MCAT Psych/Sociology (from 132 scorer)

Illness is determined by a variety of influences, rather than a single cause. The causes and effects of illness can be examined at multiple levels in the life of an individual, and no single level provides the whole picture. Collecting info about psychosocial context is key to the understanding of physical health and illness.

Biopsychosocial approach to health and illness

doesn't include psych or social factors (environmental factors)

Disease is studied by examining only the biological factors of illness (genetics), neglecting contributing factors of psychological life and sociological context.

Biomedical approach to health and illness

Provide an approximation (physical/conceptual representation) of a scientific phenomenon that cannot be observed directly

Models

Provides the conceptual framework for understanding objects of study

Theories

Human actors actively construct their "reality", rather than discovering a reality that has inherent validity, through their social interactions. The beliefs and shared understandings of individuals create social realities.

In the context of illness, there is a gap b/t the biological reality of a medical condition and the societally created meaning of the condition. (ex. changing conceptualizations of mental illness results in changes to the DSM). It is a dynamic, ongoing process.

argues that people actively shape their reality through social interactions/agreement – it’s something constructed, not inherent. Things are social products made of the values of the society that created it.

A social construct is concept/practice everyone in society agrees to treat a certain way regardless of its inherent value, ex. money.

Weak social constructionism proposes that social constructs are dependent on:

§ Brute facts, which are the most basic and fundamental facts. Ex. brute facts are what explain quarks (or what makes the quarks) in atoms, not the atoms themselves (something that is not defined by something else).

§ Institutional facts are created by social conventions and do rely on other facts. Ex. money depends on the paper we have given value.

o Strong social constructionism states that whole of reality is dependent on language and social habits; all knowledge is social construct and there are no brute facts. We created idea of quarks and everything we know to explain it. No facts that just exist.

Social constructionism

-Part of WEAK social constructionism

-Brute facts are physical realities that exist outside of human input

-Institutional facts only exist as a function of society's structures and beliefs

Brute facts vs Institutional Facts

Micro social perspective. Focuses on the smaller scale interactions between individuals in small groups. Through social interactions, individuals develop shared meanings and labels for various symbols. Allows for human agency in creating and changing meaning in society, rather than society acting upon the individual. Meaning can change with a single interaction, so addresses subjective meanings. Humans ascribe meaning to things, act based on those meanings, use language to generate meaning through social interaction, and modify meanings through thought processes. However, ignores larger societal forces that shape people's lives.

society is a product of everyday interactions of individuals. Looking at how people behave in normal everyday situations and helps us to better understand and define deviance.

o Symbolic interactionism - social theory that’s a micro-perspective, focuses on the individual and significance they give to objects, events, symbols, etc. in their lives.

Microsociology – face to face interactions, families, schools, other social interactions.

Interpretive analysis of the society, look at sample of society and how individual interactions would affect larger groups in society. Ex. doctor-patient interactions, or family dynamics.

Symbolic interactionism

what type of sociology ?

Terms, concepts, or items that represent specific meanings by accepted convention. Meanings ascribed to symbols are determined by social norms and cultural values.

Symbols

Founder: Emile Durkheim

Macrosocial perspective

-how each part of society helps keep society stable.

-Factions of society work together to maintain stability. Society is a system that consists of different components working together, with distinct institutions that contribute to functioning. Seeks to understand what different structures in society contribute to society at large. When disruptions occur, the interacting systems respond to get back to a stable state. Explains societal stability but NOT societal change (assumes stability is the ideal)

Functionalism

founder?

type of sociology ?

Founder: Karl Marx

Macrosocial perspective

Focuses on inequalities of different groups in society, based on ideas of Karl Marx that believed society evolved through several stages: feudalism -> capitalism -> socialism.

o 19th century Europe was capitalist –§ rich upper class called bourgeoisie (minority) and poor lower class called

the proletariat (majority).

§ Upper class had more power (owned the factories, and sold what they produced from factories). Lower class depended on upper class (the factory owners) to get paid, but upper class also depended on lower class for their labour.

§ Significant economic inequality, which Marx believed led to change in society. Lower class united to create class consciousness as they realized they were being exploited. Exploitation would allow lower class to overthrow the status quo. A society where one group exploited another group economically would eventually lead to its own destruction.

o The thesis (existing generally accepted state) was that bourgeoisie ran factories and working class provided labour. Thesis causes the formation of the reaction – antithesis (opposed the accepted state).

o Antithesis - Desire of working class to change was the thesis.

quo.

§ Thesis + antithesis can’t coexist peacefully. Thesis is happy while antithesis is looking for change always.

o Struggle would lead to a compromise - a synthesis of the two by creating a new state. Would eventually become new thesis.

Views society in terms of competing groups that act according to their own self-interests, rather than according to the need for societal equilibrium. Society is a competition for limited resources. Explains societal changes but NOT societal societal stability (assumes stability is undesirable to societal groups that are oppressed) Views human actions in terms of larger forces of inequality, but leaves motivations choices of individuals unexamined. Ignores the non-forceful ways in which people reach agreement, and approaches society more from those who lack power. Tends to be too economically focused.

Conflict Theory

founder?

type of sociology ?

All of the beliefs, assumptions, objects, behaviors, and processes that make up a shared way of life. Has a pervasive effect on worldview.

Culture

The discomfort and ensuring reevaluation of personal cultural assumptions when an individual experiences a culture different from her own

Culture shock

Objects involved in a certain way of life

Material culture

material = physical

Encompasses the elements of cultures that are not physical.

-shared ideas, knowledge, assumptions, values, and beliefs that unify a group of people.

Nonmaterial culture

what are some examples?

Expectations that govern what behavior is acceptable within a group. Social interactions help define a culture by establishing these

Social norms

A subset of a population that maintains social interactions. Alternatively, includes a collection of shared experiences that create a group identity among a set of individuals

Social group

Non-material culture that consists of the elements of culture that only have meaning in the mind. Based on a shared system of collective beliefs in the form of symbols. Includes the meanings ascribed to rituals, gestures, and objects.

Symbolic culture

The use of symbols to represent ideas

Language

Two or more individuals living together in a definable area and/or sharing elements of a culture. A society can encompass multiple cultures.

Society

Stable hierarchical systems that bring order to interpersonal interactions, structuring society. Examples are government/economy, education, religion, family, and health/medicine. Provide predictability and organization for individuals within a society, and mediate social behavior between people.

Social institutions

examples ?

Provides order to a society through the services it provides and the making and enforcement of law

Government/economy as a social institution

Provides a formal structure during childhood and the transition to adulthood, and an opportunity to instruct youth on social norms, expectations for behavior, knowledge, and skills needed to operate within society. Its manifest function is to systematically pass down knowledge and give status to those who have been educated. Its latent function is socialization, serving as agents of change, and maintaining social control. Serves to reinforce and perpetuate social inequalities. Experience educational segregation because of differential funding of schools based on residential segregation.

Intended consequences of institutions are manifest functions, ex. businesses provide a service. School – educate people so they can get jobs. Laws – maintain social order.

o Unintended consequences, ex. schools expose students to social connections/new activities, and businesses connect people across society –latent functions, indirect effects of institutions. (unrecognized consequences)

Education as a social institution

Acts as an organized structure of behaviors and social interactions that addresses the spiritual needs of society. From a functionalist standpoint, can create social cohesion/dissent, social change/control, and provide believers with meaning and purpose.

Religion as a social institution

A system of beliefs that affects how people make sense of their experiences and provides a framework for questions about life, death, and the purpose of existence

Religion

Creates a social group in which to procreate, rear children, pass on cultural knowledge, and cooperate to better meet life's challenge

Family as a social institution

The concept of family in which one man and one woman live together with their children; most common concept of family in the US. Consists of DIRECT blood relations.

The nuclear family

Polygamy - An individual married to more than one individual

Polygyny - more than one wife (GYN => woman) => many woman

Polyandry - woman has multiple husbands => many men

Polygamy

Polygyny

Polyandry

woman has multiple husbands

Polyandry

Fulfills the need for healthcare in an organized manner, with beliefs about diseases and approaches to healing varying between societies and cultures

Health/medicine as a social institution

Socioeconomic characteristics of a population expressed statistically, such as age, sex, education level, income level, marital status, occupation, religion, birth rate, death rate, average size of a family, average age at marriage.

Demographic factors

Age, gender, nationality, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, SES, immigration status, education level

Quantified demographic parameters include:

A demographic change that takes place over time

Demographic transition

The production of offspring within a population

Fertility

Following a subset of a population over a lifetime

Cohort study

Examining the number of offspring produced during a specific time period

Period study

The death rate within a population.

Mortality

The relocation of people from one place to another; influences population size

Migration

The influx of new people to a specific area; increases population size

Immigration

The outflow of people to other areas; reduces population size

Emigration

Group of people who share an ideology and work together toward a specific set of goals

Social movement

-more ppl moving to urban areas (from rural areas)

Increase in the proportion of people living in specified urban areas, due to industrialization

Urbanization

Increasing amount of interaction and integration on the international scale through exchange of products, services, ideas and information

Globalization

The unequal distribution of opportunities or treatment of individuals within a society based on various demographic categories

Social inequality

aka

Spatial mismatch – opportunities for low-income people in segregated

communities may be present but farther away, and harder to access. Gap between where people live and where opportunities are.

Spatial inequality

what does it mean ?

aka?

fair distribution of the environmental benefits and burdens within society across all groups (race, ethnicity, income)

Areas with high poverty and lots of racial minorities, often have few environmental

benefits (green spaces, parks, recreation).

o They also get a lot of environmental burden compared to wealthier parts.

Includes waste facilities, manufacturing/factories, energy production, airports.o At risk because they often have few alternatives, little awareness of risks they

face, and other pressing issues.o More health problems like asthma, obesity, etc.

Wealthier population society has much higher benefits.o More politically and economically powerful, and able to demand beneficial

facilities are placed close to them and burdening facilities far way.o Also better represented in environmental/lobbying groups.

• Big concept is environmental justice – looks at the fair distribution of the environmental benefits and burdens within society across all groups.

Environmental justice

Residential segregation – groups of people separate into different neighbourhoods.

o Can mean race or income.

o Where we live affects our life chances, because it affects our politics, healthcare,

availability to education, etc.

Other forms of segregation:

o 1) Concentration – there’s clustering of different groups

o 2) Centralization – segregation + clustering in a central area.

Index of dissimilarity – 0 is total segregation, and 100 perfect distributions.

Why is residential segregation important?

o Political isolation - Communities segregated are politically weak because their political interests don’t overlap with other communities – become political vulnerable, don’t have the political influence to keep their own needs addressed.

o Linguistic isolation - Communities who are isolated may develop own language, even in same city. May limit jobs.

o Lower access to quality education/heath

o Spatial mismatch – opportunities for low-income people in segregated

communities may be present but farther away, and harder to access. Gap between where people live and where opportunities are.

Instance of social inequality on the local scale, where demographic groups are separated into different locations with unequal access to resources

Residential segregation

Areas where it is difficult to find affordable, healthy food options. More common in highly populated low-income urban neighborhoods where there are fewer grocery stores/transportation options to seek out other food choices. Contribute to obesity in these areas bc people resort to buying cheap, highly caloric foods

Food deserts

System of stratification that groups members of society according to similarities in social standing. Multifaceted, and tied to status within a community and power

Social class

Influence over a community

Power

Power, Privilege, and Prestige

People in higher social class tend to have more:

Defines the economic and social position of a person in terms of income, wealth, education, and occupation

Socioeconomic status (SES)

What is it based on ?

Income is assets EARNED while wealth is assets already OWNED.

Income vs wealth

the relative value assigned to something within a particular society

Prestige

Jobs that are professional, administrative, or managerial in nature; defines the middle class

White-collar work

Occupations that require skilled or unskilled manual labor

Blue-collar work

o Caste system – very little social mobility, because your role is determined

entirely by background you’re born to and who you’re married to. A lot of social stability. Ex. The Hindu caste system.

Hierarchy of society is strictly defined, position is inherited, and movement or marriage between castes is prohibited

Caste system

The movement of an individual up the class hierarchy. Achieved through education, marriage, career, or financial success

Upward mobility

The movement of an individual down the class hierarchy. Due to unemployment, underemployment, reduced household income, lack of education, or health issues

Downward mobility

Movement of a young person from a lower social class to a higher social class through merit (achieving the "American dream")

Intragenerational mobility

Movement through the class system between generations (old generation is poor/rich, sets up environment for new generation to become rich/poor)

Intergenerational mobility

Society in which advancement is based solely on the abilities and achievements of the individual

Meritocracy

The set of non-monetary social factors that contribute to social mobility. Examples include dress, accent, vernacular, manners, education, cultural knowledge, intellectual pursits.......................................

Cultural capital -The term cultural capital refers to non-financial social assets

that promote social mobility beyond economic means. Examples can include education, knowledge, skills, style of speech, dress, physical appearance

Refers to knowledge, skills, education, and similar characteristics that are used to make social distinctions and that are associated with differences in social status.

A physician has Cultural Capital bc of his skills education and appearance as a Doctor

Vs

Social Capital: the networks of relationships among people who live and work ina particular society, enabling that society to function effectively.

§ Social Networks provide a valuable resource. Social capital is believed to result in various health benefits for the individual, including reductions in the health risk of chronic inflammation. Partly related to social support, social capital emphasize the tangible resources provided by network members (whereas social support tends to focus on emotional resources). Both social support and social capital suggest that social contracts will be beneficial to individual health and well-being. Social Network -àHealth

o Social Network: types include:§ Peer network

§ Family network

§ Community network

Cultural capital (on Practice MCAT)

o Social Capital: the networks of relationships among people who live and work ina particular society, enabling that society to function effectively.

§ Social Networks provide a valuable resource. Social capital is believed to result in various health benefits for the individual, including reductions in the health risk of chronic inflammation. Partly related to social support, social capital emphasize the tangible resources provided by network members (whereas social support tends to focus on emotional resources). Both social support and social capital suggest that social contracts will be beneficial to individual health and well-being. Social Network -àHealth

o Social Network: types include:§ Peer network

§ Family network

§ Community network

An individual's social networks and connects that may confer economic or personal benefits

the networks of relationships among people who live and work in a particular society, enabling that society to function effectively.

§ Social Networks provide a valuable resource. Social capital is believed to result in various health benefits for the individual, including reductions in the health risk of chronic inflammation. Partly related to social support, social capital emphasize the tangible resources provided by network members (whereas social support tends to focus on emotional resources). Both social support and social capital suggest that social contracts will be beneficial to individual health and well-being. Social Network -àHealth

Social capital (on Prac MCAT)

Reproduction of social inequality => parents poor => You're poor

Transmission of social inequality from one generation to the next (inter-generational)

Huge amount of social inequality between rich families and poor families. Large social inequality seems to replicate itself cross generations. Perpetuation of inequality through social institutions (such as education/economy), social mobility counters this.

People with rich parents end up wealthy themselves – social reproduction.o Means we are reproducing social inequality across generations.

Social reproduction (on practice MCAT)

an insufficiency of material goods, monetary wealth, and access to resources

Poverty

Also known as social exclusion. Describes how impoverished people are often excluded from opportunities available to others.

Isolation

Lack of essential resources (food, shelter, clothing, hygiene).

YOU CAN DIE !

More extreme form of poverty

Absolute poverty

Social inequality in which people are relatively poor compared to other members of society in which they live

Relative poverty

Aka health inequity. Differences in health and healthcare that occur between groups of people

Health disparity

The study of how individuals interact with, shape, and are subsequently shaped by the society in which they live. Attempts to understand the behavior of GROUPS.

Sociology

-Father of sociology, pioneer of modern social research and established the field as separate and distinct from psychology and politics

-Major proponent of functionalism

-Argued that modern society was more complex than primitive societies because they were all similar, shared a common language. Even when people were dissimilar, they relied on each other to make society function.

Emile Durkheim

Aspect of functionalism. Complex societies contain many different but interdependent parts working together to maintain stability. Unhealthy cites are unable to maintain this.

o Social dysfunction is process that has undesirable consequences and may reduce the stability of society.

Dynamic equilibrium

what is the opp of this ?

Elements that serve some function in society, such as the laws, morals, values, religions, customs, rituals, and rules that make up a society

Social facts -ways of thinking and acting formed by society that existed before

any one individual and will still exist after any individual is dead. Unique objects that can't be influenced and have a coercive effect over individual only noticed when we resist. Ex. the law. Others are moral regulations, religious fates, and social currents like suicide/birth rate (one person committing suicide has no effect of suicide on society). Facet of society itself and a necessary structure.

Functionalism - balance of social facts and institutions

Functionalism is a system of thinking based on ideas of Emile Durkheim that look at society from large-scale perspective, and how each part helps keep society stable.

o It says that society is heading towards equilibrium. Ex. local businesses must adapt to new ways to cater to customers (in response to a disrupter such as amazon for example)

Social facts

Based on what view of society ?

which sociologist ?

Intended and obvious consequences of a social structure

Intended consequences of social structures (including institutions) are manifest functions, ex. businesses provide a service. School – educate people so they can get jobs. Laws – maintain social order.

Manifest functions

Unintended or less recognizable consequence of a social structure. Can be considered beneficial, neutral, or harmful

Latent functions

Social process that has undesirable consequences, reducing the stability of society

-Doctors prescribing opioids

o Social dysfunction is process that has undesirable consequences and may reduce the stability of society.

Manifest dysfunctions are anticipated disruptions of social life. For example, a manifest dysfunction of a festival might include disruptions of transportation and excessive production of garbage.[6] Latent dysfunctions are unintended and unanticipated disruptions of order and stability. In the festival example, they would be represented by people missing work due to the traffic jam

a consequence of a social practice or behavior pattern that undermines the stability of a social system.

Social dysfunction

Father of sociology. Associated with Conflict Theory. Looked at the economic conflict between different social classes, and argued that societies progress through class struggle between those who own and control production and those who labor and provide the manpower for production. Believed that capitalism would ultimately lead to self-destruction of society due to internal tensions.

Karl Marx

Proposed that society is shaped by war and conquest, and that cultural and ethnic conflicts lead to certain groups becoming dominant over other groups.

-expanded on Marx (conflict theory) by proposing that society is shaped by war/conquest, and cultural/ethnic conflicts lead to certain groups becoming dominant over others.

• Focuses on inequalities of different groups in society, based on ideas of Karl Marx that believed society evolved through several stages: feudalism -> capitalism -> socialism.

o 19th century Europe was capitalist –§ rich upper class called bourgeoisie (minority) and poor lower class called

the proletariat (majority).

§ Upper class had more power (owned the factories, and sold what they produced from factories). Lower class depended on upper class (the factory owners) to get paid, but upper class also depended on lower class for their labour.

§ Significant economic inequality, which Marx believed led to change in society. Lower class united to create class consciousness as they realized they were being exploited. Exploitation would allow lower class to overthrow the status quo. A society where one group exploited another group economically would eventually lead to its own destruction.

o The thesis (existing generally accepted state) was that bourgeoisie ran factories and working class provided labour. Thesis causes the formation of the reaction – antithesis (opposed the accepted state).

o Antithesis - Desire of working class to change was the thesis.

quo.

§ Thesis + antithesis can’t coexist peacefully. Thesis is happy while antithesis is looking for change always.

o Struggle would lead to a compromise - a synthesis of the two by creating a new state. Would eventually become new thesis.

Ludwig Gumplowicz

Conflict Theorist (don't get confused with Carl Marx - other conflict theorist)

Max Weber said he did not believe collapse of capitalism was inevitable, but argued that several factors moderate people’s reaction to inequality.

o Introduced: three independent factors Class/Status/Power

status- a persons prestige, social honor or popularity in society

Power:a persons ability to get their way despite resistance of others, particularly in their ability to engage social change.

Father of sociology. Argued that in a capitalist society inequalities would lead to conflict, but that there would be more than one source of conflict. Argued that there were several factors that moderated people's reaction to inequality.

-5 main characteristics of an ideal bureaucracy

o Division of labour – people are trained to do specific tasks.§ Pro – people are better at tasks, and increased efficiency.

o Hierarchy of organization – each position is under supervision of higher authority. Not all people of an organization are equal.

o Written rules and regulations

o Impersonality – how individuals and officials conduct activities in unbiased

manner§ Pro - equal treatment§ Con – alienation, discourage loyalty to the group

Employment based on technical qualifications –hiring in bureaucracy is based on qualifications on person has and not favouritism/personal rivalries

§ Pro – decrease discrimination§ Con – decrease ambition (only do what is necessary to secure job and do

nothing more). Leads to Peter Principle, where every employee in hierarchy keeps getting promoted until they reach level of incompetence(they remain at a position because they are not good enough at the job to get promoted any further).

Max Weber

Erving Goffman (1940) studied nature of people’s interactions. He noticed people planned their conduct, people want to guide and control how they’re seen, and act differently alone than in public. They put the best presentation of themselves that they can.

o Says people do all these things through process of dramaturgy.

2 parts of dramaturgy: Both help us explain how humans behave in a social setting.

o Front stage – when people are in a social setting. Ex. someone watches baseball with friends even if he doesn’t like baseball. Manipulating how he’s seen to gain/make friends. “Putting on a front and acting for an audience” perhaps use this to your advantage one day.

§ Say “oh I love baseball” even though you don’t really like baseballo Back stage – more private area of our lives, when act is over. You can be

yourself. You can do what you feel makes you comfortable. Private area of your life.

§ Some things in backstage maybe nobody knows about, few people who are close to you might know about some things in your backstage

§ Ex; guy who said he loved baseball might come home and like watching cooking shows, cooking nice meals, hanging out with his cat. Nobody knows this about him.

§ It is things we do behind stage. Ex; putting on makeup! Things we do to prepare for front-stage when nobody is around.

Some people are crossing over from back stage to front stage due to social media – putting on a front in their backstage to make a good impression.

Assumes that people are theatrical performers and that everyday life is a stage, where people choose what kind of image they want to communicate verbal and nonverbally to others. Critics say this research may not be objective, ad that theory is focused too narrowly on symbolic interaction.

Dramaturgical approach

o A social construct is concept/practice everyone in society agrees to treat a certain way regardless of its inherent value, ex. money.

-an idea that has been created and accepted by the people in a society

Government, Race, Gender, Femininity/Masculinity, Illness, Marriage, Deviance, Education

• Social constructionism argues that people actively shape their reality through social interactions/agreement – it’s something constructed, not inherent. Things are social products made of the values of the society that created it.

Social constructionism is theory that knowledge is not real, and only exists because we give them reality through social agreement – nations, books, etc. don’t exist in absence of human society.

o The self is a social construct too – our identity is created by interactions with other people, and our reactions to the other people. (and reaction to expectations to society)

Social construct

A set of people related by blood, marriage, adoption, or some other agreed-upon relationship that signifies some responsibility to each other. Serves five functions:

-Reproduction and the monitoring of sexual behavior

-Protection

-Socialization

-Affection and companionship

-Social status

Family

Function of family

The process by which people learn customs and values of their culture. It is the way that children learn the culture into which they have been born

Socialization

- GYN => ob/gyn => many women

A man married to more than one woman

polyandry => many men one woman

Polygyny

The practice of marrying within a particular group

Endogamy

A requirement to marry outside a particular group, with it being the norm in almost all cultures to prohibit sexual relationships between certain relatives

don't have sex with close relatives

Exogamy

Parents provide children with possible mates, out of which the child can choose

Assisted marriage

How we think about who we are related to. Considered a cultural group rather than biological

Kinship/kin

Kin groups that involve both maternal and paternal relations

Bilateral descent

Preference for paternal relations in the kin group

Patrilineal descent

Preference for maternal relations in the kin group

Matrilineal descent

Spouses are treated as equals and may be involved in negotiation when making decisions

Egalitarian family

Financial wealth

Social class in America is largely determined by ________.

Upper class families have concerns related to continuing a larger family tradition and properly training children, while lower class families are focused on completing the everyday tasks necessary for survival. Upper class parents are more permissive/authoritative(warm, nurturing, tend to be more strict and more consistent, fewer rules but enforce them), while lower class parents are more authoritarian (exert control through power and coercion)

Upper vs lower class families

Has generally increased due to social and religious acceptance, more opportunities for women's autonomy, and lessened financial and legal barriers

Divorce rate in America

A dominant religious organization that includes most members of society, is recognized as the national or official religion, and tolerates no other religions

- dominant religious organization that includes most members of society, ex. Lutheranism in Sweden and Islam in Iran.

Ecclesia**

A type of religious organization that is well-integrated into the large society. Membership teds to occur by birth, but most churches allow people to join. Can be tied to the state or independent of it.

Church

A religious organization that is distinct from that of the larger society. Formed from breaking away from larger religious institutions. Membership may be by birth or through conversion.

-tend to be smaller and are established in protest of established church. They break away from churches. Ex. Mormon/Amish

not as radical as a Cult

Sect**

aka New religious movement

o Cults are more radical, reject values of outside society. Rise when there’s a breakdown of societal belief systems, but usually short-lived because depend on inspirational leader who will only live so long.

A religious organization that is far outside society's norms and often involves a very different lifestyle. Many major world religions originated as cults.

Cult

aka

The extent of influence of religion in a person's life

religiosity: how religious a person is can range from private beliefs/spiritual routines, to institutionalized religion, celebrating certain holidays, reading a spiritual text, praying often etc.

Religiosity