Exam 1 Sociology
“WEPT”
WE-ness
Relating to others
Place
Embodiment, experiencing things
Time
Cultural and social norms of time
Sociology - a social science that studies human societies, their interactions, and the processes that preserve and change them
Focus: social structures and social processes
Structure = Form
Human society
Group behavior primary focus
How groups influence individuals and vice versa
Contexts for shaping social/personal development
Individual lives unfold in contexts
Influenced by family, parent educational level, income, neighborhood/community, education, organizations, employment, country of birth, historical birth period
Families shaping social development
Influenced by foster racial, ethnic, and religious identities; teach basic rules of society; provide first social networks; influence education and cognitive capacities through life-long interactions; help in later life
Doing sociology of: Health, sexuality, gender, family, technology, culture, etc.
Social complexity of problems
“Parts” make up the entire “picture”
Sociological perspective (Peter Berger)
See general social patterns in the behavior of particular individuals
Unique view of society (manifest/latent functions)
Gentrification
M-more money for city
I-more educated population=more demands from city
Individuals are unique…but
Society’s social forces shape us into “kinds” of people
“Things aren’t always what they seem” - Peter Berger
Sociology asks:
Give up familiar assumptions
Sensitive to how society affects people’s thoughts/feelings/behaviors
College attendance example:
To what extent did your own “free will” enter into your decision to attend college?
Sociological imagination (C. Wright Mills)- the ability to switch back and forth between the individual viewpoint and the social viewpoint.
Many personal problems rooted in society
Dilemma?
Separate personal troubles/biography from social issues or history
“The promise”
Understand connection between biography and larger social/historical context
Example:
Women (1970s vs today)
Women (1970s - 2022 vs today)
Sociological curiosity- the desire to seek out the social context and connections between our own experiences and broader cultural institutional, political and economic arrangements. (Jerry Jacobs)
“Neither the life of an individual nor the history of a society can be understood without understanding both.” - C. Wright Mills
History, social structure, and biography are interconnected
Sociological imagination is a way of mind to see this interconnection
Sociology: Advantages of lens
Challenge impulse to see aspects of life as inevitable or natural
See diversity in america and elsewhere
Highlight social marginality/inequality
Draws attention to social problems and change
See connection: self & society
Discipline’s origins
Three separate, yet interdependent revolutions
Scientific revolution (mid 1500s - late 1700s)
Belief in science, challenged traditional forms of authority and knowledge
Economic revolution (mid 1700s - mid 1800s)
Industrialism and capitalism
Political revolution (late 1700s - 1800s)
More democratic values and standards being adopted
Key Scholars
Auguste Comte (1798-1857)
Positivism; social statics (structures) and social dynamics (processes)
Envisioned sociology as vehicle for reform
Karl Marx (1818-1883)
Class conflict/struggle
Social Perspective/Paradigms
Theory: statement of how and why ideas are related
Perspective/paradigm: set of fundamental assumptions that guides thinking
People hold differing opinions about social worlds
Attend to some things, miss others
Different social experiences affect assumptions
Derek Black
Structural-Functionalism
Macro-oriented (large-scale) paradigm
Society and complex system, interdependent parts
Promote social stability & order
System seeks equilibrium
Key elements:
Social structure
Relatively stable social patterns in key institutions
Explores consequences of social patterns for society
“Manifest” and “latent” functions
Conflict
Macro/middle range issues
Society: structured system based on inequality
Groups struggle over scarce resources
Key elements:
Society organized to benefit few at majority’s expense
Race, class, gender, age, sexual orientation linked to social inequality
Dominant group vs minority group relations
Incompatible interests and major differences
Symbolic interactionism
Focuses on micro activity
Society is the product of everyday life experiences
Key assumptions:
Humans act toward things based on the meanings things have for them
Meanings merge from social interaction
Meanings modified/negotiated by people in social meanings
Key ideas/concepts
Meaning making
Impression management
Others see us in one certain way
Definition of situation
W.I. Thomas & Dorothy Swaine Thomas
“If men (women) define situations as real, they are real in their consequences.”
Role taking vs role making
Role taking: put ourselves in someone else’s shoes
Role making: how we embrace a role, shape it, and make it our own
Looking-glass self (Charles Horton Cooley)
“Looking into a mirror”
Mirror is a stand in for society
Description phase
Describing the circumstances
Judgment phase
Understanding of how the circumstances are going/self-assessment
Emotional response
How you feel about the situation
Berger and Luckmann’s ideas
Language: constant process involving
Externalization
Create institutions & rules that govern interaction
Objectification
See arrangements as not having a human connection
“Reification”
Internalization
Internalize socially constructed reality, become part of subjective self
Example (all 3): Marriage
Laws/rituals = Externalization
Marriage as thing = Objectification
Identity = Internalization
Frameworks for doing sociology
Scientific sociology (positivistic)
Observable empirical patterns
Interpretive sociology
Meanings attached to social worlds
Critical sociology
Need for social change
Agent for change
Basics of sociological methods
Humans exhibit patterns but inconsistency
Subjectivity & human agency
Combination of genes and social
Various methods used
Sociology and scientific method
Requires data
Deductive reasoning
Inductive reasoning
Styles of theorizing & doing research
Deduction (general -> specific)
Induction (specific -> general)
Quantitative/qualitative divide
Verstehen (weber)
Emotional distance from research process vs human “connection” (EMPATHY)
Quantitative methods
Numerical values
Statistical tools
Surveys most common
Qualitative methods
Understanding texture of social life
Narrative
Richness of experience & process
Doing science: A logical system that derives knowledge from systematic observation
Concepts
Abstract ideas representing some aspect of the world, somewhat simplified form
Variables
Concepts whose values change from cases to case
Types: independent, dependent, intervening/mediating
Measuring variables
Means by which the value of a variable is determined
“Operationalization” - process of specifying how something is to be measured
Reliability - quality of consistent measurement
Validity - quality of measuring precisely
Religiosity: level of significance of religion to a person or society
Many scholars of religion focus on:
Belonging (identification/membership)
Behaving (activities, e.g., attend service, pray)
Believing (subjective beliefs, e.g., about supreme being, afterlife)
Many concepts: multidimensional
Conventional research process
Choose issue
Define problem
Review literature
Develop hypotheses
Operationalize variables
Design project
Consider ethical/practical issues
Collect data
Analyze data
Report findings
Relationship between variables
Correlation
Two or more variables change together
Cause and effect
Change in one variable (independent) causes change in another (dependent)
Example: overcrowding causes delinquency [?]
There is correlation
Possible effect of third variable (income level)...
CORRELATION DOES NOT MEAN CAUSATION, BUT CAUSATION MUST REQUIRE CORRELATION
Conditions for cause and effect to be considered
Correlation exists: variable change
Independent (casual) variable precedes dependent variable in time
No evidence third variable responsible for a spurious correlation between two original variables
No observer/Hawthorne effect
People change their behavior because someone is watching you
Methodologies
Experiments
Highly controlled conditions
Surveys/questionnaires
Concerns
Coming up with good questions is hard
Wording can change how people think
Question placement
“New” developments
Acasi (audio-computer-assisted self-administered interview)
On-line sampling and research
In-depth interviews
Focus groups
Existing sources
Secondary analysis
Content analysis
Field studies
Participant observation/ethnographies
Direct observation
Direct observation covert overt |
participant A (stripper in club) B (wildland firefighter) |
nonparticipant C (observing parents & children at playground) D (two-way mirror, parent-child interaction) |
Culture - all artifacts of people, material, and nonmaterial
Forms
Material
Things made and used
Nonmaterial
Ideas, values, and beliefs
Cultural diversity
World’s cultures vastly different
Culture shock
Ethnocentrism
Cultural relativism
Symbolic Interaction definition - Ann Swidler
“Publicly available symbolic forms through which people experience and express their meaning.” [took kit]
Symbolic experience/gestures
Mythic lore or traditional knowledge
Ritual practices
Ways of evaluating reality
Modes of regulating conduct
Ways of forming social bonds
Ways of organizing experience (time)
Ways of expressing values: consumerism, volunteering/mentoring, tattoos
Jeremy Rifkin: Time Wars (1987)
Temporal dimensions–self expression
Sequential structure - things needing to occur before other things happen
Duration (how long things should last)
Planning
Rate of recurrence
Synchronization
Time perspective (being present in the present)
DO NOT CONFUSE CULTURE WITH SOCIETY
Society refers to a group of people, interacting in a given territory, who are guided in their daily lives by their culture
Culture: Elements
Symbols (objects that share particular meaning)
Human’s reality found in assigned meanings
Mindful that meanings vary cross-culturally
Meanings may vary within same group
Language (system of symbols for communicating)
Cultural transmission
Sapir-whorf hypothesis (language in our culture shapes the way we see things)
Non-verbal (Jan Hargrave)
Values (culturally defined guidelines for beliefs/action)
Support beliefs
Shape norms
Norms: Rules by which society guides the behavior of its members
Types
Folkways
Less serious offenses
Mores
Morally significant
Laws: norms enforced by state agents
Social control
Means to encourage conformity
Direct and indirect pressure
Positive & negative sanctions
Rewards and praise
punishment/pain
Guilt: judging ourselves
Shame: public disapproval and humiliation
E.g. slut shaming
Ideal vs. real culture
Ideal culture
Way things should be
Social patterns mandated by values/norms
Real culture
Way things actually are
Social patterns only approximate expectations
Marriage as an example:
How “ideal” are the following patterns
Open lines of communication - or closed off?
Loving relationships - or abusive?
“In good times and in bad” - or quick to divorce?
Equity in gender relations - or one-sided?
Cultural diversity
Subcultures
Groups whose cultural patterns set them apart from wider society
Religious cults, inner-city teens, cowboys, Amish, farmers
Public perceptions may vary for each and over time
Countercultures
Groups whose cultural patterns are at great odds with wider society
Radical militia groups, the Klan, skinhead groups, QAnon
Socialization: process by which individuals develop human potential and learn ways of thinking, feeling, and acting that enable them to be part of their culture
Life long experience
Social experiences build foundation for:
Personality
Person’s fairly consistent patterns of thinking, feeling, or acting
Could a person’s personality develop without social interaction?
Nature vs. Nurture
Sociobiology
Elements of society have a genetic root
Social behaviorism
Most of who and what we are as a species is learned, social in nature
Is it sociobiology or social behaviorism?
Both relevant, from a sociological perspective, nurture is extremely influential
Modern MRI and brain scanning technology advancing knowledge (e.g., emotions), CRISPR-gene editing tech
Mead’s Ideas
Social self
Develops from social interaction
Focuses on inward thinking processes, alternating phases of consciousness
Duality of self
Self as subject (“I”)
All thought and action originated with this part of the self, impulsive
Self as object (“ME”)
Guiding the action by taking on “the role of the other” (wider society), creates self-consciousness
Act: functional unit of conduct, snippet of experience embedded in larger act(s)
Agents of socialization
Interplay: receptive and active participant
Historical shift: large scale organizations
Families still important
Across the life course
Family
Typically most important
Center of a child’s life
Parental attention very important
Bonding and encouragement
Social position
Race, class, religion
Work/family intersection
Parenting practices shaped by work environment
Supervision
Substance complexity
Repetition
Cultural and social capital
School
Confront diversity
Race, class, religion
Hidden curriculum
Informal, covert lessons
Gender socialization critical
Gender-linked activities (play circles, clubs, sports)
Individual evaluation
Record keeping starts
Key processes
Reinforcement
Social comparison
Expectancy effects
Peer groups
Develop sense of self beyond family
Race, class, religion
Generation gap issues
Peers: short-term goals/parents: long-term plans
Anticipatory socialization
Negotiating power, decision-making, tasks
Experimenting with different selves
Mass Media, social media, & AI
Growing impact of social influencers
Gaming effects
Social robots
Relationship between society and self
Traditional societies:
High degree of shared meanings or cultural scenarios
Few in number, simple
Modern societies
Fewer shared meanings or cultural scenarios
Greater number of views
Competing pluralism of styles
Conventional adulthood markers
Complete education
Get a job/financial independence
Leave parent’s home
Get married
Have a baby
Feel like an adult
The life course
Childhood (up to 12)
“Hurried child”
Adolescence (teenage years)
Foot in both worlds (marginality)
Adulthood
Early: 20 to 40, conflicting priorities
Middle: 40 to 60, midlife crisis
Old age (Mid-60s and older)
Graying baby boomers
Less anti-elderly bias
Role existing difficulties
Total institutions
A setting in which people are:
Isolated from society
Controlled by staff
Characteristics:
Supervision of all spheres of life
Standardized, rigid system under which all live
Formal rules and daily schedules for all
Examples:
Boarding schools, boot camps, concentration camps, cults, prisons, mental institutions, sailing ships, monasteries, convents, nursing homes
Resocialization (Radical altering of a person’s personality)
Process
Erode individual’s old “self”
Surrender possessions and items suggesting individuality
Mortification of “self” process
Systematically build up different self within the person
Institutionalized personality
Impact on some persons with long experience in total institution
Social Domains: Social structure, groups, and organizations
Groups
What are they?
Two or more persons
Patterned interaction
Cultural understanding
Create and perform roles
Consciousness of kind, “we” feeling
Framing We-ness (Key concepts)
Features of “WE-NESS” (Charles Horton Cooley)
Affinity & sense of group belonging
Connected to something bigger than self
Emotional & psychological elements
Dynamic over time
Generates positive & negative outcomes
Types
Deep dyadic
Ideational
Spontaneous
Deep dyadic
Interpersonal bond (social psychological)
Mutual awareness, couple identity
Interdependencies (romantic, external, internal, formal)
Assigned meanings (rights, obligations, expectations)
Personalized cultural capital
Often embedded in other networks–why does it matter?
The persistence of social and economic inequality is now explained by four factors:
Sociology devotes most of its attention to the collective aspects of human behavior (sociologists place greater emphasis on the ways external groups influence the behavior of individuals.)
Economic determinism- reflects the interest many sociologists had in the thought of Karl Marx, such as the idea that social differentiation and class conflict resulted from economic factors.
Human ecology- emphasized the impact of climate and geography on the evolution of those societies that flourished in temperate zones.
Social psychology- sociologists had concluded that psychological factors alone could not explain the behavior of larger groups and societies.
Cultural theory- sociologists concluded that culture was the most important factor in accounting for its own evolution and that of society
Social facts- collective sentiments, customs, institutions, nations
Early functionalism- social influence from group to individual
Groups can be held together on two contrasting bases:
Mechanical solidarity- a sentimental attraction of social units or groups that perform the same or similar functions, such as preindustrial self-sufficient farmers
Organic solidarity- an interdependence based on differentiated functions and specialization as seen in a factory, the military, government, or other complex organizations.
Structural-functional analysis- a sociological perspective that examines how society's parts work together to maintain stability and solidarity. It's also known as systems theory.
Ethnomethodology- the methods individuals use in daily life to construct their reality, primarily through intimate exchanges of meanings in conversation.
Sociometry- A diagram of choices for a communicating group. The person chosen most often is labeled a “star” or, less often, an “isolate.”
Factor analysis- a statistical technique that reduces a set of variables by extracting all their commonalities into a smaller number of factors.
Personal milieu- one’s particular residence, circle of friends, immediate family, etc.
Public sociology- a subfield of the wider sociological discipline that emphasizes expanding the disciplinary boundaries of sociology in order to engage with non-academic audiences.
5 Social Domains
Primary Groups- Family, Friends, Animals, Relations with AI
Community and Civic Groups- Place-based identity, Local Sports fans, Native American Reservations, Community Spirit (compassion)
Thought communities- Creative Energies, Like-minded support, Holistic health movement, ideological connections
Leisure, Play, & Sports- online bonding, sports
Paid Work
We-ness motives- Shared genetic heritage, Family love, Romantic love, Targeting a shared enemy, Celebrating lofty ideals, Calling out social injustice, Companionship, Mentorship, Sharing pain and suffering, Sharing a practical goal
Third place- a generic designation for a variety of public places that host the regular, voluntary, informal, and happily anticipated gatherings of individuals beyond the realms of home and work. (ex. tavern)
Constrained choice- individuals’ options to pursue healthy choices are constrained by several factors including financial troubles, workplace, family, individual
1. What are some of the key features of Haidt’s research methods for this book? For example, how does he assess:
Statistical analysis of trends:
Haidt uses existing datasets and large-scale surveys to compare mental health statistics before and after the surge in smartphone usage, highlighting the significant jump in reported depression and anxiety rates among adolescents during this period.
Focus on qualitative data:
While heavily relying on quantitative data, Haidt also incorporates anecdotal evidence from interviews with teenagers and parents to illustrate the personal experiences related to increased screen time and associated mental health concerns.
Correlational analysis:
He primarily focuses on establishing correlations between the rise in smartphone usage and the increase in mental health issues, comparing data on screen time with reported symptoms of anxiety and depression.
Comparison across demographics:
Haidt may analyze data across different age groups and socioeconomic backgrounds to assess whether the trends are consistent across different populations.
Evidence from hospital admissions:
While not the primary source of data, Haidt may also cite research that examines trends in hospital admissions related to mental health issues, particularly among adolescents, to support his claims about the growing problem.
2. According to Haidt, what four technology trends occurred at the turn of the millennium that deeply affected Gen Z?
Buying smartphones with high-speed internet, social media, large gaming platforms, and constant notifications
3. What is the “second plotline” Haidt describes that shifted children from a “play-based childhood” to a “phone-based childhood”?
The well- intentioned and disastrous shift toward overprotecting children and restricting their autonomy in the real world.
4. What is the “great rewiring” and why does Haidt highlight it throughout the book?
The great rewiring is the rapid switch from flip phones to smartphones with social media that created the phone-based childhood. To demonstrate how this shift has rewired the brains of young people for the worse.
5. Define the four features that Haidt describes characterizes the “real world,” embodied, synchronous, one-to-one or one-to-several, and high bar for entry and exist? Contrast those with the four features of Haidt’s “virtual world”?
Real World: Embodied- We use our bodies to communicate, Synchronous- Happening at the same time, One-to-One or One-to-Several- One interaction happening, High Bar for Entry and Exit- people motivated to invest in relationships
Virtual World: disembodied, asynchronous, one-to-many, low bar for entry and exit
6. What are the “four foundational harms” that a “phone-based childhood” disrupts in normal childhood development?
Social deprivation, sleep deprivation, attention fragmentation, and addiction
Describe “internalizing disorders” and their symptoms?
Internalizing disorders- characterized by worry, anxiety, depression, and social withdrawal
13. Haidt repeatedly uses the term “Anglosphere,” define this term, why is it important to his argument?
The countries where English is the main native language; because negative effects of smartphones appeared in the same way in all of these countries.
16. Social learning occurs throughout childhood, but Haidt suggests there might be a sensitive period for cultural learning. What age does this window occur?
Ages 9-15
17. Describe the distinction between the behavioral activation system (BAS) and the behavioral inhibition system (BIS)?
BAS encourages you to seek out pleasurable experiences, while BIS discourages actions that might lead to negative outcomes.
18. Haidt draws from the work of Nassim Taleb, describing children as “antifragile,” describe antifragility?
The ability of a system to improve its function or capability in the face of adversity, such as shocks, mistakes, or failures.
19. Define safetyism and concept creep.
Concept creep- the expansion of psychological concepts in two directions: smaller cases or new, broader cases
Safetyism- safety trumps everything else no matter how unlikely the danger
20. How does Arnold van Gennep describe the three phases in rites of passage? Define each stage.
Separation:
This initial stage involves symbolically detaching the individual from their current social role, often through rituals that mark their departure from the old group or community. For example, in some cultures, this might involve wearing specific clothing, undergoing a period of isolation, or cutting hair.
Liminality:
Considered the "threshold" phase, liminality is a period of ambiguity where the individual is neither fully part of the old group nor the new one. This phase often involves challenges, tests, or rituals that push the individual to confront their identity and prepare for the transition.
Incorporation:
In this final stage, the individual is formally welcomed into their new social role, often through a ceremony that signifies their full acceptance into the new group or community. This could include receiving new symbols of status, being given a new name, or participating in communal rituals.
21. What two key neural processes occur in the early years of puberty?
Synaptic pruning:
This process involves the removal of unused or weak synapses between neurons, essentially "cleaning up" the brain by eliminating connections that are no longer needed, allowing for more focused neural pathways.
Myelination:
This process involves the formation of a protective fatty layer (myelin) around axons, which speeds up the transmission of electrical signals between neurons, enhancing communication and improving cognitive processing speed.
23. How have Western societies eliminated many rites of passage? How does the digital world bury those key milestones?
Some young people are too afraid to do things such as drive and drink alcohol. It doesn’t matter how old you are on the internet, you can sign up for almost anything.
24. What research does Haidt draw from to describe the massive increase of screen time? How do we know that research is reliable?
He primarily cites research from psychologist Jean Twenge; this data is often based on large-scale surveys where participants report their screen time and mental health status.
31. Haidt describes two major categories of motivations as agency and communion? Describe these categories, and how they are different in boys and girls?
Agency- striving to individuate the self
Communion- striving to integrate the self in a community
Boys are more focused on agency, girls on communion
33. Why are boys at greater risk than girls to experience “failure to launch”?
They are more likely to shut themselves up away from the real world and less engaged in school.
35. If morally beautiful actions lift people up, and morally repulsive actions pull us downward, how does a phone-based life push us towards the latter?
We see more morally repulsive actions on social media and mass news sites.
37. How can spiritual practices combat the negative effects of a phone-based life?
It provides people with meaning, connection, and makes them less judgmental.
39. What are the four main types of collective response according to Haidt?
1. No smartphones before year 10
2. No social media before 16
3. Phone-free schools
4. Far more unsupervised play and childhood independence
40. What are a couple key things Haidt suggests that governments and tech companies can do now to help mitigate the mental health crisis among children and adolescents?
Correct overprotection in real world, under-protection in virtual world, better age verification, encourage more free play.
42. What are the key things Haidt suggest parents can do to help reverse the negative effects of the Great Rewiring?
Delay screentime, enroll them in extracurriculars, make them get jobs, use parental controls