Sociology Chapter 4

SOCIALIZATION AND SOCIAL INTERACTION

Socialization

The process by which people learn the culture of their society.

Behaviorism

A psychological perspective that emphasizes the effect of rewards and punishments on human behavior.

Social learning

A perspective that emphasizes the way people adapt their behavior in response to social rewards and punishments.

Looking-glass self

The concept developed by Charles Horton Cooley that our self image results from how we interpret other people’s views

Primary groups

Small groups characterized by intense emotional ties, face to-face interaction, intimacy, and a strong, enduring sense of commitment.

Secondary groups

Groups that are impersonal and characterized by functional or fleeting relationships.

Reference groups

Groups that provide standards for judging our attitudes or behaviors.

I

According to George Herbert Mead, the part of the self that creatively responds to a social situation. It is the impulse to act; it is creative, innovative, unthinking, and largely unpredictable.

Me

According to George Herbert Mead, the part of the self through which we see ourselves as others see us.

Role-taking

The ability to take the roles of others in interaction.

Significant others

According to George Herbert Mead, the specific people who are important in children’s lives and whose views have the greatest impact on the children’s self-evaluations.

Generalized other

The abstract sense of society’s norms and values by which people evaluate themselves.

Cognitive development

The theory, developed by Jean Piaget, that an individual’s ability to make logical decisions increases as the person grows older.

Egocentric

Experiencing the world as if it were centered entirely on oneself.

Psychoanalysis

A psychological perspective that emphasizes the complex reasoning processes of the conscious and unconscious mind.

Id

According to Sigmund Freud, the part of the mind that is the repository of basic biological drives and needs.

Ego

According to Sigmund Freud, the part of the mind that is the “self,” the core of what is regarded as a person’s unique personality

Superego

According to Sigmund Freud, the part of the mind that consists of the values and norms of society insofar as they are internalized, or taken in, by the individual.

Hidden curriculum

The classroom socialization into the norms, values, and roles of a society that schools provide along with the “official” curriculum.

Anticipatory socialization

Adoption of the behaviors or standards of a group one emulates or hopes to join.

Total institutions

Institutions that isolate individuals from the rest of society to achieve administrative control over most aspects of their lives.

Resocialization

The process of altering an individual’s behavior through control of his or her environment, for example, within a total institution.

Dramaturgical approach

Developed by Erving Goffman, the study of social interaction as if it were governed by the practices of theatrical performance.

Presentation of self

The creation of impressions in the minds of others to define and control social situations.

Ethnomethodology

A sociological method used to study the body of common-sense knowledge and procedures by which ordinary members of a society make sense of their social circumstances and interaction

Conversation analysis

The study of how participants in social interaction recognize and produce coherent conversation.