Sociology 204: Chapter 4 - The Social Construction of Reality

Vocabulary flashcards covering core sociological concepts, theorists, and frameworks from Chapter 4 on the social construction of reality, socialization, role theory, dramaturgical analysis, and ethnomethodology.

Socialization

The process by which individuals come to learn social expectations, internalize cultural norms and rules, and understand their place in society.

Agency

An individual's ability to make their own choices and act independently, even within the constraints of social expectations.

The Self

As conceptualized by C.H. Cooley, the identity of an individual as perceived by that same person through social interaction and societal relations.

Looking Glass Self

C.H. Cooley's theory proposing that people come to understand their identity and sense of self through feedback and perceived reactions from others during social interactions.

Preparatory Stage

The initial developmental stage identified by George Herbert Mead in which infants and toddlers imitate the behaviors of others without fully understanding the meaning or reasons behind them.

Play Stage

The second developmental stage in George Herbert Mead's theory where children begin taking on the roles of others and learning expectations through role-taking.

Game Stage

The third developmental stage described by George Herbert Mead where individuals learn to anticipate the actions, expectations, and motivations of multiple other people simultaneously.

The 'I'

George Herbert Mead's concept representing an individual's unsocialized, spontaneous sense of agency and immediate impulses uninfluenced by others.

The 'Me'

George Herbert Mead's concept of the self as an object perceived by others, emerging when an individual realizes that their actions are evaluated by society.

The Other

George Herbert Mead's developmental concept describing the ability to recognize and understand the perspectives, thoughts, and emotional responses of other people.

Significant Others

The primary individuals closest to a person—such as parents, immediate family, or close friends—who exert the strongest influence on early socialization.

Reference Groups

Groups of individuals to which a person compares themselves to evaluate, guide, and adjust their own actions, attitudes, and behaviors.

Generalized Other

An internalized understanding of the general expectations, norms, and social roles held by society as a whole across various social settings.

Agents of Socialization

Social institutions, groups, and contexts—such as family, school, peer groups, and media—that communicate and teach societal expectations.

Resocialization

A process in which an individual's established norms, values, and beliefs are fundamentally restructured and transformed to adapt to a new social environment, status, or culture.

Total Institutions

Highly controlled environments that regulate nearly all aspects of daily life under a single centralized authority, such as prisons, monasteries, or military boot camps.

Status

In Robert Merton's role theory, a recognizable social position that an individual occupies within a social structure.

Roles

The specific behavioral expectations, duties, and obligations associated with a particular social status.

Status Set

The entire collection of different social statuses that a single individual occupies simultaneously.

Role Strain

The tension or incompatibility that occurs between conflicting expectations and duties associated with a single status.

Role Conflict

The tension and friction that arise when the expectations of two or more different statuses held by the same person clash.

Ascribed Status

An involuntary social position assigned to an individual at birth or through circumstances outside of their control, such as age, race, or sex assigned at birth.

Achieved Status

A voluntary social position that an individual enters or earns through personal choice, effort, or accomplishment, such as being a college student or employee.

Master Status

A dominant status that overrides all other statuses in an individual's status set and largely shapes their social identity and how they are perceived.

Gender Roles

Sets of socially constructed behavioral norms, duties, and expectations assigned to individuals based on their perceived or identified gender.

Dramaturgical Theory

Erving Goffman's perspective that analyzes social interaction as a theatrical production complete with actors, stages, scripts, props, and costumes.

Impression Management

Erving Goffman's concept referring to the techniques and behaviors people use to control how they are perceived by others and present an ideal image of themselves.

Front Stage

In Erving Goffman's dramaturgical theory, the exposed performance area where individuals perform expected roles and deliver scripts in front of an audience.

Backstage

In Erving Goffman's dramaturgical theory, the private setting away from the audience where an individual can drop their performance and step out of role.

Face

In Erving Goffman's dramaturgical theory, the positive social value, esteem, or respect that an individual claims for themselves during interaction.

Ethnomethodology

A sociological approach pioneered by Harold Garfinkel that studies how human beings make sense of their world, convey shared understandings, and produce social order.

Breaching Experiments

A research method developed by Harold Garfinkel in which social actors intentionally violate unstated social norms to reveal the presence and power of social scripts.