Social Perception and Behavior, Structure and Demographics, and Stratification

MCAT Prep: Behavioral Sciences Part 10

Attribution theory

focuses on the tendency for individuals to infer the causes of other people’s behavior

Dispositional (internal)

causes relate to the features of the person who is being considered

Attribution theory

focuses on the tendency for individuals to infer the causes of other people’s behavior

Dispositional (internal)

causes relate to the features of the person who is being considered

Situational (external)

causes relate to features of the surroundings or social context

Correspondent inference theory

describes attributions made by observing the intentional (especially unexpected) behaviors performed by another person

Fundamental attribution error

bias toward making dispositional attributions rather than situational attributions

Stereotypes

attitudes and impressions that are made based on limited and superficial information

Self-fulfilling prophecy

the phenomenon of a stereotype creating an expectation of a particular group, which creates conditions that lead to confirmation of this stereotype

Stereotype threat

a feeling of anxiety about confirming a negative stereotype

Prejudice

an irrationally based attitude prior to actual experience

Ethnocentrism

the practice of making judgements about other cultures based on the values and beliefs of one’s own culture (in-group vs. out-group)

Cultural relativism

studying social groups and cultures on their own terms

Discrimination

when prejudicial attitudes cause differences in treatment of a group

Functionalism

macro-level theory focused on how parts of society work together

Conflict theory

focuses on how unequal divisions of resources create power differentials

Symbolic interactionism

the study of how individuals interact through a shared understanding of words, gestures, and other symbols

Social constructionism

explores how individuals and groups make decisions to agree upon a given social reality

Material culture

physical items one associates with a given group (art, clothing, foods, buildings)

Symbolic culture

the ideas associated with a cultural group

Demographics

the statistical arm of sociology

Migration

the movement of people into (immigration) or out of (emigration) a geographical location

Demographic transition

a model used to represent drops in birth and death rates as a result of industrialization

Socioeconomic status (SES)

Social stratification is based on ______________.

Class

a category of people with shared socioeconomic characteristics

Power

the capacity to influence people through real or perceived rewards and punishments

Social capital

the investment people make in society in return for economic or collective rewards

Social reproduction

the passing on of social inequality, especially poverty, to other generations

Poverty

low SES; in the US, the _______ line is the government’s calculation of the minimum income requirements to acquire the minimum necessities of life

Incidence

(new cases / population at risk) per time

Prevalence

(number of cases [new or old] / total population) per time

Morbidity

the burden or degree of illness associated with a given disease

Mortality

deaths caused by a given disease