Soc midterm review
What is social structure?
Durable norms, customs, traditions that influence our lives
Examples of this would be “gender roles”, parenthood, friendship
(Talcott Parsons)
True or False
We are a species that is interdependent
True: Give an example if you can
(The class example was from Closing The Deal)
Name two concepts from Herbert Mead
1) The generalized other
2) Mind
What is Role Theory?
Role: Denotes the conduct that is specific to a certain ‘part’ (or position)
• **Is accompanied by a set of expectations for that conduct.
What is impression management?
Impression Management: when people try
to influence the perceptions that others
have of them.
Talcott Parsons
What are 2 components of a sociocultural schema?
What is?
1) Empirically observable, intertwining social practices that link people across time and space
2) Matters are accomplished by social behavior, doing things together
What is Mind?
Mind: reflexiveness, the ability to take yourself as an object, to step outside of yourself to think about how others will see you. (Herbert Mead)
What is a symbol?
Symbol: object, gesture, or word that is socially
created and becomes an abstract representation of
something else.
What is the "Me"?
Our internalization of the expectations of our community.
What is The Social System?
The ‘social system’: a system of action
made up of the interactions between
individuals. (Talcott Parsons)
What two things does severity of role conflict depend on? OR what two things contribute to the severity of role conflict?
1) Relative incompatibility of expectations between roles
2) Personality: someone else could get the responsibility done
How do you develop Mind?
Take the role of the other: The ability to imagine how other people think and feel in a situation. (Herbert Mead)
What is Definition of the Situation?
Definition of the situation: The agreed upon, subjective understanding of what will happen in a given situation or setting, and who will play which roles in the action. When we comply with these norms, the ‘action line is set’ = everyone
knows their position.
What is the "I"?
Our impulsive response to a situational stimulus, and our creative response to the internalized expectations of the “me”.
What are the three scales?
Macro Scale
Meso Scale
Micro Scale
What is symbolic interactionism?
Symbolic interactionism: A micro-level approach that examines social life primarily as a function of interactions between people, groups, and institutions in particular contexts.
prioritizes "face-to-face" interaction
What is Role Conflict?
• When an actor is required to meet the
demands of two or more roles
• These expectations are contradictory or
mutually exclusive
• **You cannot realistically conform to
these expectations**
*Think about all the examples that Prof Ince gave
Who is known for Dramaturgy and Interaction Order?
Erving Goffman
What are status evaluations?
Status evaluations: The way(s) we perceive, assess, and rank the hierarchical position and value of others.
True or False
Expressions given off are usually non-verbal
True
True or False
Expressions given are usually verbal
True
What is Intersectionality?
• Intersectionality: A prism for understanding how multiple forms of inequality and disadvantage compound and create obstacles that are not understood within conventional ways of thinking.
• Helps us understand certain types of problems (e.g., not race or gender, but race *and*
gender)
What are three strategies used by the language brokers to "do American" and "resist assimilation?"
1) Passing
2) Shielding
3) Posing
What are Blumer's three premises?
Blumer’s Three Premises:
1)People act towards things based on the
meanings they ascribe to those things.
(2)The meanings of those things are
derived from the social interactions that
people have with others and society
(3)Meanings are handled in, and modified
through, an interpretive process that we
use when dealing with the things that
we encounter (meanings can change)