Sociology in Our Times Chapter 4 – Flashcards
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achieved status
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a social position that a person assumes voluntarily as a result of personal choice, merit, or direct effort.
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ascribed status
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a social position conferred at birth or received involuntarily later in life based on attributes over which the individual has little or no control, such as race/ ethnicity, age, and gender.
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division of labor
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how the various tasks of a society are divided up and performed.
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dramaturgical analysis
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the study of social interaction that compares everyday life to a theatrical presentation.
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ethnomethodology
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the study of the commonsense knowledge that people use to understand the situations in which they find themselves.
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face-saving behavior
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Erving Goffman's term for the strategies we use to rescue our performance when we experience a potential or actual loss of face.
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formal organization
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a highly structured group formed for the purpose of completing certain tasks or achieving specific goals.
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Gemeinschaft
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a traditional society in which social relationships are based on personal bonds of friendship and kinship and on intergenerational stability. "Commune" or "community".
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Gesellschaft
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a large, urban society in which social bonds are based on impersonal and specialized relationships, with little long-term commitment to the group or consensus on values. "Associations" like strangers.
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impression management (presentation of self)
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Erving Goffman's term for people's efforts to present themselves to others in ways that are most favorable to their own interests or image.
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industrial society
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a society based on technology that mechanizes production.
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master status
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the most important status that a person occupies.
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mechanical solidarity
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Emile Durkheim's term for the social cohesion in preindustrial societies, in which there is minimal division of labor and people feel united by shared values and common social bonds.
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nonverbal communication
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the transfer of information between persons without the use of speech.
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organic solidarity
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Emile Durkheim's term for the social cohesion found in industrial societies, in which people perform very specialized tasks and feel united by their mutual dependence.
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personal space
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the immediate area surrounding a person that the person claims as private.
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postindustrial society
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a society in which technology supports a service and information-based economy.
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primary group
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Charles Horton Cooley's term for a small, less specialized group in which members engage in face-to-face, emotion-based interactions over an extended period of time.
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role
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a set of behavioral expectations associated with a given status.
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role conflict
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a situation in which incompatible role demands are placed on a person by two or more statuses held at the same time.
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role exit
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a situation in which people disengage from social roles that have been central to their self-identity.
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role expectation
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a group's or society's definition of the way that a specific role ought to be played.
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role performance
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how a person actually plays a role.
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role strain
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a condition that occurs when incompatible demands are built into a single status that a person occupies.
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secondary group
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a larger, more specialized group in which members engage in more-impersonal, goal-oriented relationships for a limited period of time.
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self-fulfilling prophecy
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the situation in which a false belief or prediction produces behavior that makes the originally false belief come true.
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social construction of reality
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the process by which our perception of reality is shaped largely by the subjective meaning that we give to an experience.
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social group
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a group that consists of two or more people who interact frequently and share a common identity and a feeling of interdependence.
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social institution
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a set of organized beliefs and rules that establishes how a society will attempt to meet its basic social needs.
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social interaction
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the process by which people act toward or respond to other people; the foundation for all relationships and groups in society.
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social structure
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the stable pattern of social relationships that exists within a particular group or society.
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status
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a socially defined position in a group or society characterized by certain expectations, rights, and duties.
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status set
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all the statuses that a person occupies at a given time.
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status symbol
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a material sign that informs others of a person's specific status.
