Introduction To Sociology OpenStax: Chapter 4 - Society and Social Interaction

Nature vs. Nurture Debate

The ongoing discussion of the respective roles of genetics and socialization in determining individual behaviors and traits.

Socialization

The process of learning and internalizing the values, beliefs, and norms of our social group, by which we becoming functioning members of society.

Feral children

In myths and rare real world cases, children who have had little human contact and may have lived in the wild from a young age.

Self

The individual's conscious, reflexive experience of a personal identity separate and instinct from other individuals.

Id

Basic, inborn drives that are the source of instinctive psychic energy.

Ego

The realistic aspect of the mind that balances the forces of the id and superego.

Superego

Two components (the conscience and the ego-ideal) and represents the internalized demands of society.

Conscience

Serves to keep us from engaging in socially undesirable behavior.

Ego-Ideal

Upholds our vision of who we believe we should ideally be

Psychosexual stages of development

Freud's four distinct stages of development of the self between birth and adulthood. Each stage is associated with a different erogenous zone.

Looking-glass Self

Charles Cooley's notion that the self develops through our perception of others' evaluations and appraisals of us.

Preparatory Stage

The first stage in Mead's theory of the development of self wherein children mimic or imitate others.

Play stage

The second stage in Mead's theory of the development of self wherein children pretend to play the role of the particular or significant other

Particular or significant other

The perspectives and expectations of a particular role that a child learns and internalizes.

Game stage

The third stage of Mead's theory of the development of self wherein children play organized games and take on the perspective of the generalized other.

Generalized other

The perspectives and expectations of a network of others (or of society in general) that a child learns and then takes into account when shaping his or her own behavior.

Dual nature of the self

The belief that we experience the self as both subject and object, the "I" and the "me"

Thomas Theorem

Classic formulation of the way individuals define situations, whereby "if people define situations as real, they are real in their consequence."

Definition of the situation

An agreement with others about "what is going on" in a given circumstance. This consensus allows us to coordinate our actions with those of others and realize goals.

Expressions of behavior

Small actions such as an eye roll or head nod that serve as an interaction tool to help project our definition of the situation to others.

Expressions given

Expressions that are intentional and usually verbal, such as utterances.

Expressions given off

Observable expressions that can be either intended or unintended and are usually non-verbal.

Impression management

The effort to control the impressions we make on others so that they form a desired view of us and the situation; the use of self-presentation and performance tactics.

Dramaturgy

An approach pioneered by Erving Goffman in which social life is analyzed in terms of its similarities to theatrical performance.

Front

In the dramaturgical perspective, the setting or scene of performances that helps establish the definition of the situation.

Personal front

The expressive equipment we consciously or unconsciously use as we present ourselves to others, including appearance and manner, to help establish the definition of the situation.

Region

In the dramaturgical perspective, the context or setting in which the performance takes place.

Backstage

In the dramaturgical perspective, places in which we rehearse and prepare for our performances.

Frontstage

In the dramaturgical perspective, the region in which we deliver our public performances.

Social construction

The process by which a concept or practice is created and maintained by participants who collectively agree that it exists.

Cooling the mark out

Behaviors that help others to save face and avoid embarrassment, often referred to as civility or tact.

Autoethnography

Ethnographic description that focuses on the feelings and reactions of the ethnographer.

Agents of Socialization

Social groups, institutions, and individuals (especially the family, schools, peers, and the mass media) that provide structured situations in which socialization takes place.

Hidden Curriculum

Values or behaviors that students learn indirectly over the course of their schooling because of the structure of the educational system and the teaching methods used.

Resocialization

The process of replacing previously learned norms and values with new ones as a part of a transition in life.

Total institutions

An institution in which individuals are cut off from the rest of society so that their lives can be controlled and regulated for the purpose of systematically stripping away previous roles and identities in order to create new roles.

Status

Position in a social hierarchy that carries a particular set of expectations

Ascribed status

An inborn status; usually difficult or impossible to change.

Embodied status

A status generated by physical characteristics.

Achieved status

A status earned through individual efforts or imposed by others.

Master status

A status that is always relevant and affects all other statuses we possess

Stereotyping

Judging others based on preconceived generalizations about groups or categories of people.

Role

The set of behaviors expected of someone because of his or her status.

Role conflict

Experienced when we occupy two or more roles with contradictory expectations.

Role strain

The tension experienced when there are contradictory expectations within one role.

Role exit

The process of leaving a role that we will no longer occupy.

Role-taking emotions

Emotions like sympathy, embarrassment, or shame that require that we assume the perspective of another person or many other people and respond from that person or group's point of view.

Feeling rules

Socially constructed norms regarding the expression and display of emotions; expectations about the acceptable or desirable feelings in a given situation.

Emotion work

The process of evoking, suppressing, or otherwise managing feelings to create a publicly observable display of emotions.

Copresence

Face to face interaction or being in the presence of others.

Agency

The ability of the individual to act freely and independently.