I&C Sociology

What is a theory?

What is a theory?

explanation of something. trying to explain a phenomenon and try to describe it in order to explain it.

a theory has two elements

• causal relation (x relates to y)

• causal mechanism (x relates to y because….)

social science is the study of what?

human society & relations

social psychology is the study of what?

social interactions + origins

sociology is the study of what?

development, structure and the function of human society

colemans boat

• big social structures (A) → shape individual behaviour (B) → people take action (C) → large social outcome (D)

  • the correlation between A & D is not enough, we want to know WHY

consensual identity

a term that does not need an explanation (socially anchored)

• e.g. student/girl or oldest child

sub consensual identity

requires interpretation + is a relative term

• e.g. happy/bored/too heavy

3 identity according to social psychology

1. Human identity

2. social identity

3. personal identity

what is human identity

the literal identity of being a human being

what is social identity

how an individual makes a self image based on:

1. social categories (how you belong in a group e.g. age)

2. consequences (how being apart of that group makes you feel)

what is personal identity

what makes you different from other people (idiosyncratic individual)

• in general people are not unique but there is a distinction on personal level

  • memory

why do we need an identity?

1. need

   there can be no us if there is no them. it gives purpose

2. power

   being in a group can change ones behaviour

Minimal group paradigm

when a group is based on nothing, people still favour their own group in comparison to the other group, even though there is no reason for it. = ingroup favouritism & outgroup prejudice.

two theories based on the minimal group paradigm

• Social Identity Theory (SIT)

• Self Categorization Theory (SCT)

SIT (social identity theory)

• intergroup behaviour (between groups)

• when feeling part of a group we create an ingroup bias ‘this is a good group, these are good people’, why?

  • people want a positive and secure self-concept.

  • with creation of social comparison you give social meaning and distinctiveness to yourself

what to do when a group creates a negative self image in according to SIT?

1. leave the group or disassociate yourself

2. compare the group

3. focus on only the positive characteristics

4. try and change the hierarchy → conflict

what is the strategy dependable on when trying to change the hierarchy of a group according to SIT?

• Boundaries
  hierarchy in a working place or ethnicities are not possible to change.

• Stability of the hierarchy
  justification of actions e.g. it has always been like this.’

• legitimacy of the hierarchy

  when previously the focus was only on higher education but now you realise you also need less high education → this causes a shift.

self-categorization theory (SCT)

• intragroup behaviour (within the group)

  • how you behave with your self-identity is dependable on a certain context

• when becomes group identification more salient than personal identity, according to SCT?

• Fit (=the extend to which social categories are perceives to reflect social reality)

  1. comparative (= strong intergroup differences and intragroup similarities)

  2. Normative (=social behaviour in accordance to stereotypes)

what is depersonalization?

you have an idea of how you should act and act in accordance to the group = prototype of the group

the group becomes more homogeneity

shift from traditional to modern to post modern

1. clear no need to talk about them (powerful but hidden and taken for granted)

2. gender roles not hidden anymore movements showed this is who i am + this is how we must act HOWEVER this is how we want to act (determined, polarized and essentializing)

3. identities are chosen + plus we can choose how we act based on context. (identity is de-essentializing) chosing makes identity now chaotic.

Tonnies Gemeinschaft vs Gesellschaft

Gemeinschaft (community)

• intimate and personal

• social integrations between generations

• social unity

• feeling safe and equal

Gesellschaft (society)

• commerical & individualistic

• no place for family

• economic and thus self interest

  • unsafe and unequal

Durkheim Mechanic solidarity and Organic solidarity

MS

• small scale

• connected through religion

• homogeneity and collective awareness

• solidarity and parallel labour

OS

• large scale

• connected through labour (functional dependency)

• heterogeneity and individualism

• anomie (lack of shared norms)

• competitive labour

what are values?

what is important and what guides us

universal

the way we prioritizes them depends on individual and the context

6 features of all values

1. believes are linked to our core being

2. values motivate you and give desirable goals

3. values apply everywhere

4. values guide you unconsciously

5. values are ranked based on importance

6. relative importance of multiple values guide your actions

why are the features of values universal?

1. we are human beings with needs

2. social interaction needs to be coordinated (if we have the same values it becomes clear how we communicate)

   1. survival needs → security prevents reckless behaviour

which values are openness to change according to the Theory of Basic Human Values? (+ what do they mean)

• Self direction
  independent thought and action

• Stimulation
  excitement novelty and challenge in life

• Hedonism

  please and gratification for oneself

what values are self enhancement according to the Theory of Basic Human Values? (+ what do they mean)

• achievement

  personal success by meeting societal standards of competence

• power
  social status (prestige) + control over people/resources

what values are conservation according to the Theory of Basic Human Values? (+ what do they mean)

• security

  safety, harmony and stability

• conformity
  avoidance of upsetting/harming others/violating social norms

• Tradition
  respect, commitment and acceptance of cultural or religious customs

what values are self-transcendence according to the Theory of Basic Human Values? (+ what do they mean)

• benevolence

  preserving and enhancing the welfare of the in-group

• universalism

  understanding appreciating and protecting all people and nature

maslows hierarchy of needs

the mechanism that lays underneath priorization:

Physiological needs (food) → safety needs ( employment) → love and belonging (friendship) → esteem (respect) → self actualisation (desire to become the most of what we can be)

pan cultural hierarchy

eventhough values differ for an individual when we look and compare all the countries the order of these values stay the same relatively. (WHY?) since values are universal (3 things) plus the things at the top of that list are things that makes us belong (like benevolence)

• differences in value priorities on an individual level

• similarities in value priorities on a societal level

Inglehart Modernization theory

• why do values change in society?

• economical and technical changes

  • reduction of starvation etc

  • increase in happiness and all things that come along with it.

what to Schwartz and Ingelhart agree on?

there is a link between individual values and characterises of a society. society → context determines value importance.

what are the post materialist value dimensions of Ingelharts Modernization theory?

• survival vs. self-expression values

• traditional vs. secular values

which two hypothesis in Modernization theory (+ what do they mean)

• socialization hypothesis
  the context in which people grown up in is crucial for values later in life

  • generations born in war e.g. vs post war

  • realtively stable values through life

  • can change in crisis but will go back

• Scarcity hypothesis

  • people tend to value things they lacked during their formative years more

what is the silent revolution

according to Ingelhart, societal value-change comes from generational replacement which is the silent revolution.

economics when talking about decision making

• primarily rational

• no unlimited information & skill

• not always 1 optimal answer

phsychology when talking about decision making

• primarily individual process in the brain

  • elimination context through experiments, replication crisis (methodology)

Sociology when talking about decision making

• primarily driven by social context

  • underlying decision processes unknown

according to Bruch & Feinberg what must we combine in order to make a cognitive rational decision?

cognition, emotion and context

explain cognition according to Bruch & Feinberg

• two major challenges

  1. there is no optimal choice (there is always an attribute that one has , one hasnt etc.)

  2. we cannot process all information and thus must make use of biases.

• so how do we make a decision?

  • options we are vs arent aware of

  • considerable options vs irrelant ones (e.g. out of budget)

  • final choice

• Non-compensatory rule (early in decision making)

  • conjunctive rule = dealbrakers

  • disjunctive rule = inclusion for one reason

• compensatory rule (later in decision making)

  • weighted additive rule = giving weight to all criteria and options based on a score

  • tallying rule = pros and cons

explain emotion according to Bruch & Feinberg

• people avoid emotional trade-offs

  • e.g. religion which is sacres

• when making an emotionally difficult decision, compensatory rules are avoided (arrogant dates example)

• high risk high reward but not always the case

dual process theory

two options for world assessment

1. fast and intuitive

2. slow and analytical

explain context according to Bruch & Feinberg

• influence on behaviour and identity

  • directly through e.g. peer pressure

  • indirectly though e.g. time constraint

• four social context shaping decision processes

  1. available opportunities ( assumptions and the decoy effect = a fake third option)

  2. importance of default option (bias for status quo like donor)

  3. time pressure and contrained resources (trade off in poverty of maslows hierarchy of needs)

  4. the choices of others (social pressure plus people want conformity and belonging in an ingroup)

Max weber’s four ideal types of social action

1. instrumentally rational
   all factors can be taken into account and weighted equally

2. value-rational

   not always the most optimal choice but a choice is made based on values and beliefs

3. Affectual
   you do something because it makes you feel a certain way (emotional decision)

   1. Traditional
      not rational at all. based on what is learned and do not think about it = automatic behaviour.

which of webers types are incompatible with rational decisions?

affectual and tradition

which types of weber can me meaningful?

• nothing can be meaningful if they are not goal-oriented

  • affectual and tradition can borderline meaningfulness when the meaning lies in the action themselves (e.g. revenge)

weber on the dual process theory

affective and tradition are more concious and can lead to value-rational.

• dynamic value hierachy how someone values change in different context\

• values are based on urgency

Rationalization theory (weber)

• modern society results from shift of tradition to rationality as the most dominant mode of human thought.

  • tradition = past and sentiments from generations

  • rationality= present and matter-of-fact calculations and goals

• = disenchantment

  • consequence of this shift “society no longer serves humanity but enslaves it.”

what is prejudice

• irrational generalization

  • negative outgroup and positive ingroup

what are stereotypes

• prejudice exaggaration

  • based on emotion and distorts reality

what is racism

one racial category feeling superior or inferior to another

destructive form of prejudice

what is discrimination

• any form of treating groups unequally

• actual behaviour

  • positive and negative

which theory explains prejudice, stereotypes etc?

Intergroup Threat Theory (ITT)

which theory looks for solutions regarding prejudice stereotypes etc?

Intergroup Contact Theory (ICT)

ITT

• inclusion and exclusion is all about boundaries who is us and who is them

• people want to protect the ingroup when dealing with threat. two types of threat perception

  • realistic threat = all things tangible

  • symbolic threat = symbolic feeling e.g. values

• outcome in this case does not always matter, it is all about perception of threat. the perception of threat already have consequences.

what are the causes of the perception of threat according to ITT?

1. intergroup realtions

   conflict and power dynamics

2. sociocultural

   some cultures are more prone to threat perception (collectivism vs individualism)

3. situational

   some group members can feel threated due to circumstance (here ingroup/outgroup ratio matters)

4. Individuals

   some people are more threat prone
   - people want strong group identification (schwartz and Ingelhart)

→ circumstance foster perceived threat
negative feelings to the outgroup and the ingroup and its hierarchy is highly valued.

what are the consequences of threat according to the ITT?

1. cognitive responses
   brings people together or creates overestimation bias. romanization like “we are this type of village”

2. emotional responses
   no emotional empathy for the outgroup

3. behavioural responses

   negative (arson) or positive like trying to show you are not prejudice (example hetero and homo men)

Intergroup Contact Theory explained + 4 conditions

in order to reduce prejudice between groups there have to be certain conditions met when coming in contact with one and other

1. equal status

2. common goals

3. intergroup cooperation

4. support of authorities, laws or customs.

critiques of the Intergroup contact theory

• selection in bias

  • people ready to get rid of prejudice are already positive towardsother people → force people

• very specific conditions

  • facilitating vs essential factors (what is needed vs what makes the process easier but not necessary for it?)

how does contact even reduce prejudice according to the intergroup contact theory?

• long term process

  • people learn about a group (outgroup = cognition response)

  • you change behaviour when in more contact (behavioural response)

  • emotional ties with the person (emotional response)

  • ingroup reappraisal → your group isnt the only group out there.

• this leads to generalization ‘this person is nice, all those people are nice’ = reducement of prejudice.

what is the reformulated contact theory?

addition to the ICT

• all about context for more effective prejudice reducement

• not all conditions of the ICT needs to be met, some can only be facilitating

what are the three elements to form attitudinal polarization

1. atleast two groups (can also be within a society)

2. attitudinal divergence (difference between groups large)

3. attitudinal consistency (difference within groups become smaller)

3 subjective forms of polarizations and their meaning

1. perceived polarization
   extend in which people perceive society to be polarized

2. affective polarization
   positive ingroup/negative outgroup

3. factual belief polarization
   what is real and what is the truth?

why do we think subjective polarization is increasing?

people do not have to be much different in reality. however you have to perceive to be growing apart in order to think polarization between groups in increasing

what is the Social Media Prism

• we only see a very small fraction of someones life

• creates false perceptions of one and other

  • we still compare ourselves to a SM version of someone else eventhough we know they are very different

what is the looking glass self?

development of oneself based on how others react to different versions of us

name two things that intensify our idea of ourselves and others due to SM

1. control over own presentation
   seeing you get more positive reactions while doing something specific you will keep doing that to get a positive self image (=efficient monitoring)

2. limited cues over what someone is really like.

why is SM a prism?

SM bends and refracts our social environment. it is the prism that retract info that comes in and comes out in a very different and limited sense to fulfil our perception.

how does SM lead to an increase in polarization?

the very limited perception we have between people causes the perception that the identity between those people are very different. thus SM causes the perception of an increase in polarization.

what does Fukuyama mean with the end of history?

the idea of liberal democracy is the final form and the best government form we, as humans, can think of. It does not mean it works everywhere but it is about the concept itself.

therefore since you must strive to achieve liberal democracy, society will always improve in order to achieve that.

5 steps of Pernicious Polarization (those blue boxes) + conclusion

1. mutual exclusivity

2. wilingness to undermine democratic norms to defeat the opponent

3. zero-sum we can only win if they loose, very much caused by ITT

4. cooperation will not work with ‘them’ the outgroup, only conflict will solve our issues.

5. people governing only for their people. people loose trust in politics as there is no representation for them

→ conclusion: polarization becomes harmful for democracy as social life becomes influenced by political life. it becomes intertwined.

can polarization be something positive?

different opinions can improve political parties but we have to keep our opinions in bounds of a cooperating democracy.
- constant battle in politics
- social and political worlds are intertwining