Module 11 - Culture and Socialization Flashcards
What are Social Systems? What are they made up of?
Social Systems as a term refers to all systems where humans are the primary components.
Made up of Actors (Agents) and relationships (interdependencies) between them.
Ideal Types
- a concept employed by Max Weber to exaggerate certain characteristics of people
- not meant to represent real ppl, but rather ‘extremes’ with a recognition that ‘real’ people are made of a complex of characteristics
Homo Economicus
- Refers to the part of each of us that considers our self-interest when making decisions
- We each act in a way that MAXIMIZES our own SATISFACTION
- We do a ‘Cost-Benefit’ Analysis for every decision we make in life
Concept of ‘Preference’
Homo Economicus thinks of their own preferences in doing a cost-benefit analysis
- i.e. is self interested
Does this mean they look selfish?
- someone can be very generous but still be self interested
- ex. Mother Teresa; could argue she is self-interested and still a homo economicus bc anything else she would be insane. Her reason may be that her actions make her feel better than doing anything else = greatest possible utility.
Where do Preferences Come From?
An economists explains an individual’s preferences as being FIXED and NOT EXPLAINABLE- meaning that the standard theory of neoclassical economics simply assumes that preferences come from somewhere and this is not relevant in their models.
Homo Sociologicus
People are not limited to being logical calculating machines, but are also SOCIAL CREATIONS who are at least PARTIALLY PROGRAMMED BY SOCIETY.
Our tendency towards this ‘programming’ is both part of our physical make up and a necessity of our bounded rationality (i.e. emulating and learning from others is necessary).
Our beliefs, attitudes, and preferences are thus partially the result off the SOCIETY/CULTURE that we are part of as well as partially the result of our inherent genetic makeup and our experiences.
Groups and Culture
Culture can be described as the sum of attitudes, beliefs, and preferences (including norms) that distinguishes one group of people from another.
Individual Beliefs
- What we believe to be TRUE
- Largely rooted in culture(s) including religion and other knowledge systems (including science)
Individual Attitude
- Your overall generalized disposition to a topic. Broad term capturing an individuals thoughts on an issue
- E.g. Environmentalists attitude, Pacifist attitude, belligerent attitude, etc.
Individual Preferences
- A ranking system of our preferences for different outcomes
- Our personal NORMS are our preferences for the behaviour of others
Individual and Shared
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.
Group Norms
- Norms tend to define what behaviour is acceptable, unacceptable and ideal in any set of situations
- Norms exist amongst groups
- There are norms about what we should believe, should prefer as well as about how we should behave
- Failure to adhere to these norms is DEVIANCE; deviance is usually punished by group memebers
What is failure to adhere to group norms?
Deviance
Socialization
The ongoing process through which individuals learn culture and through which culture is enforced
What are 3 types of socialization?
- Emulation
- Formalized Processes
- Persuasion
Socialization: Emulation (copying of others)
- What is an example?
Clapping at the end of a performance
- we never formally learned to “clap” but what happened was you learned from a young age to join in when ppl clap
Socialization: Formalized Processes
- What is an example?
Public education
- learn certain forms of behaviour, preferences, norms etc.
- one of the reasons why public education has been treasured bc it brings ppl from diverse backgrounds together
Socialization: Persuasion
- What is persuasion?
- What is an example?
Persuasion: a process aimed at changing a person’s (or a group’s) attitude or behaviour toward some event, idea, object, or other person(s), by using written or spoken words to convey info, feelings, or reasoning, or a combination thereof
Ex. commercials
What is the difference between Persuasion and Incentivising?
Incentivizing (Homo Economicus)
- Preferences are not changing but the package IS
Persuasion (Homo Sociologicus)
- Preferences ARE changing, but the package is not
- Changing something internal
Socialization: Behavioural Rewards and Punishments
If you follow or deviate from a norm others in society may apply costs or benefits (rewards) to you for doing so.
- Punishments for norms are not always obvious and may include things like social exclusion, loss of social status, ‘challenging’ comments, physical punishment, being yelled at, etx.
- Rewards are incentives for individuals to continue or repeat their behaviour. Again, they might not always be so obvious, but things like popularity, friendly responses, respect of others, thank you cards, etc.
*These are not always supporting things that are good for society
Norm Enforcement
- Once you adopt a norm we SELF-MONITOR ourselves and behaviour inline with our norms. If we fail to do so we will often feel shame and a sense of loss. In essence we self-punish.
- Once you adopt a norm you tend to MONITOR others and punish or reward them based upon their behaviour. The socialized becomes the socializer!
Because of the nature of norm enforcement, norms are thus…
Self Sustaining
- Once established, norms tend to be self sustaining, they self-propagate because enforcement and promotion of the norm tends to be built into the norm itself
- They may evolve over time and may even be made extinct as new norms come about
- Change in norms can occur with the die off and replacement of the norm’s hosts (i.e. Older Generations)
Do norms change?
YES
Linking Homo Sociologicus and Homo Economicus
- We are not just Homo Economicus; we have beliefs, attitudes, and preferences that are significantly affected by the cultural groups we are part of
- Homo sociologicus in our brain is a ranking system and homo economicus is influenced by the underlying preferences
- On a day to day basis we are calculating machines and over the long run, we typically behaviour like homo economicus = why economists can predict things accurately
- 2 factors: preferences and cost-benefit; if you want to change behaviour you must change both
What does our model of our social system consists of?
Transactional processes (exchanges rooted in rationality) and sociocultural transmission of our underlying beliefs, attitudes and preferences