Chapter 5 Social Structure, Social Interaction and Social Groups Flashcards
The [_] we occupy and the attendant roles we play shape our lives in fundamental ways and affect our daily interactions with other people.
statuses
[_] plays an important part in influencing individual opportunities and outcomes, and society-wide inequalities.
Social structure
The positions an individual occupies are referred to as that person’s [_].
status set
Example of a Status Set
banker, girl scout troop leader, mother, school board member, community volunteer, and spouse.
An [_] is a status that is achieved by the individual, at some point after birth, and is understood as a position one has more control over.
achieved status
A [_] is a status that is so important that it overrides other statuses one may hold.
master status
Master statuses can have positive or negative consequences, as status is also a function of power.
Race, gender and sexual orientation, etc., could be considered master statuses and lead to privilege or discrimination.
[_] are objects that signify a particular status.
Status symbols
Status symbol example
An expensive car symbolizes its owner’s wealth or success.
Roles
The behaviors expected of someone of a certain status.
Social Interaction
The way in which people act with other people and react to how other people are acting.
[_] results from our social interaction and we also learn how to interact from our socialization.
Socialization
Social interaction based on roles is usually very automatic, and often performed without being aware of the performance.
Awareness of the interaction process, and the importance of roles, often only becomes clear when roles are violated.
Harold Garfinkel
Argued that results from situations in which people violate social roles suggest that people are constantly constructing the social reality of the situations in which they interact.
Individuals who interact help construct the reality of the situation in which they interact, a process which is referred to as the [_].
social construction of reality
[_] occurs when the roles of an individual’s many statuses conflict with each other.
Role conflict
[_] occurs when the expectations of one status cause the individual to experience strain in an effort to meet all the expectations.
Role strain
Culture greatly influences nonverbal communication.
Facial expressions and body posture
Gender differences also exist in two other forms of nonverbal interaction
Eye contact and touching
Women tend more than men to look directly into the eyes of people with whom they interact, a process called [_].
gazing
Men are more likely than women to [_] someone, especially when that someone is a woman.
touch
Women are more likely than men to touch themselves when they are talking with someone, a process called [_].
self-touching
Roles are relevant to whatever [_] one- belongs to.
social group
Social groups consist of two or more people who regularly interact on the basis of mutual expectations and who share a common identity.
e.g., families
Social categories are collections of people who have at least one attribute in common but otherwise do not necessarily interact.
e.g., Asian Americans
Collections of people who are in the same place at the same time but who otherwise do not necessarily interact, except in the most superficial of ways, or have a common identity.
Social aggregates
Primary group is usually small, is characterized by extensive interaction and strong emotional ties, and endures over time.
e.g., immediate family
Secondary group is larger and more impersonal and exist, often for a relatively short time, to achieve a specific purpose.
e.g., scouts
