Social Stratification and Mobility Vocabulary

These vocabulary flashcards summarize key terms related to social stratification, social mobility, and inequality discussed in the lecture.

Absolute Poverty

Deprivation so severe that it puts day-to-day survival in jeopardy.

Caste System

A system in which people are born into a social standing that they will retain their entire lives.

Class

A group who shares a common social status based on factors like wealth, income, education, and occupation.

Class System

Social standing based on social factors and individual accomplishments.

Class Traits (Class Markers)

The typical behaviors, customs, and norms that define each class.

Closed System

A system of stratification that accommodates little change in social position.

Conspicuous Consumption

The act of buying and using products to make a statement about one’s social standing.

Davis-Moore Thesis

A thesis that argues some social stratification is a social necessity and is functional.

Downward Mobility

A lowering of one’s social class.

Endogamous Marriages

Unions of people within the same social category.

Exogamous Unions

Unions of spouses from different social categories.

Global Stratification

A comparison of the wealth, status, power, and economic stability of countries as a whole.

Ideology

The cultural belief system that justifies a society’s system of stratification.

Income

The money a person earns from work or investments.

Intergenerational Mobility

A difference in social class between different generations of a family.

Intragenerational Mobility

Changes in a person's social mobility over the course of their lifetime.

Meritocracy

An ideal system in which personal effort—or merit—determines social standing.

Open System

A system of stratification, based on achievement, that allows some movement and interaction between layers and classes.

Primogeniture

A law stating that all property passes to the firstborn son.

Relative Poverty

Not having the means to live the lifestyle of the average person in your country.

Social Mobility

The ability to change positions within a social stratification system.

Social Stratification

A socioeconomic system that divides society’s members into categories ranking from high to low, based on wealth, power, and prestige.

Socioeconomic Status (SES)

An individual’s level of wealth, power, and prestige.

Standard of Living

The level of wealth available to acquire material goods and comforts to maintain a particular socioeconomic lifestyle.

Status Consistency

The consistency, or lack thereof, of an individual’s rank across social categories like wealth, power, and prestige.

Structural Mobility

A societal change that enables a whole group of people to move up or down the class ladder.

Upward Mobility

An increase—or upward shift—in social class.

Wealth

The value of money and assets a person has, for example, from inheritance or salary.