Sociology Exam 2

Ball State Soc 100

Culture

The sum of the social categories and concepts we embrace in addition to beliefs, behaviors and practices; everything but the natural environment around us (holidays).

Symbol

Anything that carries a particular meaning (emojis).

Language

A system of symbols strung together to communicate thought.

Values

Moral beliefs (freedom of speech in America).

Norms

How values tell us to behave.

Taboos

The strongest norms (no murder, no incest, no cannibalism, etc).

Mores

Social norms that are widely observed and are considered to have greater moral and ethical significance than others (following the speed limit, no theft, etc).

Folkways

The least important norms (being polite, no jaywalking, etc).

Laws

Norms that is formally inscribed at the state or federal level (include both taboos and mores).

Pop culture

Culture consumed by all classes (Marvel, Taylor Swift, etc).

High culture

Culture consumed mainly by upper classes (opera, ballet shows, etc).

Material culture

Everything that is a part of our constructed, physical environment, including technology (churches, temples, etc).

Nonmaterial culture

Values, beliefs, behaviors, and social norms (ideas about God/Buddha, etc).

Dominant culture

Main culture in society.

Subculture

A unique culture group separate from the dominant society. It includes a distinct language, symbols, secret codes, style/dress, roles, and rituals.

Counterculture

A people’s way of life that directly challenges or conflicts with the dominant culture (hippies, cults, terrorism, etc).

Culture shock

Doubt, confusion, or anxiety arising from immersion in an unfamiliar culture.

Ethnocentrism

The belief that one’s own culture or group is superior to others and the tendency to view all other cultures from the perspective of one’s own.

Cultural relativism

The view that takes into account the differences across cultures without passing judgment on or assigning value.

Socialization

The process by which we learn to conform to our society’s norms, values, and roles.

Nature (biology)

Hereditary or biological forces (capacity to learn).

Nurture (socialization)

Social forces and environment (the content of learning).

Self

A relatively stable set of perceptions of who we are in relation to ourselves, others, and to social systems.

Sigmund Freud

He focused on inherent, biological bases of behavior.

Id

The part of the self that demands immediate gratification.

Superego

Repository of cultural standards (a person conscience).

Ego (sense of self)

Balances the conflicting needs of the id and the superego.

Charles Cooley

Created a self-viewpoint theory called “looking-glass self”.

Looking-glass self

The dependence of one’s social self or social identity on one’s appearance to others.

George Herbert Mead

A sociologist who created similar terms to Id, Superego, and Ego. Also created stages of social development.

I (like id)

A subjective and impulsive aspect of the self, present from birth.

Me (like superego)

An objective, social component of the self.

Other (more than ego)

Someone or something outside oneself.

Significant other

First stage of Mead’s stages of social development.

Reference group

Second stage of Mead’s stages of social development.

Generalized other

An internalized sense of the total expectations of others in a variety of settings. Third stage of Mead’s stages of social development.

Agents of socialization

Social groups that communicate expectations and reinforce cultural norms. “They have the power to tear us down, to build us up, to make us intelligent creative contributors of society, and to identify us as outcasts.”

Four main agents

Family, schools, peer groups, and media.

Resocialization

A change in values, beliefs, or norms through an
intense social process.

Total Institution

An institution in which one is totally immersed
that controls all the basics of day-to-day life.

Status

A recognizable social position that an individual occupies.

Status set

All the statuses one holds simultaneously.

Master status

One status within a set that stands out or overrides all others.

Ascribed status

A status into which one is born; involuntary status.

Achieved status

A status into which one enters; voluntary status.

Roles

A set of socially defined attributes and expectations that determine appropriate behavior based on their status.

Role set

A cluster of roles attached to a single status.

Role conflict

The tension caused by competing demands between two or more roles pertaining to different statuses.

Role strain

The incompatibility among roles corresponding to a single status.

Dramaturgical theory

Social life is essentially a theatrical performance, in which we are all actors on metaphorical stages, with roles, scripts, costumes, and sets (based off symbolic interactionism-Erving Goffman).

Impression management

A process by which people manage the setting (stage), their dress (costumes), and their words and/or their gestures (script) to correspond to the impression they are trying to make.

Conflict theory

Statuses are arranged in hierarchies during social interaction.

Ethnomethodology

The approach to studying human interaction by focusing on the ways in which we make sense of our world, behave based or norms, and produce a shared social order.