Sociology Final Exam

Achieved status

a social position you earn through choice, effort, or merit.

Activity Theory

older adults stay satisfied by remaining active and socially involved.

Age (Birth–Elderly)

chronological age is years lived; functional age is ability and appearance.

Age stratification

system where people are ranked and treated differently based on age.

Age structure

number of people in each age level within a society.

Ageism

prejudice and discrimination based on age.

Aggregate

people in the same place at the same time but not interacting.

Ascribed status

a social position given at birth or beyond your control (age, gender, race).

Authoritarian leadership

leaders who make decisions, expect obedience, and focus on tasks.

Blended family

family formed when partners bring children from previous relationships into one household.

Category

people who share a trait but do not interact (ex

Chronological age

actual age based on date of birth.

Class

a group of people with similar economic status and life opportunities.

Coercive organization

organization people are forced to join (ex

Cohabitation

unmarried partners living together in an intimate relationship.

Conflict perspective

focuses on inequality, power, and struggle within society.

Cooley (Primary/Secondary)

primary = close, personal groups; secondary = goal-focused groups.

Democracy

system where power is vested in the people and leadership is elected.

Descent

tracing family lineage (patrilineal, matrilineal, bilateral).

Deviance

behavior that violates social norms.

Disengagement theory

older adults withdraw from roles as a natural part of aging.

Dyad

two-person group; intimate but unstable.

Economic support (family)

providing financial stability and material needs.

Egalitarian family

authority is shared equally between partners.

Elder abuse

physical, psychological, financial, medical abuse or neglect of older adults.

Elisabeth Kübler-Ross

theorist of the five stages of grief.

Endogamy

marriage within one’s social group.

Exogamy

marriage outside one’s social group.

Expressive leadership

leadership focused on emotional support and group harmony.

Extended family

relatives beyond parents and children living together or closely connected.

Family

people connected by blood, marriage, adoption, or emotional commitment.

Family of orientation

the family you are born into.

Family of procreation

the family you form by having or adopting children.

Formal groups

structured groups with rules, goals, and specific purposes.

Formal organization

large, structured secondary group created for specific goals.

Functionalist perspective

society is a system where each part contributes to stability.

Graying of America

the growing proportion of older adults in the U.S. population.

Group interaction

the way members of a group communicate and relate to one another.

Heterogamy

marriage between people with different characteristics.

Homogamy

marriage between people with similar characteristics.

Hunting and gathering society

small, nomadic groups relying on hunting and gathering.

Industrialized society

society based on machines, factories, and mass production.

Ingroup

a group you belong to and feel loyalty toward.

Instrumental leadership

task-oriented leadership focused on goals and productivity.

Interaction (Social Interaction)

how people act toward and respond to one another.

Kinship

social network of people related by ancestry, marriage, or adoption.

Laissez-faire leadership

leadership style with minimal direction; group makes decisions.

Life expectancy

average number of years a person is expected to live.

Marriage

legally recognized union between two people with rights and responsibilities.

Matriarchal

family where authority is held by the oldest female.

Monogamy

having one spouse at a time.

Milgram (Obedience)

experiment showing people obey authority even when harming others.

Normative organization

organization people join voluntarily because they share values.

Nuclear family

two parents and their children living independently.

Outgroup

a group you don’t belong to and may feel competition or opposition toward.

Patriarchal

family where authority is held by the oldest male.

Patrilineal

tracing descent through the father’s side.

Patrilocal

married couple lives near or with the husband’s family.

Polyandry

one woman with multiple husbands.

Polygamy

having more than one spouse at the same time.

Postmodern perspective

emphasizes diversity, choice, and no “one” family form.

Primary groups

small groups with close, emotional relationships.

Psychological support (family)

emotional care, love, and encouragement.

Reference group

any group used as a standard for evaluating attitudes, behavior, or identity.

Relationships

the social and emotional connections between individuals.

Roles

behaviors expected from someone based on their status.

Role conflict

incompatible expectations from multiple roles at the same time.

Role performance

how someone actually carries out their role.

Role structure

how roles are organized in a group or society.

Secondary groups

larger, impersonal, goal-oriented groups.

Social gerontology

study of aging and older adults.

Social group

people who interact regularly and share identity.

Social institution

major systems (family, education, economy, religion, government) meeting societal needs.

Social interaction

how people act toward and respond to each other.

Social structures

stable patterns of relationships and institutions in society.

Socialization

process of learning values, norms, and behaviors.

Solomon Asch

researcher who studied conformity through line-judgment experiments.

Stanley Milgram

studied obedience to authority (shock experiment).

Status

a social position you occupy.

Status types

ascribed, achieved, and master status.

Stigma

negative label that devalues a person’s social identity.

Symbolic interactionist perspective

society is created through interactions and shared meanings.

Triad

three-person group; more stable than a dyad.

Utilitarian organization

organization people join for practical/material benefits (pay, resources).

Dramaturgical analysis (Goffman)

social life is a performance where people play roles to manage how others see them.

Front stage

where we perform for others and follow social rules to make a good impression.

Back stage

where we relax and behave as our true selves with no audience watching.

Impression management

controlling how others perceive you by adjusting behavior, speech, or appearance.

Face-saving behavior

actions taken to recover from embarrassment and protect one’s social image.

Social construction of reality

the process by which people create shared meanings and define reality through interaction.

Ethnomethodology

study of the hidden, taken-for-granted rules people use to make sense of everyday life.

Self-fulfilling prophecy

a false belief that becomes true because people act in ways that make it real.

Status symbols

objects that display a person's social status (wedding ring, badge, luxury items).

Role expectation

how society believes someone should behave based on their status.

Role performance

how a person actually carries out their role in real life.

Role exit

process of leaving a major role or identity (retirement, divorce, leaving a long-term job).

Stages of role exit

doubt, search for alternatives, turning point, creation of a new identity.

Sociology of emotions

idea that emotions are socially learned and shaped by culture, age, gender, and roles.

Nonverbal communication

communication without words (facial expression, gestures, eye contact, posture, space).

Horticultural society

society that grows food using simple tools.