Principles of Sociology: Exam 2

John Toth

Role Exit

the consideration of getting rid of role(s)/status(es) that we carry; 4 stages

Role Exit: Doubt

we doubt whether we can keep all this going

Role Exit: Start Entertaining Alternatives

imagining what life would be like if a role(s) was removed

Role Exit: The Exit

removing the role/status

Role Exit: Creating a New Reality Around the New Set of Status

life after the removal of a role

In-Group

groups to which we belong

Out-Groups

groups to which we don’t belong

Reference Group

the group individuals use as guidance on how to act or look, the group we look up to

External Character

got inspiration from a much farther away individual, not locally or regionally produced

Social Network

a series of social connections that connect us directly to others and thereby indirectly to more people

Strong Ties

local, intense

Weak Ties

not local, not very intense

You go to the casino and play a game of gambling. It’s an either or situation. The question is there are 100 people who are looking for a job. Who is more likely to get the job, someone with weak ties or strong ties?

there are more connections with weak ties rather than strong ties there are fewer connections

Gemeinschaft (Mechanical Solidarity)

the reality of small social ideas based on small village ideas

• Primary Groups: friends and family, everyone knew each other

• Ascribed Status: come from a line of brick layers, you will become a brick layer no matter your dream or passion

• Non-Bureaucracy

• Group Focus: “We”

• Informed Control: didn’t need police

Gesellschaft (Organic Solidarity)

a term used by Ferdinand Tonnies to describe a community, often urban, that is large and impersonal, with little commitment to the group or consensus on values

• Secondary Groups: more people, more complexity, needing ID to prove who you are because they can’t just trust what you say

• Achieved Status

• Bureaucracy: a component of formal organization that uses rules and hierarchical ranking to achieve efficiency

• Individualism: “I”

• Formal Control: need police

Sociological Imagination

the ability to understand how your personal life and individual experiences connect to larger social, economic, and historical forces

Media

often serves power and wealth, natural and necessary

Consumerism (Media)

idea that life is about buying stuff, buying stuff will bring happiness. Opposite → Minimalism

Individualism (Media)

sells the idea of standing out, going viral for being the individual. Opposite → Group/Community Focus

Competition (Media)

who is going to get the most money and likes, there are always winners and losers. Opposite → Coop

Class Inequality (Media)

the unequal distribution of wealth, power, status, and opportunity among different social classes in a society. Opposite → Equality

Promotion of Consumption (Functionalist View)

if we buy a lot of stuff, then we are supporting jobs

Functionalist View

a positive view of social media

Conferral of Status (Functionalist View)

inspiration for people to strive to do great things, innovation

Agent of Socialization (Functionalist View)

we learn etiquette and manners

Conflict View

focuses on how powerful groups use mass media and technology to create, maintain, and reproduce social inequality

Dominant Ideology (Conflict View)

a set of culture beliefs that serve to hold up dominant beliefs

Gatekeeping (Conflict View)

how select individuals decide what information goes out to the public and what stays hidden

Altheide’s Ideas

“social reality is constituted, recognized, and celebrated with media”

Media Logic

(visual, oral); how information gets presented

Media Format

(editing); audio, videos, images, or text coding

Impacts on Reality

(experiencing events, heightened out expectations wanting more and more); expect changes in self

Impacts Cont

“collapsing boundaries”

Orwellian Warning: Postman

societal alert against totalitarian control, mass surveillance, and the manipulation of truth and language

Huxleyan Warning: Postman

a prediction that a society will lose its freedom and critical thought not through cruel, heavy-handed force, but through comfortable distractions, sensory overload, and endless entertainment

Socialization

learning to be normal in one’s society

Nature

naturally, born with it

Nurture

based on our surroundings

“Looking-Glass” Self: Cooley

something that takes shape in the presence of others

3 Phases of the “Looking Glass” Self

we imagine how we present ourselves to others (inside), we imagine how the audience sees me (outside), make assessment of the 2 other phases

Mead: 3 Stages

Preparing, Play, Game

Preparing

Imitation; kids doing what’s around them not knowing why, no sense of what’s embarrassing

Play

Role Taking; life is a game to play, significant others

Game

Generalized Other; Society: a complex game, developing self

Intermission

a little post modernity → fluidity to pre-modern, modern, and post-modern, times and things change

Denzin; “Postmodern Self”

is a self in search of a self. self not rooted in anything as it was in the past. a pre-social media revolution

Bauman; Self as Risky

trying to fit in; who do I be; what am I gonna be; endless possibilities; freeing and/or confining: “become what one is”: individuals are told to be the unique individual; pressure to be cool

Goffman; Impression Managment

manipulating presentation for what they want the audience to see

Hochschild

“emotional labor”; studied flight attendents

Status

an socially defined position in a group; Example: Student, Boss, Grandparent, etc

Ascribed Status

given to us at birth; Example: gender

Achieved

something we can work towards; Example: Graduate

Master

defining status; Example: worked, disability

Social Role

set of expectations for a specific status; Example: student=studying and going to class

Role Conflict

conflicting expectations; Example: having a test, homework assignment, help moving a friend all at the same time