play through a process of "role-taking," where young children learn the guidelines and expectations associated with a variety of roles.
True
Status
a position in society that comes with a set of expectations.
How do sociologists distinguish a group from a crowd?
A crowd doesn't necessarily feel a shared identity.
If group members share information and advice, provide support to one another, and have common interests but never meet in person, what kind of group are they a part of?
A virtual community
According to Erving Goffman, a person's sense of self is constant and stable over time.
False
Does efficiency increase or decrease as the size increases of a group?
Decreases, because social loafing.
McDonaldization
George Ritzer coined the term to describe the spread of bureaucratic rationalization and the resulting increase in both efficiency and dehumanization
Karl Marx
German philosopher and political activist huge contributor to the conflict theory. believed that capitalism created social inequality, leading to class conflict.
Impression Management
Goffman saw social life as a sort of game, where we work to control the impressions others have of us.
What is the most significant component of culture?
Language, it's so important that many have argued that it shapes not only our communication but our perceptions and how we see things as well.
Sanctions
Postive or negative reactions to the ways that people follow or disobey norms, including rewards for conformity and punishment for violators. Help establish social control.
Sigmund Freud
Psychoanalysis. Freud developed the idea of the subconscious and the unconscious mind, which he believed control most of our drives, impulses, thoughts, and behaviors
According to Emile Durkheim, all of the social groups to which an individual is connected impose norms, which place limits on the individual's actions.
True
What is a large aspect of socialization?
The process is reciprocal: society shapes the individual and the inidividual shapes society.
Why are peers important as an agent of socialization?
They provide different social skills and often become more immediately significant than family.
In-group
a group that person identifies with and feels loyalty toward
Subculture
a group within society that is differentiated by its distinictive values, norms, and lifestyle.
Counterculture
a group within society that openly rejects, and may actively oppose, society's values and norms.
Taboo
a norm engrained so deeply that even thinking about violating it evokes strong feelings of disgust or horror for most people.
More
a norm that carries greater moral significance, is closely related to the core values of a group, often involves serious repercussions.
Total Institution
an institution that cuts individuals off from the rest of society so that their lives can be controlled and regulated.
Social Sciences
anthropology, psychology, economics, political science
Beginners Mind
approaching the world without preconceptions in order to see things in a new way.
Coercive Power
backed by the threat of force
Roles
behaviors expected from a particular status.
Charles Cooley
believed that one's sense of self depends on seeing oneself reflected in interactions with others. looking-glass self
According to Karl Marx, how could a belief in heaven as a reward for earthly suffering serve the interests of the ruling class?
by keeping the lower class from demanding better treatment in this life.
How do sociologists observe society?
by studying the various parts of a society and the ways they interact and influence each other.
According to Sigmund Freud, which part of the mind is composed of biological drives and consequently is the source of psychic energy?
the id
All left-handed people in the United States would be classified as a(n):
category
Aggregate
collection of people who share a physical location but do not have lasting social relations
Group
collection of people who share some attribute, identify with one another, and interact with each other. groups provide the values, norms, and rules that guide people's lives.
Dramaturgy
compares social interaction to the theater, where individuals take on roles and act them out for an audience. (Goffman)
Identification
conformity to establish or maintain a relationship with a person or group
Crowd
different than a group because it is a temporary gathering of people in a public place, whose members may interact but do not identify with each other and will not remain in contact.
Emile Durkheim
established sociology as an important academic discipline. interested in social factors that bond and hold people together. studied the correlation of social isolation and suicide.
Herbert Spencer
first English-speaking sociologist. believed in evolution and coined the phrase "survival of the fittest." believed that societies evolve through time by adapting to their environment. philosophy seen as "social Darwinism"
Norms
formal and informal rules regarding what kinds of behavior are acceptable and appropriate within a culture. could be a law or an informal, unspoken rule. also can be distinguished by the strictness with which they are enforced
Material culture
includes the objects associated with a cultural group, such as tools, machines, utensils, buildings, and artwork.
Symbolic Culture
includes way of thinking and ways of behaving. allows us to communicate through signs gestures and language.
Max Weber
interested in how society was becoming industrialized. concerned with the process of rationalization, applying economic logic to all human activity. believed that contemporary life is filled with disenchantment, the result of dehumanizing features of modern societies.
Erving Goffman
interested in how the "self" is developed through interactions with others in society. coined the term dramaturgy to describe the way people strategically present themselves to others.
George Herbert Mead
interested in the connection between thought and action or individual and society. suggested that the meanings that we give to objects in our society are social processes; people interact and meanings come from these interactions.
Ethnocentrism
occurs when people use their own culture as a standard to evaluate another group or individual, leading to the view that other cultures are abnormal.
Role strain
occurs when roles associated with a single status clash
Role conflict
occurs when the roles associated with one status clash with the roles associated with a different status
Ascribed Status
one we are born with that is unlikely to change
Achieved Status
one we have earned through individual effort or that is imposed by others.
Self
our personal identity, which is separate and different from all other people Sociologists believe the self is created and modified through interaction in our lives
Social influence
peer pressure; the influence of one's fellow group members on individual attitudes and behaviors. we conform to group norms because we want to gain acceptance and approval, and avoid rejection and disapproval.
Cultural Relativism
processing of understanding other cultures on their own terms, rather than judging according to one's own culture. helps sociologists see others more objectively.
Queer Theory
proposes that categories of sexual identity are social constructs and that no sexual category is fundamentally either deviant or normal.
Theories
propositions that explain the social world and make predictions about the future.
Agents of socialization
social groups, institutions, and individuals that provide structured situations where socialization occurs. major agents: family, schools, peers, and mass media.
According to C. Wright Mills, what one quality of mind do all great sociologist possess?
sociological imagination
Auguste Comte
stated that sociology needed to be treated like all other sciences. laid the groundwork for future sociologists and helped build it.
Master Status
status that seems to override all others and affects all other statuses that we possess
Microsociology
studies face-to-face and small-group interactions to understand how they affect the larger patterns and institutions of society.
Macrosociology
studies large-scale social structures in order to determine how they affect the lives of groups and individuals.
Postmodernist Theory
suggests that social reality is diverse, pluralistic, and constantly changing.
Influential Power
supported by persuasion
The nature vs. nurture debate helps us understand:
the complex interaction between hereditary traits and social learning.
Culture
the entire way of life for a group of people. includes language, standards of beauty, hand gestures, styles of dress, food, and music. it is learned and passed through communication, not genetics.
How do sociologists define the self?
the experience of a real identity, distinct from other people
Social Control
the formal and informal mechanisms used to increase conformity to values and norms and thus increase social cohesion
Sapir-Whorf hyporthesis
the idea that language structures thought and the ways of looking at the world are embedded in language
Compliance
the mildest form of conformity; actions to gain reward or avoid punishment
Group Dynamics
the patterns of interaction between groups and individuals, which includes the ways groups form and fall apart, and who they influence members
Socialization
the process of learning and internalizing the values, beliefs, and norms of our social group. process begins in infancy and lasts throughout the lifetime Language facilitates socialization
Internalization
the strongest type of conformity; an individual adopts the beliefs or actions of a group and makes them his or her own.
Sociology
the study of society. Howard Becker explained it as the study of people "doing things together" because neither individual nor community can exist independently of one another.
Which part of the mind would Freud have described as being like a "type of conscience that punishes misbehavior with feelings of guilt?"
the super ego
Groupthink
the tendency of very cohesive groups to enforce a high degree of conformity among members, creating a demand of unanimous agreement
Social Darwinism
the theory of evolution and the notion of "survival of the fittest" to the study of society
What do postmodern theorists claim about technology?
they claim that it's interaction is one of the primary features of postmodern life. we are now exposed to many more sources that help us shape our sense of self than the generations before us.
Triad
three-person group is more stable than a dyad. conflicts between two members can be mediated by the third.
How is meaning constructed?
through interaction.
What type of authority did Max Weber identify in social organizations?
traditional authority legal-rational authority charismatic authority
Signs/Symbols
traffic signals or product logos, used to meaningfully represent something else.
Multiculturalism
values diverse racial, ethnic, national, and linguistic backgrounds and encourages the retention of cultural differences within society, rather than assimilation.
Dominant Cultures
values, norms, and practices of the group within society that is most powerful in terms of wealth, prestige, status, and influence.