MCAT Psych #12 Flashcards
social class
a category of people who share similar socioeconomic positions in society.
o Can be identified by looking at the economic opportunities, job positions, lifestyles, attitudes, and behaviors of a given slice of society.
social stratification
focuses on social inequalities and studies the basic question of who gets what and why.
socioeconomic status
depends on achieved and ascribed status.
ascribed status
derives from clearly identifiable characteristics, such as age, gender, and skin color, involuntary.
• Caste and estate systems.
achieved status
acquired via direct, individual efforts.
• Class systems (US after they left British colonial rule)
Describe the 3 main classes
• Upper: high concentration of prestige and power
o Wealth, reputation, political influence
• Middle: also has an upper, middle, and lower
o Upper-middle: successful business and professional people
o Middle-middle: unable to be upperm0muddle due to educational or economic shortcomings
o Lower-middle: skilled and semiskilled workers with few luxuries
• Lower: poorer end, greatly reduced amount of sociopolitical power
prestige
the amount of positive regard society has for a given person or idea.
• Certain occupations and awards have high prestige.
power
: the ability to affect others’ behavior through real or perceived rewards and punishments, based on the unequal distribution of valued resources.
• Defines the relationships between people and groups.
• Function to maintain order.
marxist theory
the have nots (proletariat) can overthrow the haves (bourgeoisie) as well as the entire capitalist economy by developing class consciousness. • Class consciousness: the organization of the working class around shared goals and recognition of a need for collective political action. • False consciousness: barrier to class consciousness: a misperception of one’s actual position within society. o The proletariat is too blind to what is going on around them to properly organize.
class consciousness
Marxist the organization of the working class around shared goals and recognition of a need for collective political action.
false consciousness
Marxist
barrier to class consciousness: a misperception of one’s actual position within society.
o The proletariat is too blind to what is going on around them to properly organize.
proletariat
have nots
bourgeoisie
haves
anomie
breakdown social solidarity
a lack of social norms, or the breakdown of social bonds between an individual and society, has further accelerated social inequality.
• Anomic conditions include excessive individualism, social inequality, and isolation.
social capital
the investments people make in their society in return for economic or collective rewards, the benefits one receives from group association.
The greater the investment, the higher the level of social integration (peaceful movement into mainstream society) and inclusion.
One form of social capital is networks: (there is inequality within them and created by them)
• Privilege: inequality of opportunity.
Cultural capital: the benefits one receives from knowledge, abilities, and skills.
Communities are joined together through strong and weak ties:
• Strong ties: peer group and kinship contacts, quantitatively small, but qualitatively powerful.
• Weak ties: social connections that are personally superficial, such as associates, but that are large in number and provide connections to a wide range of other individuals.
social integration
peaceful movement into mainstream society
privilege
inequality in opportunity
cultural capital
the benefits one receives from knowledge, abilities, and skills.
cultural capital
the benefits one receives from knowledge, abilities, and skills.
strong ties
peer group and kinship contacts, quantitatively small, but qualitatively powerful.
weak ties
social connections that are personally superficial, such as associates, but that are large in number and provide connections to a wide range of other individuals.
intersectionality
the compounding of disadvantage seen in individuals who belong to more than one oppressed group.
5 ethnicities model
white, black, Asian, Latino, and Native American
• Some argue that racial and ethnic boundaries are more diverse than this.
social mobility
the ability to move up or down from one class to another, the result of an economic and occupational structure that allows one to acquire higher-level employment opportunities given proper credentials and experience requirements. US: The American Dream
intragenerational changes
happen within a person’s lifetime
Once believed that America was the place for these things but a widening gap between the upper and lower and middle classes has opposed this idea.
intergenerational changes
from parents to children
Once believed that America was the place for these things but a widening gap between the upper and lower and middle classes has opposed this idea.