{chapter 4} social structures

Status

A person's position in a group, relative to other group members.

Achieved Status

A position attained in a lifetime that is based on personal effort.

Ascribed Status

A position generally assumed to be fixed by birth or inheritance and unalterable in a person’s lifetime.

Role

Sets of norms that specify the rights and obligations of each status.

Role Strain

When incompatible role demands develop within a single status.

Role Conflict

When incompatible role demands develop because of multiple statuses.

Social Structure

Recurrent patterns of relationships that influence social interaction.

Institution

An enduring and complex social structure that meets basic human needs.

Dramaturgy

A sociological perspective that views social situations as scenes manipulated by actors to convey desired impressions.

Impression Management

The effort to control how others perceive and judge us through our actions and appearance.

Social Interaction

The ways individuals interact with others in everyday, face-to-face situations.

Hunting-and-Gathering Societies

Societies in which people survive by hunting wild animals and gathering edible plants.

Horticultural Societies

Societies based on small-scale, simple farming without plows or large beasts of burden.

Agricultural Societies

Societies whose economies are based on growing food using plows and large beasts of burden.

Industrial Societies

Societies where economies are built around the mass production of non-agricultural goods using mechanical energy.

Postindustrial Societies

Societies characterized by a focus on producing information and services rather than goods.

Interdependence of Institutions

The concept that institutions affect one another and changes in one lead to changes in others.

Social Norms

Expectations and rules that guide behavior in society.

Symbolic Interaction Theory

A sociological framework focusing on the meanings individuals attach to their social interactions.

Conflict Theory

A sociological perspective that emphasizes the role of power dynamics and inequality in social structures.

Structural Functionalism

A perspective that views institutions as structures that contribute to the stability of society.

Status Set

The combination of all statuses held by an individual.

Social Roles

Expectations regarding the behavior of individuals in specific statuses.

Cultural Norms

Shared standards and patterns that guide behavior in a society.

Socialization

The process through which individuals learn and internalize the norms and values of their society.

Social Control

Mechanisms employed to regulate individual and group behavior.

Social Institutions

Enduring structures in society that meet fundamental human needs and organize social life.

Sociological Perspective

A viewpoint that emphasizes looking at the social contexts that influence people's lives.