Sociology Chapter 4
Society
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What is the difference between achieved and ascribed statuses?
Achieved statuses require some participation or effort on the part of the person. Ascribed statuses are given to the person at birth.
Status Set
All of the statuses a person holds
Dramaturgy (dramaturgical analysis)
An approach in which social life is analyzed in terms of drama or the stage
Social roles (roles)
Behaviors and obligations associated with a status; you occupy a status → you play a role; role changes as status changes
Master Status
Cuts across all other statuses one holds
Achieved Status
Earned status from actions that are earned or accomplished or involve some effort or activity on the individual's part (job, student, felon)
Who is associated with dramaturgy and impression management?
Erving Goffman
Microsociology
Examines daily experiences, focuses on social interaction ex. Symbolic interaction
Frontstage & Backstage (Goffman)
Frontstage: act a certain way to strangers Backstage: act differently around close friends and family Act differently to different people because of different relationships
Gemeinschaft & Gesellschaft
Gemeinschaft: intimate community where everyone knows everyone Gesellschaft: impersonal association; strangers and acquaintances
Thomas Theorem
If people define situations as real, they are real in their consequences There are two sides to a story; Subjective view: if I believe something to be true, then I act on what I believe ex. If a child is too scared to sleep in the dark, then they need to have their dad to make sure that there are no monsters Belief is that there are monsters, Action is making the dad check for no monsters Child's reality is that there are monsters There are multiple realities because everyone's reality is different → Need to view a situation in someone's own reality
Face-Saving Behavior (studied nonobservance)
If you do something embarrassing, you try to reverse that Look around first to see if anyone saw it Studied nonobservance: help someone save face by pretending you didn't see it
Role Conflict
Incompatibility between different positions; all roles giving you problems
Status Symbols
Indicators of a status, especially items in that display prestige
Social Class
Large numbers of people who have similar accounts of income and education and who work at jobs that are roughly comparable in prestige
Understand the differences between the two levels of sociological analysis (macro and micro sociology).
Macrosociology analyzes society as a whole and microsociology analyzes social interaction between people.
Impression Management
Manage how people view you by acting a certain way
What is a master status?
Master status cuts across all your other statuses. An example is your sex. Whatever you do, people perceive you as a male or female.
Role Strain
Multiple demands within a single position; work overtime for a job
Personal Space
Only allow people you're intimate with; everyone has different personal space (typically arm's length - USA)
Stereotypes
Our assumptions of what people are like
Macrosociology
Places the focus on broad features of society; focus on social structure ex. Conflict theory and functionalism
Status (social status)
Position a person occupies in society
What is the difference between role conflict and role strain?
Role conflict has to do with problems between different roles you have. Role strain has to do with problems within one role that you have.
Ascribed Status
Status born with (royalty, skin color, sex) or receives involuntarily later in life
What are statuses and roles?
Statuses are positions that people hold in society. Roles are the behaviors and obligations you have to play that are associated with your status.
Status Inconsistency
Statuses that don't match up or upsets our norms; 40 year old married woman who is dating a 19 year old college student
What is the Thomas Theorem and the social construction of reality?
The Thomas Theorem explains that if people define situations as real, they are real in their consequences. If you believe something to be true, then you will behave according to your belief (your reality). Your definition of reality is your subjective interpretation, NOT what is ACTUALLY true. The social construction of reality explains how we develop our views and values (our reality) based on how our society taught us to.
Social Structure
The framework of society that surrounds us; consists of the ways that people and groups are related to one another; gives direction to and sets limit on our behavior
Social Institutions
The organized, usual, or standard ways by which a society meets its basic needs
Ethnomethodology (background assumptions)
The study of how people use commonsense understandings to make sense of life
Role Performance
The ways in which someone performs a role; showing a particular style or personality
Body Language
The ways people use their bodies to give messages to others
Teamwork
Two or more people working together or help a performance come off as planned
Erving Goffman
Uses dramatical terms- dramaturgy and impression management Presentation of self → you present yourself Actors on the stage of life; you use props (clothing, language)
Social construction of reality
We learn ways/views of looking at life and reality from the social groups that we are from ex. One twin grows up in Germany and loves Hitler. One twin grows up in Trinidad and hates Hitler. The society they lived in determined their views and values.
Social Interaction
What people do and say in each other's presences
Social Integration
the degree to which people are tied to their social groups
