UCSP UNIT 1-2

Sex

Biological differences that distinguish humans and other animals into two main categories:male and female.

Gender

Encompasses all the social, cultural, and psychological characteristics that a culture assigns to males and females. It categorizes which behaviors and traits are appropriate for men and women.

Gender Roles

Culturally-assigned tasks and activities to the sexes. Social constructs that define appropriate behaviors for each gender.

Sex-Gender Systems

In a society with a sex-gender system, males are typically expected to be masculine and females to be feminine. However, these expectations are now challenged, especially in contemporary and modern societies.

Culture

Largely involved in defining gender in societies. Different societies, having different cultures, will have varying definitions of masculinity and femininity.

Socioeconomic Class

A category that groups people into similar economic, social, cultural, and political status.

Caste System

Classifying members of society into socioeconomic classes exist across cultures. For example, the caste system of India determines an individual's social class and status in their society.

Karl Marx

Proposed a socioeconomic class system that delineates the bourgeois (owners of means of production) and the proletariat (workers who sell their labor power).

Types of Capital

Economic capital refers to financial resources, social capital refers to social relations, and cultural capital refers to knowledge, behaviors, and skills.

Ethnic Group

A specific group of people with similar characteristics and a distinct cultural identity that distinguishes them from other groups in the community or society.

Ethnicity

Denotes the shared culture of ethnic groups, including cultural heritage, language, religions, norms, values, beliefs, and practices.

Race

A socially constructed category attributed to people with the same biological traits or attributes. It is based on physical characteristics like skin color, facial features, and hair texture and color.

Disability

The interaction of an individual's health condition with environmental factors that cause difficulties or hindrances in performing activities and interacting with others.

Handicap

A disadvantage that limits or prevents the fulfillment of a normal role in life compared to peers due to functional limitations caused by impairment.

Exceptionality

Describes how an individual's specific abilities and functioning deviate from the established average or typical qualities.

Non-exceptionality

Used to differentiate between those with exceptionalities and those without exceptionalities.

Nationality

A person's belonging or membership to a specific nation or nation-state.

Acquisition of Nationality

Obtaining one's nationality is dependent on the recognized and enacted nationality law in a particular state.

Jus Sanguinis

The principle of determining nationality and citizenship based on the parent's nationality.

Jus Soli

The principle of determining nationality based on the territory or land in which a person is born.

Naturalization

The legal process of acquiring citizenship and nationality from a different state.

Society

A group of individuals held together by enduring relationships in pursuit of common ends.

Culture

A society's way of life expressed through material and nonmaterial aspects.

Politics

A set of activities and actions used to hold power in a government and make decisions in groups.

Material Culture

The physical objects made by the members of a society.

Nonmaterial Culture

The intangible aspect of culture, such as ideas.

Values

The understanding and agreement of society on what is good and just.

Norms

Appropriate behavior within a culture or society.

Symbols

Recognizable meanings shared by societies, such as gestures, signs, signals, and words.

Language

The form of communication that can be spoken or nonverbal.

Structural Functionalism

The perspective that society functions as a whole because of the contributions of its separate structures.

Conflict Perspective

The perspective that social inequality is one of the basic characteristics of society.

Interactionist Perspective/Symbolic Interactionism

The perspective that society is a product of the interactions of individuals with others.

Cultural Universals

Traits or patterns of behavior shared by all human cultures.

Socialization

The process of immersing oneself in a particular society and culture, even at birth.

Ethnocentrism

Judging another culture based on how it compares to one's own culture.

Cultural Relativism

Assessing a culture by its own standards rather than one's own cultural norms.

Dynamic Culture

Culture that is constantly changing and adjusting to new changes.

Cultural Diffusion

The dissemination of cultural components and traits from one group or society to another.

Acculturation

The process of adopting the practices and values of one group while retaining the group's original culture.

Transculturation

The merging and converging of cultures to create a new cultural phenomenon.

Agents of Cultural Change

Family, school, religion, media, leadership, and law as influential factors in cultural change.

Social and Political Changes

Innovation and globalization as factors that bring about changes in society and politics.

Anthropology

The scientific study of the behavior, origin, social, physical, and cultural development of humans.

Sociology

The systematic study of social interaction and society.

Political Science

The systematic and empirical study of governance, examining societal, cultural, and behavioral factors in the operation of government and politics.