Chapter 09: Social Stratification in the United States

Question 1

caste system

Answer 1

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

Question 2

class system

Answer 2

social standing based on social factors and individual accomplishments

Question 3

class traits

Answer 3

also called class markers, the typical behaviors, customs, and norms that define each class

Question 4

class

Answer 4

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

Question 5

conspicuous consumption

Answer 5

buying and using products to make a statement about social standing

Question 6

Davis-Moore thesis

Answer 6

thesis that argues some social stratification is a social necessity

Question 7

downward mobility

Answer 7

a lowering of one’s social class

Question 8

endogamous marriages

Answer 8

unions of people within the same social category

Question 9

exogamous marriages

Answer 9

unions of spouses from different social categories

Question 10

global stratification

Answer 10

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

Question 11

income

Answer 11

the money a person earns from work or investments

Question 12

intergenerational mobility

Answer 12

a difference in social class between different generations of a family

Question 13

intragenerational mobility

Answer 13

a difference in social class between different members of the same generation

Question 14

meritocracy

Answer 14

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

Question 15

primogeniture

Answer 15

a law stating that all property passes to the firstborn son

Question 16

social mobility

Answer 16

the ability to change positions within a social stratification system

Question 17

social stratification

Answer 17

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

Question 18

standard of living

Answer 18

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

Question 19

status consistency

Answer 19

the consistency, or lack thereof, of an individual’s rank across social categories like income, education, and occupation

Question 20

structural mobility

Answer 20

when societal changes enable a whole group of people to move up or down the class ladder

Question 21

upward mobility

Answer 21

an increase—or upward shift—in social class

Question 22

wealth

Answer 22

the value of money and assets a person has from, for example, inheritance