Chapter 4: Vocabulary Flashcards
achieved status
a social position that a person assumes voluntarily as a result of personal choice, merit, or direct effort.
agrarian society
societies that use the technology of large-scale farming, including animal-drawn or energy-powered plows and equipment, to produce their food supply.
ascribed status
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.
division of labor
how the various tasks of a society are divided up and performed.
dramaturgical analysis
Erving Goffman’s term for the study of social interaction that compares everyday life to a theatrical presentation.
ethnomethodology
the study of the commonsense knowledge that people use to understand the situations in which they find themselves.
face-saving behavior
Erving Goffman’s term for the strategies we use to rescue our performance when we experience a potential or actual loss of face.
formal organization
a highly structured group formed for the purpose of completing certain tasks or achieving specific goals.
Gemeinschaft
a traditional society in which social relationships are based on personal bonds of friendship and kinship and on intergenerational stability.
Gesellschaft
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.
horticultural society
societies based on technology that supports the cultivation of plants to provide food.
hunting and gathering society
societies that use simple technology for hunting animals and gathering vegetation.
impression management (presentation of self)
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.
industrial society
societies based on technology that mechanizes production.
master status
the most important status that a person occupies.
mechanical solidarity
Emile Durkheim’s term for the social cohesion of preindustrial societies, in which there is minimal division of labor and people feel united by shared values and common social bonds.
nonverbal communication
the transfer of information between persons without the use of words.
organic solidarity
Emile Durkheim’s term for the social cohesion found in industrial (and perhaps postindustrial) societies, in which people perform very specialized tasks and feel united by their mutual dependence.
pastoral society
societies based on technology that supports the domestication of large animals to provide food.
personal space
the immediate area surrounding a person that the person claims as private.
postindustrial society
societies in which technology supports a service- and information-based economy.
primary group
a small, less specialized group in which members engage in face-to-face, emotion-based interactions over an extended period of time.
role
a set of behavioral expectations associated with a given status.
role conflict
a situation in which incompatible role demands are placed on a person by two or more statuses held at the same time.
role exit
a situation in which people disengage from social roles that have been central to their self-identity.
role expectation
a group’s or society’s definition of the way that a specific role ought to be played.
role performance
how a person actually plays a role.
role strain
a condition that occurs when incompatible demands are built into a single status that a person occupies.
secondary group
a larger, more specialized group in which members engage in more-impersonal, goal-oriented relationships for a limited period of time.
self-fulfilling prophecy
a situation in which a false belief or prediction produces behavior that makes the originally false belief come true.
social construction of reality
the process by which our perception of reality is largely shaped by the subjective meaning that we give to an experience.
social group
a group that consists of two or more people who interact frequently and share a common identity and a feeling of interdependence.
social institution
a set of organized beliefs and rules that establishes how a society will attempt to meet its basic social needs.
social interaction
the process by which people act toward or respond to other people: the foundation for all relationships and groups in society.
social script
a “playbook” that “actors” use to guide their verbal replies and overall performance to achieve the desired goal of the conversation or fulfill the role they are playing.
social structure
the complex framework of societal institutions (such as the economy, politics, and religion) and the social practices (such as rules and social roles) that make up a society and that organize and establish limits on people’s behavior.
status
a socially defined position in a group or society characterized by certain expectations, rights, and duties.
status set
all the statuses that a person occupies at a given time.
status symbol
a material sign that informs others of a person’s specific status.
