4.11 Glossary

Achieved status: a person had to do something to earn this characteristic.

Agents of socialization: the different groups (family, schools) that socialize people.

Anticipatory socialization: learning the norms associated with future roles.

Ascribed status: an involuntary characteristic that a person is either born with or receives at some point during their life.

Cognitive culture: (or nonmaterial culture) the norms, institutions, frames, perceptions, repertoires of action, narratives, symbolic boundaries, roles, status, and values associated with groups. 

Cultural relativism: considers cultural differences without judging whether they are right or wrong.

Culture: refers to the shared meaning of objects, actions, and ideas created and supported by social groups across geography and time.

Culture shock: a feeling of disorientation about contrasting norms, when the taken-for-granted understanding of norms is challenged.

Dominant culture: the culture of the group with the most power in a setting.

Double consciousness: W. E. B. Du Bois’ concept that refers to the sense of twoness that Black people in the United States experience by belonging to a Black subculture and White dominant culture.

Dramaturgical theory: involves studying social life as if it is a play people perform.

Ethnocentrism: using one’s culture as a measuring rod for the acceptability of social practices.

Frames: the lens through which a person’s perception is filtered, leading to shared understanding among members of the same social group.

Generalized other: the group’s perspective rather than the viewpoint of specific individuals making up the group.

Identity: the sense of who one is in relationship to others in the social structure.

Impression management: Erving Goffman’s explanation for the process by which individuals select the aspects of their self they share with others to manage others’ perceptions.

Looking-glass self: Charles Horton Cooley’s explanation for how an individual imagines others perceive them.

Material culture: made up of physical things like buildings, tools, art, technology, and objects people make.

Narratives: the stories people tell that explain social life.

Norms: the socially approved ideas and behavior that guide people to act or think in predictable ways.

Perception: a lens through which to view the world and is shaped by many factors, including religious beliefs, education, age, and gender.

Repertoires of action: strategies or methods of doing a particular action.

Role conflict: having different but competing roles.

Role exit: the process of leaving a role.

Role strain: having competing expectations associated with a single role.

Roles: refer to the somewhat predictable actions and attitudes associated with a social position.

Role-taking theory: George Herbert Mead’s explanation for how individuals gain the ability to understand the perspective of others.

Self: one’s feeling of oneself as distinct from others and develops in interaction with others.

Significant other: refers to the specific influential people in the child’s life.

Socialization: refers to the lifelong processes of learning, embodying, and negotiating culture.

Status: a person or group’s social position, which holds differentiated social value.

Subculture: groups smaller than the dominant culture that have interests, beliefs, or practices that distinguish them from the dominant culture.

Symbolic boundaries: make up a system of classification, which organizes objects, ideas, actions, and social groups into categories, and is usually hierarchical.

Values: the beliefs and ideals a social group holds and uses to guide and justify action.