Sociology Key Terms Quiz 2

Ch. 4-7

adaptation

refers to a child’s desire to adapt to changes in his or her understanding of information. allows children to develop more sophisticated cognitions

adolescence

a relatively new life stage and is generally thought to occur between the ages of 12 and 18, another life course stage that has only come into existence in recent times

adulthood

a period of time divided into several life stages with different goals but can be thought of as that period of time from when a person assumes cultural responsibilities (job, children) to the time he or she relinquishes those responsibilities at death

agents of socialization

arenas in which socialization occurs. those agents include the family, peers, the educational system, the media, the workplace, religion and the military

anorexia

an eating disorder characterized by an abnormally low body weight, intense fear of gaining weight and a distorted perception of body weight

anticipatory socialization

when we learn the expected behaviors of a particular role before we occupy it

childhood

life stage between birth and adolescence. age ranges vary by culture, but in the West it is typically characterized by playing, exploring and learning

cognitive development theory

was developed by Jean Piaget, a Swiss psychologist, in which he attempted to explain the development of the social self

dramaturgical approach

refers to Erving Goffman’s work that suggested humans attempt to manage the impressions others have of them when they are on-stage and use their off-stage time to recoup their energy and prepare for their next on-stage activity, when they will again attempt to manage their impression

ego

according to Sigmund Freud, is that part of the personality that is responsible for rational thinking, controls the urges of the individual and balances the id and superego

equilibrium

refers to the process by which children try to balance their understanding of concepts with new information as their environmental

facework

Erving Goffman’s belief that humans use symbols to manage the impression others have of themselves

gender

socially and culturally constructed differences between males and females that are found in the meanings, beliefs, and practices associated with masculinity and feminitiy

gender roles

behaviors expected of a person based on his or her sex and culture

gender segregation

refers to the division of males and females in the paid labor force, with women occupying jobs congruent with cultural stereotypes and that tend to pay significantly less than jobs typically held by men

gender typing

refers to the process where children begin to develop their self, they learn the various masculine and feminine roles they are expected to play out based on their sex. As they age, they are expected to conform to those rigid gender roles

generalized other

George Herbert Mead’s belief that the self internalizes the attitudes and beliefs of a person’s social environment

generativity

refers to the idea that as people age they may have a desire to give something back to society, such as volunteering or helping others without the expectation of being paid

habitus

Pierre Bourdieu’s idea that individuals occupy social fields (i.e., arenas or spheres) that are interdependent. Individuals move through life as their __ (i.e., the knowledge and skills required to construct our social world while being influenced by it) interacts with the various fields people occupy at any given point. The position we occupy in a given field is largely affected by the skills we bring with us into that field.

hidden curriculum

is the belief that the educational system socializes people in unintended ways that tend to serve the greater culture.

I

is the period during which the child becomes aware of his or her situation and reacts to that situation as an independent self.

Id

s the first aspect of the self to develop, it represents the primitive, selfish and impulsive part of the personality.

life course

refers to the different stages people go through as they age and which are largely culturally determined.

looking glass self

was developed by the American sociologist Charles Cooley. Cooley believed that the self develops from both the interpersonal interactions people have with others and from the self’s ability to see itself through the eyes of others

Me

is that period that George Herbert Mead said is when children are able to understand the norms, beliefs and attitudes of others, and they develop the ability to imagine how others see them.

Mead’s developmental stages

refer to George Herbert Mead’s belief that children go through very specific stages as they develop their sense of self.

nature versus nurture

is the idea that people’s behaviors are the result of an ongoing relationship between the interaction of personality traits passed down biologically and the social environment

primary socialization

refers to the socialization primarily of children and adolescents.

resocialization

is the process by which a total institution undoes much of the socialization to dominant societal norms and values in order to resocialize personnel to that institution’s norms and values.

role confusion

refers to Erik Erikson’s fifth stage of socioemotional development, identity versus role confusion. Erikson believed that the major challenge for children during this stage is to successfully develop a unique identity. However, children who aren’t able to form a strong sense of self may develop what he called __, which is when children are not sure of who and what they are and the subsequent roles they are expected to perform.

secondary socialization

refers to socialization that occurs in adulthood. while the family remains an important primary and secondary socialization agent, socialization agents in adulthood also include higher education, work, and the military

self-consciousness

is an awareness of the self, which is largely formed as a reaction to how we perceive the way others see us

sex

refers to the biological and anatomical differences between females and males

sigmund freud

German psychiatrist who developed the idea that the human psyche could be divided into three parts: the id, the ego, and the superego

significant others

people who have a strong influence on a person’s self and are therefore part of that person’s socialization

social interaction

relationship or exchange by one or more people in which the people engaged in that interaction have the potential to affect one another

socialization

lifelong process by which the self internalizes the norms and values of the groups to which that person belongs, so that he or she can become a functioning member of society

soldierization

is the process of socialization that is used by the military to socialize new troops into the military culture

stages of moral development

was a theory developed by the American psychologist Lawrence Kohlberg. Kohlberg believed that people progress through four stages, each with its own moral challenges, as they develop their personal moral code to handle more complex moral dilemmas.

superego

according to Freud, is essentially a person’s moral conscience, which acts to suppress the id and regulate the ego

theory of psychosocial development

was proposed by psychiatrist Erik Erikson. Erikson believed that people progressed through a series of psychosocial stages as they developed.

total institution

is a system that controls virtually every aspect of the lives of its members. The military is a prime example.

volunteerism

is doing something without the expectation of benefitting from it. Altruism is the general term for helping others without the expectation of being rewarded in some way.

accounting

process by which individuals make sense of their worlds by giving accounts or descriptions of particular situations and interactions

achieved status

an identity that we have earned through our own efforts

ad hoc

refers to the way an individual improvises in a particular situation, to restore a sense of normalcy

agency

notion that individuals have a degree of choice in their actions, that they have some freedom in influencing the outcomes of their lives

appearance

aspects of the actor’s physical display; clothing, sex, age, race, facial expression, body gestures, etc.

ascribed status

is an identity given to us based on the cultural definitions of the society we are born into.

augmented reality

is a perspective where the advantages of digital interaction intersect with the importance of occupying physical space with fleshand-blood bodies.

authority

is the legitimate power or institutionalized rite of a person in a particular status to have control over others.

back stage

is a place where there are less constraining social expectations of the actor. It is a social space between highly evaluated performances.

breaching experiment

are social experiments that force the taken-for granted-ness of interaction to become evident.

civil inattention

is when an actor gives a small acknowledgement of another person in public while making sure not to give an indication that he or she actually wants to interact.

commercialization of feeling

is when an individual’s emotions are turned into a commodity, thus displacing a person’s notion of self.

cultural scripts

are role expectations for particular statuses and normative notions about how to act in a particular situation that are internalized.

digital dualism

is the false separation of our social interactions into digital and non-digital categories.

dramaturgy

is a perspective that analyzes social interaction as staged performances.

emotional labor

involves suppressing or inducing certain emotional states at work and not giving off evidence to the contrary

encounters

are social situations in which interaction takes place

ethnomethodology

is the study of folk methods as a way to account for how the context of an interaction shapes the interpretation of meaning.

feeling management

refers not only to how we manage our own feelings and emotions, but also how we have to be aware of and consider the feelings of others when choosing our behavior during interaction.

feeling-trap

is an emotional reaction to an emotional reaction, often a shame-rage spiral or cycle in which individuals are angry for being ashamed and ashamed for being angry.

front stage

refers to a social situation where individuals attempt to convey the legitimacy of their performance

human autonomy

refers to the desire to be selfdirected. It also implies that individuals think about their own reality and choose their behaviors in spite of external forces.

impression management

refers to an actor’s use of verbal and non-verbal gestures that an individual gives off in an interaction with the intent of creating a particular impression in the mind(s) of a particular audience.

interpersonal attunement

refers to efforts to repair relationships and performances that have led to shame.

manner

is the overall mood and intention in the performance of an individual.

master status

is a salient social identity that seems to override our other identities.

mystification

is when the audience believes the actor’s performance.

networked individualism

is when individuals have partial membership in multiple social networks simultaneously and rely less on permanent memberships in groups.

networked societies

are social systems in which individuals interact, live and work through digital communication technologies.

reflected appraisals

are gestures that contain value judgments of a performance.

rituals

are minor and seemingly natural aspects of performances that weave into the fabric of our daily lives.

role conflict

is when an individual experiences a contradiction between the expected behaviors of roles attached to two different statuses.

role enactment

is the act of using the interpretations we create in role taking in order to play our part in carrying out expected behaviors of a particular role.

role exit

is the process of disengaging from a role that is central to one’s identity.

role making

is when actors go beyond role enactment to make the role their own, adding their own style or flair to the role.

role strain

is when an individual experiences conflict that occurs when two roles associated with the same status come into contradiction with one another.

role taking

is when we imagine ourselves from the perspective of others in order to make a role come alive.

roles

are the expected behaviors associated with particular social statuses.

setting

is all of the aspects of the physical location that one is interacting in

sincere behavior

is when a person is completely immersed in a role performance to the degree that his or her actions are not preplanned but based off emotions.

social determinism

is the idea that social structures completely dictate our thoughts and actions and control our lives.

social institution

is an enduring set of statuses, roles, value patterns and norms that are recognized as meeting some societal need or function.

social status

is a structural position within a social system that is distinct from the individual who occupies it

social structures

are enduring societal patterns at the individual, group and institutional levels. These patterns include networks of status positions, corresponding systems of norms and expectations, and individual behaviors that, once enacted, bring social institutions to life.

stage props

are objects and articles of clothing used to signify meaning to others in interaction.

status set

is the collection of statuses that each individual occupies.

status structure

are the collection of different positions in an organization and the relation that these statuses have to one another.

strategic behavior

is social action that is planned, scripted, rehearsed and performed with the expectation that others will react to the individual in particular ways.

structure

assumes that individuals’ lives are directed by greater forces of history, institutionalized norms and sanctions for behavior that are reinforced by rewards and punishments

technological determinism

is the perspective that technological innovations are completely responsible for changes in our human behavior.

technology overload

is the burdensome overstimulation that results from keeping up with tasks, information, messages, etc.

triple revolution

is the inventions of the Internet, mobile technology and social networking platforms that are responsible for major shifts in social structure and interaction.