Introduction to Sociology: Culture and Society Flashcards

Vocabulary flashcards covering core sociological concepts about culture, society, values, and norms from Chapters 1 through 6.

Material Culture

Tangible objects, such as clothes, road signs, and buildings, that embed messages and reflect who we are.

Nonmaterial Culture

The nonphysical components of culture, including ideas, attitudes, beliefs, morals, language, manners, and goals.

Three P's of Masculinity

Provide, create, and protect; specific traits historically used to define masculinity, particularly within the Hegemon group.

Tautological Definition

A circular definition that gives the word itself as the answer, such as defining manhood as masculinity and defining masculinity by man.

Culture Shock

The awkwardness, confusion, or funny moments experienced when encountering unfamiliar cultural rules, norms, or social expectations.

Cultural Particulars

Cultural practices or traits specific to certain regions, states, countries, or interactions, such as expected small talk in the southern parts of the United States.

Cultural Universals

Traits, concepts, or negative occurrences that span across all human societies, such as murder or genocide.

Cultural Capital

Assets, values, and moral beliefs that hold value in a society, including beauty, wealth, importance, fame, power, and prestige.

Ideal Culture

The standard of culture representing a perfect society without automobile fatalities, accidents, murders, racism, gender inequalities, or homophobic structures.

Real Culture

The actual rules and lived experiences of a society, including the existence of social flaws and the mechanisms used to correct them.

Sanctions

Social responses or mechanisms used to enforce rules, correct behavior, and maintain order within a society.

Robin Williams' American Values

A set of values identified in the 1970s as highly American, including individualism, achievement and success, material comfort, activity and work, practicality and efficiency, progress, science and technology, democracy, freedom, equality, racism, and group superiority.

Folkways

Social conventions and norms that are not considered to be morally significant, often taught by family and friends.