MCAT Sociology

Conflict Theory Overview

Emphasizes the significance of unequal power and conflict in society

Says conflict can be a good thing because it leads to change

Conflict Theory Descriptive

The essence of social life is that people and groups are caught up in power struggles

Conflict Theory Explains

There are limited resources and people in power tend to retain and protect their power, usually at the expense of others

Conflict Theory Predicts

Conflicts will always exist

They can be constructive or destructive

Symbolic Interactionism Overview

Humans learn to interpret the world through interactions

They then organize their lives around these socially created meanings

Symbolic Interactionism Descriptive

The essence of social life is cultural

• Shared languages, belief systems, and customs

Symbolic Interactionism Explains

Humans are inherently designed to seek meaning, connection and communication

Symbolic Interactionism Predicts

Some customs will be passed down over generations

Cultures will continue to blend with one another

New customs will arise

Structural Functionalism Overview

Societies seek equilibrium, and the whole is greater than the sum of the part

Structural Functionalism Descriptive

Humans are inherently cooperative and practice complex divisions of labor

Structural Functionalism Explains

Because we need one another to obtain food, shelter, and to carry out projects

Structural Functionalism Predicts

The division of labor will intensify

As societies change, each subgroup will have to adapt to reattain equilibrium

Social Constructionism

Our sense of reality comes from jointly constructed understanding of the world

Social Imagination

Perspective that individuals and groups always affect one another across situations

D. The clinic cut costs by hiring nurse practitioners who are supervised by a physician via weekly phone meetings

Division of labor and how separate pieces fit together

A and C are symbolic interaction or conflict theory

B is a maybe but not quite

A. Conflict Theory

Social Exchange Theory (SET)

Relationships are negotiated through cost-benefit analyses

Uses economic principles to explain human behavior

Exclusively focuses on building and terminating relationships

Rational Choice Theory (RCT)

Argues that people make decisions based on what makes sense to them

People are rational

• Goal-oriented

• Reflective

• Consistent

Encompasses all sorts of human behaviors and decisions

Theorists are interested in how people make decisions NOT random/impulsive behaviors

C. They apply economic models to relationship formation

Culture

The tools and practices of a group of people who share beliefs and carry out their daily lives through similar routines

Encoded in materials (tools, technology, food) and symbols (language, gestures, beliefs)

All cultures contain:

1. Beliefs

2. Language

3. Rituals

4. Symbols

   1. Values

Subculture

Population subset with unique interests and a lifestyle that set them slightly apart from the larger culture

Counterculture

Operate within society but defied dominant values

Cultural Transmission

Teaching cultural practices to people within your own culture

Cultural Transfusion

The spreading of cultural practices from one culture to another

Assimilation

Idea that immigrants will eventually conform to the culture where they now live

Multiculturalism

Idea that cultures are always blending and exchanging practices in a dynamic way

Cultures influence one another

Ehtnocentricism

Negatively judging cultural practices that differ from your own

Relativism

Assessing people and practices through their cultural values rather than one’s own

Each society should be judged to that society’s cultural norms rather than to a universal code of conduct

Culture Shock

Anxiety and disorientation that occur when immersed in an unfamiliar culture

Culture Lab

Technology changes before values have a chance to catch up

Hunting Gathering

Small groups

Nomadic

Leadership was based on seniority in extended families

Pastoral

Larger groups, herd livestock, headed by chiefs

Agrarian

Villages, agricultural, not very nomadic, headed by chiefs or kings

Early Civilizations

Spread over vast regions, written languages exists, headed by kings or emperors

Longest historically recorded type of society in which humans have lived:

1. Hunter and gathering (first and longest)

2. Agricultural

3. Pastoral

4. information

Nation State

Communities with political boundaries

Economically Developed (Post-Industrial) Nation States

Formal, complex institutions

High levels of consumption

Less Economically Developed Nation States

Factories

Production

Formal system of social services

Under Economically Developed Nation States

Mostly rural

Few schools, hospitals, etc.

Little money

Industrialization

Began in Britain 250 years ago

Rise in technology, communication, organizational complexity

Stereotype

Overgeneralization about a group of people

Can be positive or negative

Self-fulfilling prophecy

Over time, many people begin to act in accordance with the stereotypes others have of them because it’s easier than fighting social expectations

Stereotype Threat

Phenomenon by which, when people are made aware of their group membership before performing a task, their performance suffers

Bias

A tendency to prefer one thing over another tot he point of not being objective

Prejudice

Negative outlook on a person or situation based on preconceived beliefs

Discrimination

Negative actions taken against people (or failing to take positive actions)

The role of cognition and emotion in prejudice and discrimination

People who think in linear, systematic ways are more likely to be prejudice

Hypothesis of relative deprivation

When people see others with something they want, and they feel blocked from obtaining it, they are likely to act out

Prosocial (social movements) or Antisocial (violence, vandalism)

Acculturation

The process of physical, social, and psychological adaptation to a new culture

Diaspora

The breakup of a group as the members disperse from their homeland

Enculturation

The process of learning the culture in which an individual is raised

Secularization

Adopting changes that are free of the influences of religion

Macrosociology

The power distribution within a society and focuses on systems and social conditions on the largest scale, such as cities and churches

Always in the perspective of the entire society

Microsociology

The study of each individual in a society

Morphology

The forms and structure of the organism

Ethnomethodology

The analysis of people’s daily engagement in society

Cultural Universals

Patterns or traits that are globally common to all societies

Socialization

The lifelong process through which a person becomes an active participant in their culture (language, customs, values)

Cannot be socialized if you don’t have a self (infants under 1)

Selves develop through socialization

Agents of Socialization

Family

Schools/Workplace

Peers

Media

Impart values, beliefs, and social norms

Imitation and Mirror Neurons

Humans begin imitating others in infancy

Primates have neurons that fire when performing an action or watching another animal perform that same action

• Mirror neurons are located in the inferior frontal lobe and superior parietal lobe

Looking-Glass Self

A theory stating that people’s identities are shaped by the perception of others

Reference Groups

Any group a person compares themselves to

Associative Reference Groups

Groups we belong to

Aspirational Reference Groups

Groups we admire but don’t belong to

Dissociative Reference Groups

Groups we don’t want to belong to

Primary Groups

Groups we strongly identify with; persist across years

Secondary Groups

Groups we identify with for a short while

Outgroups

Any group we see as “not us”

• Macro

• Demographic

• Meso/Micro

Dissociative and Outgroup Distinction

ALL dissociative reference groups are outgroups

NOT ALL outgroups are dissociative groups

Vygotsky’s Sociocultural Theory Take-Home Idea

Although one’s identity feels very unique and inherent, it’s strongly shaped by the environment

D. All of the above

Social Facilitation Definition

People perform more quickly and accurately when others are present

Plays a role even when people are thinking about imaged audiences

Two Types of Social Facilitation

Co-action effects (side-by-side behavior)

Audience effect (behavior in front of a passive audience)

Social Inhibition

If you lack confidence or practice, the presence of others will HINDER your performance

Deindividuation

People in groups lose self-awareness and thereby take part in behaviors they normally wouldn’t

Social Loafing

For some tasks, people exert less individual effort when a group is working towards a common goal due to “diffusion or responsibility”

More likely when group size is large and task is perceived as unimportant

The Bystander Effect

People are less likely to help a victim if other potential helpers are present

NOT the same as social loafing

Know the issue is important and are distressed by it

Individuation

The process of becoming a unique, semi-autonomous self

Occurs throughout life but mostly in childhood

Identity Categories

Self-concepts (memories, beliefs, and evaluations about our tendencies and personalities)

Social identities (groups we identify with)

Self-Concept

1. Self-Schema

2. Self-Evaluations

The combination of the two results in multiple “selves”

Self-Schemas

A set of relatively stable memories about ourselves that enable us to reflect upon our personalities

We draw upon these memories to come to conclusions about who we are

Self-Evaluations

Our judgments about ourselves

Accompany comparisons and value judgments

Ideal Self

The self we wish we were

Actual Self

The self we believe we are

Ought Self

The self we believe that others want us to be

Social Identities

Emanate from our:

• Group Memberships

• Social Positions

Group Memberships

Groups we belong to, either by choice or by circumstance or heritage

More frequently refers to demographic

Social Positions

Our roles and statuses in relation to our group memberships

Self-Esteem

Positive or negative regard for oneself

People with high self-efficacy and internal locus of control tend to have a higher self-esteem

Self-Efficacy

One’s perceived ability to accomplish a task or be effective in the world

Can be specific to a domain or more general “life skills”

Internal Locus of Control

The belief that one’s own actions are largely to credit and blame for what happens in their life

External Locus of Control

The belief that what happens in one’s life is beyond individual control (attributes outcomes to fate, other people, luck, or other outside events)

B. Accommodation

Accommodation Definition: Individual makes room for some kind of new information that they’ve come across

Question is asking which of the 4 could develop a self-schema: belief about one’s identity at large

Status

Social position we occupy

• Ascribed

• Achieved

Ascribed Status

Category we fill based on our life situation

Achieved Status

Status we obtain based on our choices, abilities, and focused action

Role

Behaviors expected of us based on our status

Role SEt

The multiple roles attached to a specific person

Role Exit

When a person has to abandon a role they still feel ties to in order to take on another role