11: Culture Flashcards
What is a social system? Examples
Made up of actors (agents) and the relationships between them
All systems where humans are the primary components
E.g. bakery, a family, Canada
What is an ideal type and who was the first to employ this term?
Concept employed by Max Weber to exaggerate certain characteristics of people
‘Extremes’ with recognition that ‘real’ people are more complex
What does homo economicus think of when making a decision?
Their own preferences (when doing a cost-benefit analysis i.e. self interested)
Does homo economicus look selfish? Explain with an example
Not always
E.g. Mother Theresa was considered selfless, but helping people is her preference so she is acting in her self interest
What are personal norms
Preferences regarding the behaviour of others
How would economists answer the question “where do preferences come from?”
They would explain that an individual’s preferences are fixed and not explainable
Neoclassical economics assumes that preferences come from somewhere and that this is not relevant in their models
What is bounded rationality? Key point?
Humans have limited processing capacity so we use heuristic (habits, emulation, etc)
Key point is that people often learn from/emulate others
What is homo sociologicus?
People are not limited to being logical, calculating machines, but are also social creations who are at least partially programmed by society (beliefs, attitudes, and preferences are partially the result of society/culture)
What is culture?
The sum of attitudes, beliefs, and preferences (including norms) that distinguishes one group of people from another
What are individual beliefs, attitude and preferences
Individual beliefs: what we believe to be true (largely rooted in culture(s) including religion and other knowledge systems)
Individual attitude: your overall generalized disposition on a topic (thoughts on an issue)
Individual preferences: a ranking system of our preferences for different outcomes
Individual vs shared beliefs, attitudes, preferences
Each individual has their own personal set of individual beliefs, attitudes, preferences and norms
At the same time, there are collectively shared group/societal beliefs, attitudes, preferences and norms
What is a group norm? In what setting do they exist? Result of failure to adhere to them?
Norms about what we should believe, should prefer as well as about how we should behave
Exist amongst groups (families, peers, organizations, societies)
Failure to adhere to these norms is deviance (usually punished by group members)
What is socialization? Types?
The ongoing process through which individuals learn culture and through which culture is enforced
Emulation, formalized processes, persuasion, behavioural rewards and punishments
Example of formalized processes? Persuasion?
FP = school system (formalized rules around what is taught)
Persuasion = advertising
Explain the difference between persuasion and incentivising using an example
Incentivising: choice between ice cream and pickles. If you choose the pickles, you also get $20. The preference never changes, but the external package did and we changed our choice
Persuasion: choice between ice cream and pickles. You get told ice cream is high in calories, unhealthy, and bad for the planet. Your preference changed
