Self-identity, group identity, and social structure Flashcards
1
Q
Self concept/self identity
A
the sum of an individual’s knowledge and understanding to their self
includes physical, psychological, and social attributes, which can be influenced by the individual’s attitudes
2
Q
self consciousness
A
awareness of one’s self
3
Q
self schemas
A
beliefs that a person has about their self
4
Q
personal identity
A
consists of one’s own sense of personal attributes
5
Q
social identity
A
consists of social definitions of who you are; can include race, religion, gender, occupation, etc…
6
Q
the self
A
a construction of social and personal beliefs
7
Q
self reference effect
A
tendency to better remember info relevant to ourselves; old info consistent with one’s self concept is easier to remember
8
Q
Carl Rogers
A
founder of humanistic psychology
personality is composed of the ideal self and the real self
when the ideal self and real self are similar, the result is a positive self concept
ideal self is usually an impossible standard to meet, and when the real self falls short of the ideal self the result is incongruity
9
Q
ideal self
A
constructed out of your life experiences, societal expectations, and the things you admire about role models; person you ought to be
10
Q
real self
A
person you actually are
11
Q
incongruity
A
when real self falls short of ideal self
12
Q
self efficacy
A
belief in one’s own competence and effectiveness
13
Q
locus of control
A
can be internal or external; what we attribute our outcomes to
14
Q
internal locus of control
A
believe you’re able to influence outcomes through your own efforts and actions
ex) assume you’re intelligent b/c you aced a test
15
Q
external locus of control
A
believe your outcomes are controlled by outside forces
ex) assume a test was hard, which is why you did poorly
16
Q
learned helplessness
A
when people are exposed to situations in which they have no control, they may learn not to act because they believe it will not affect the outcome anyway
17
Q
self esteem
A
one’s overall evaluation of one’s self worth
18
Q
Charles Cooley
A
proposed the looking glass self for influence of individuals on social factors and identity formation
19
Q
looking glass self
A
the idea that a person’s sense of self develops from interpersonal interactions with others in society and the perceptions of others.
people shape their self concepts based on their understanding of how others perceive them
20
Q
George Herbert Mead
A
developed the idea of social behaviorism
21
Q
social behaviorism
A
the mind and self emerge through the process of communicating with others
22
Q
symbolic interactionism
A
the view of social behavior that emphasizes linguistic or gestural communication and its subjective understanding, especially the role of language in the formation of the child as a social being.
23
Q
generalized other
A
the common behavioral expectations of general society
24
Q
socialization
A
the process through which people learn to be proficient and functional members of society; lifelong, sociological process where people learn the attitudes, values, and beliefs that are reinforced by a particular culture
25
feral children
children who weren't raised with human contact or care
26
norms
unspoken rules and expectations for the behavior of members in a society
27
sanctions
rewards and punishments for behaviors that are in accord with or against norms
28
formal norms
generally written; ex) laws
| precisely defined, publicly presented, and often accompanied by strict penalties for those who violate them
29
informal norms
generally understood but are less precise and often carry no specific punishments
ex) greeting someone new with a handshake
30
Mores
are norms that are highly important for the benefit of society and so are often strictly reinforced
ex) animal abuse carries harsh punishment
31
Folkways
norms that are less important but shape everyday behavior
ex) dress styles
some formal norms can be folkways (ex. walking on a cross walk vs jay walking when cross walk law not enforced)
32
agents of socialization
```
family
school
peers
workplace
religion/government
mass media/technology
```
33
assimilation
the process in which an individual forsakes aspects of their own cultural tradition to adopt those of a different culture
34
amalgamation
occurs when majority and minority groups combine to form a new group
35
multiculturalism/pluralism
a perspective that endorses equal standing for all cultural traditions.
promotes idea of cultures coming together in a true melting pot
36
subculture
a segment of society that shares a distinct pattern of traditions and values that differs from that of a larger society
ex) hippies opposing war in the 60's and 70's
37
Attribution theory
given the circumstance, people can attribute behavior to internal causes or external causes
38
dispositional attribution
attribute behavior to internal causes
39
situational attribution
attribute behavior to external causes
40
3 factors that influence whether behavior is dispositional or situational
1. consistency (dispositional more likely; ex. is anger consistent with how a friend typically acts?)
2. distinctiveness (situational more likely; ex. is friend angry at everyone or just at you?)
3. consensus( situational more likely; ex. is your friend the only one angry or is everyone angry?)
41
fundamental attribution error
attribute negative outcomes of others to their internal factors (dispositional)
42
actor-observer bias
one to attribute their own negative outcomes to external factors (situational)
43
self-serving bias
one attributes their own positive outcome to internal factors (dispositional)
44
optimism bias
bad things happen to other people and not to us
45
just world phenomenon
world is fair and people get what they deserve;
when bad things happen to people, it's their own fault
when good things happen, it's b/c we deserved it
46
halo effect
believe people have inherently good or bad natures rather than looking at individual characteristics
overall impression influenced by how we feel about a person's character
47
physical attractiveness stereotype
type of halo effect where people tend to rate attractive people more favorably for personality traits and characteristics than they do those who are less attractive
48
social perception
the understanding of others in our social world; the initial info we process about other people in order to try to understand their mindsets and intentions
49
social cognition
ability of the brain to store and process info regarding social perception
50
false consensus
occurs when we assume that everyone else agrees with what we do
51
projection bias
happens when we assume others have the same beliefs as we do
52
stereotypes
over-simplified ideas about groups of people based on characteristics; can be positive or negative
53
prejudice
refers to the thoughts, attitudes, and feelings someone holds about a group that are not based on actual experience; a pre-judgement
ex. black sounding names
54
discrimination
involves acting a certain way toward a group
55
affirmitive action
policies that take factors like sex or race into consideration to benefit underrepresented groups in admissions or jobs; means to limit discrimination
56
racism
prejudices and actions that discriminate based on race or hold that one race is inferior to another
57
institutional discrimination
refers to unjust and discriminatory practices employed by large organizations that have been codified into operating procedures, processess, or institutional objectives.
ex. "don't ask don't tell" (about gays) in military
58
scapegoats
unfortunate people at whom displaced aggression is directed
59
illusory correlation
created between a group of people and a characteristic based on unique cases
ex. Bolt is a great athlete; all blacks are great athletes
60
self fulfilling prophecy
when stereotypes lead to behaviors that affirm the original stereotypes
ex. when guy believes sorority girls are snobs, he avoids talking to them, and b/c they never converse his original belief about the girls is affirmed
61
stereotype threat
self fulfilling fear that one will be evaluated based on a negative stereotype
62
ethnocentrism
a tendency to judge people from another culture by the standards of one's own culture
63
cultural relativism
judging another culture based on its own standards
64
group
a collection of any number of people who regularly interact and identify with each other, sharing similar norms, values, and expectations
ex. neurosurgeons in a hospital
65
aggregate
people who exist in the same space but don't interact or share a common sense of identity
ex. people in a coffee shop
66
category
people who share similar characteristics but aren't otherwise tied together
ex. all people studying for the MCAT
67
primary groups
usually small and include those with whom the individual engages with in person, in long-term, emotional ways.
68
secondary group
a larger and more impersonal group; may interact with for specific reasons for shorter periods of time
69
expressive functions
primary groups serve as this
| meeting emotional needs
70
instrumental functions
secondary groups serve as this
| meeting pragmatic needs
71
in group
a group that a person belongs to and believes to be an integral part of who she is
72
out group
a group that a person doesn't belong to
73
reference group
a standard measure that people compare themselves to
74
mere presence
people are simply in each other's presence, either completing similar activities or apparently minding their own business
ex. grocery shopping
75
social facilitation effect
when people tend to perform better in the presence of others
works with simple or practiced tasks
76
deindividuation
when people act in startling ways in situations of high arousal and very low sense of responsibility
is a lack of self awareness and is the result of a disconnection of behavior from attitudes
people may lose their sense of restraint and their individual identity in exchange for identifying with a group or mod mentality
77
Kitty Genovese
bystander effect stabbing case
78
bystander effect
a person is less likely to provide help when there are other bystanders
assume someone else will take on the responsibility
79
social loafing
when people are working together toward common goals, there's a tendency for them to exert less effort if they're being evaluated as a group rather than individually.
80
group polarization
when groups intensify preexisting views of their members; the average view of a member of the group is accentuated.
entire group tends toward more extreme versions of the average views they initially shared
81
informational influence
in group discussion, the most common ideas to emerge are the ones that favor the dominant viewpoint
just thinking about an opinion might strengthen your support of it
82
normative influence
based on social desirability; wanting to be accepted or admired by others so you may take a stronger stance than you initially would have in order to better relate with and internalize the group's belief system
83
social comparison
evaluating our opinions by comparing them to those of others
84
groupthink
when everyone is in a state of agreement
group is overly optimistic of its capabilities and has unquestioned belief in its stances
group becomes increasingly extreme by justifying its own decisions while demonizing those of opponents
some members of the group prevent dissenting opinions from permeating the group
there's pressure to conform
85
mindguarding
when a group prevents dissenting opinions from permeating it by filtering out info and facts that go against the beliefs of the group.
86
deviance
a violation of society's standards of conduct or expectations
87
stigma
when society devalues deviants by assigning demeaning labels
88
Solomon Asch
tested the effects of group pressure on individual's behavior
designed a series of tests where individuals were supposed to pick out similar lines
89
conformity
the phenomenon of adjusting behavior or thinking based on the behavior or thinking of others
90
Stanley Milgram
conducted a study involving fake shocks
| subject was the "teacher" who gave shocks to a confederate who was pretending to be a "student"
91
3 ways behavior may be motivated by social influence
1. compliance (desire to seek reward or to avoid punishment)
2. identification (desire to be like another person or group)
3. internalization (motivated by beliefs and values that have been integrated into one's own value system ex. an internalized value not to harm people may contribute to objecting to administering shocks in Milgram's experiment)
92
normative social influence
when motivation for compliance is desire for the approval of others and to avoid rejection
93
informational social influence
the process of complying because we want to do the right thing and we feel like others "know something I don't know"
ex) like when starting a new job, you just follow along with what you're told to do
94
factors influencing conformity (6)
1. group size
2. unanimity
3. cohesion
4. status
5. accountability
6. no prior commitment
95
social structures composed of 5 elements
```
statuses
social roles
groups
social networks
organizations
```
96
social interactions
include expressing emotion, managing others' impressions of you, communicating, and other social behaviors
97
status
refers to all the socially defined positions within a society; one person can hold multiple statuses at a time
98
master status
one that dominates the others and determines that individual's general position in society; sometimes it isn't the one that the individual prefers
99
ascribed status
assigned to a person by society regardless of the person's own efforts
100
achieved status
largely due to the individual's efforts
101
social roles
expectations for people of a given social status; help contribute to society's stability by making things more predictable
102
role conflict
happens when there's a conflict in society's expectations for multiple statuses held by the same person
ex) a male nurse
103
role strain
when single status results in conflicting expectations
| ex) homosexuals being "too gay" or "not gay enough"
104
social network
a web of social relationships, including those in which a person is directly linked to others as well as those in which people are indirectly connected through others
105
organizations
large, impersonal groups that come together to pursue particular activities and meet goals efficiently
are influenced by statuses and roles and help define statuses and roles
106
utilitarian organizations
members get paid for their efforts; ex) businesses
107
normative organizations
motivate membership based on morally relevant goals
| ex) Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD)
108
Coercive organizations
members don't have a choice in joining
| ex) prisions
109
impression management/self presentation
the conscious or unconsious process whereby people attempt to manage their own images by influencing the perceptions of others
110
self handicapping
a strategy in which people create obstacles and excuses to avoid self blame when they do poorly
111
dramaturgical perspective
stems from symbolic interactionism and posits that we imagine ourselves as playing certain roles when interacting with others
theory suggests that our identities are not necessarily stable, but dependent on our interactions with others; in this way, we constantly remake who we are, depending on the situations we are in
112
nonverbal communication
includes guestures, touch, body language, eye contact, facial expressions
subtler features: pitch, volume, rate, intonation, rhythm of voice
113
front stage
we play a role and use impression management to craft the way we come across to other people
114
back stage
we can "let down our guard" and be ourselves
115
attraction
helps explain much about friendship, romantic relationships, and other close social relationships
116
proximity
geographic nearness to people can start friendships
117
mere exposure effect
people prefer repeated exposure to the same stimuli; familiarity breeds fondness
118
appeaerance
can be a predictor of attraction
119
similarity
impacts attraction
120
aggression
broadly defined as behavior that's forceful, hostile, or attacking
121
frustration-aggression principle
suggests that when someone is blocked from achieveng a goal, this frustration can trigger anger, which can lead to aggression
122
social support
determinant of health and wellbeing
123
inclusive fitness
the number of offspring an organism has, how it supports its offspring, and how its offspring support others in a group
theory proposes that an organism can improve its overall genetic success through altruistic social behaviors
124
altruistic behavior
helps ensure the success or survivial of the rest of a social group, possibly at the expense of the success or survivial of the individual
125
society
a group of people who share a culture and live/interact with each other within a definable area
126
sociology
attempts to understand the behavior of groups; study of how individuals interact with shape, and are subsequently shaped by, the society in which they live
127
functionalism
view that society is a living organism with many parts and organs having a distinct purpose.
inequality benefits society
128
Emile Eurkheim
proponent of functionalism
believed modern societies were complex; healthy societies would be able to achieve and maintain stability through their different interdependent parts
society should always be viewed holistically as a collective of social facts rather than individuals
129
dyanmic equilibrium
complex societies involve many different but interdependent parts working together to maintain stability
130
social facts
elements that serve some function in society, such as the laws, morals, values, religions, customs, rituals, and rules that make up a society
131
manifest functions
intended and obvious consequences of a structure
132
latent functions
unintended or less recognizable consequenes, and can be considered beneficial, neutral, or harmful
133
social dysfunction
process that has undesirable consequences, and may actually reduce the stability of society
134
conflict theory
society is a place where there will be inequality in resources, therefore individuals will compete for social, political, and material resources
social structures and institutions will reflect this competition in their degree of inherent inequaility
inequaility is detrimental to society
135
Karl Marx
```
proponent of conflict theory
argued that societies progress through class struggle between those who own and control production and thos who labor and provide the manpower for production
believed capitalism would lead to self-destruction due to internal tensions
```
136
Ludwig Gumplowicz
expanded on Marx's ideas by saying society is shaped by war and conquest, and that cultural and ethnic conflicts led to certain groups becoming dominant over others
137
Max Weber
```
agreed with Marx however thought there could be more than one source of conflict, such as conflict over inequalities in political power and social status; that captialism may not self destruct
aruged that there were several factors that moderated people's reaction to inequality, such as agreement w/ authority figures, high rates of social mobility, and low rates of class difference
```
138
symbolic interactionism
micro-level of observing society
examines the relationship between individuals and society by focusing on communication through language and symbols
interested in the symbols that people use to contribute values and beliefs to others
sees individual as active in shaping her society instead of as merely being acted upon by society
139
social constructionism
people actively shape their reality through social interactions; something that's constructed not inherent
doesn't have to be true in nature ex) marriage
is a dynamic, ongoing process
140
social institutions
complex of roles, norms, and values organized into a relatively stable form that contributes to social order by governing the behavior of people
they provide harmony, and allow for specialization and differentiation of skills
141
functions of family
reproduction and monitioring of sexual behavior
protection
socialization-passing down norms and values
affection and compainionship
social status-social position based on fam. background and reputation
142
nuclear family
direct blood relations
143
extended family
grandparents, aunts, uncles, and others are included
144
monogamy
two individuals married to only one another
145
polygamy
allows a person to have multiple spouses
146
polygyny
form of polygamy where man has mult. wives
147
polyandry
form of polygamy where woman has mult. husbands
148
residential segregation
refers to the separation of groups into different neighborhoods
not based on laws, but on enduring social patterns attributed to suburbanization, discrimination, and personal preferences
149
environmental injustice
refers to the fact that people in poorer communities are more likely to be subjected to negative environmental impacts to their health and wellbeing
150
religion
from functionalist point of view, it can create social cohesion (as well as dissent), social change (as well as control), and provide believers with meaning and purpose
151
religiosity
refers to the extent of influence of religion in a person's life
152
fundamentalists
adhere strictly to religious beliefs
153
rational-legal authority
U.S. government is based on this
| legal rules and regulations are stipulated in a document like the Constitution
154
traditional authority
power due to custom, tradition, or accepted practice
155
charismatic authority
the power of persuasion
156
captialism
pursuit of personal profit; benefits consumer by allowing for competition, which theoretically promotes higher quality and lower prices of goods and services
emphasize personal freedom by limiting government restrictions and regulations
157
socialism
goods/services are produced for direct use instead of for profit
government intervenes to share property amongst all
everyone is provided with what they need to survive
economy is centrally controlled and run by the government
158
wellfare captialism
most of economy is private w/ exception of extensive social welfare programs to serve certain needs w/in society
western europe deomstrates this
159
state capitalism
companies are privately run, but work closely with government in forming laws and regulations
160
food desert
lower-income urban environments where healthy food sources are scarce
161
'medical model'
U.S. experienced this; it emphasizes physical or medical factors as being causes of illness
162
biopsychosocial model
aims to take into consideration the psychological, social, and cultural factors that influence health, indculding perception of illness, beliefs about health, community practices, etc... that may affect emotion states, medication compliance, and a multitude of other health-related outcomes
163
culture
refers to a shared way of life; including the beliefs and practices that a social group shares
164
symbolic culture
consists of symbols that are recognized by people of the same culture
involve values and norms
165
material culture
involves the physical objects that are particular to that culture
includes clothing, hairstyle, food, and design of homes
166
cultural universals
patterns or traits that are common to all people
pertain to basic human survival and needs, such as securing food and shelter, and also pertain to events that every human experiences, including birth, death, and illness
167
values
a culture's standard for evaluating what is good or bad
| often define how people in a society should behave, but they may not actually reflect how people do behave
168
beliefs
are convictions or principles people hold
169
social stratification
serves to define differences but also serves to reinforce and perpetuate them
way people are categorized in society
170
caste system
a closed stratification where people can't do anything to change the category they're born in
171
class system
considers both social variables and individual initiative
groups people of similar wealth, education, etc...
classes are open, mobility is possible
172
socioeconomic status (SES)
defined in terms of power, property, and prestige
173
social mobility
ability to move up or down within a social stratification system
174
upward mobility
an increase in social class
175
downward mobility
a decrease in social class
176
intergenerational mobility
increase/decrease in class between parents and children within a family
177
intragenerational mobility
increase/decrease in class between different members of a family of the same generation
178
social reproduction
structures and activities in place in a society that serve to transmit and reinforce social inequality from one general to the next
179
cultural capital
the non-financial social assets that promote social mobility
ex) education
180
social capital
```
the potential for social networks to allow for upward social mobility
ex) someone from an upper middle class fam. who wants to become a doctor can use parents' friends for connections
```
181
global stratification
compares the wealth, economic stability, and power of various countries
182
global inequality
certain countries hold a majority of resources
access to resources among countries impacts other social factors, such as mortality
the burden of inequality is placed on certain segments of the population
183
relative poverty
the inability to meet the average standard of living within a society
184
absolute poverty
the inability to meet a bare min. of basic necessities, including clean drinking water, food, safe housing, and reliable access to healthcare
