Sociology Textbook Chapter 4: Society and Social interaction

Achieved status

The status a person chooses, such as a level of education or income.

Agricultural societies

Societies that rely on farming as a way of life.

Alienation

An individual’s isolation from his society, his work, and his sense of self.

Anomie

A situation in which society no longer has the support of a firm collective consciousness.

Ascribed status

The status outside of an individual’s control, such as sex or race.

Bourgeoisie

The owners of means of production in a society.

Capitalism

A way of organizing an economy so that the things that are used to make and transport products are owned by individual people and companies rather than by the government.

Class consciousness

The awareness of ones rank in society.

False consciousness

A persons beliefs and ideology that are in conflict with her best intrest.

Feudal societies

Societies that operate on a strict hierarchical system of power based around land ownership and protection.

Habitualization

The idea that society is constructed by us and those before us, and it is followed like a habit

Horticulture societies

Socities based around the cultivation of plants.

Hunter-gatherer societies

Societies that depend on hunting wild animals and gathering uncultivated plants for surival.

Industrial societies

Societies characterized by a reliance on mechanized labor to create material goods.

Information societies

Societies based on the production of nonmaterial goods and services.

Institutionalization

The act of implanting a convention or norm into society.

Iron cage

A situation in which an individual is trapped by social institutions.

Looking-glass self

Our reflection of how we think we appear to others.

Mechanical solidarity

A type of social order maintained by the collective consciousness of a culture.

Organic solidarity

A type of social order based around an acceptance of economic and social differences.

Pastoral societies

Societies based around the domestication of animals.

proletariat

The laborers in a society.

Rationalization

A belief that modern society should be built around logic and efficiency rather than morality or tradition.

Role conflict

A situation when one or more of an individual’s roles clash.

Role performance

The expression of a role

Role strain

Stress that occurs when too much is required of a single role.

Role-set

An array of roles attached to a particular status.

Roles

Patterns of behavior that are representative of a person social status.

Self-fulfilling prophecy

An idea that becomes true when acted upon.

Social integration

How strongly a person is connected to his or her social group.

Society

A group of people who live in a definable community and share the same culture.

Status

A group of people who live in a definable community and share the same culture.

Thomas theorem

How a subjective reality can drive events to develop in accordance with that reality, despite being originally unsupported by objective reality.