Chapter 4: Society, Social Structure, and Social Interaction

Objectives (slide 1 of 2)

4.1 Levels of Sociological Analysis• Illustrate the three levels of sociological analysis.

4.2 Social Interaction at the Macrosociological Level

• Identify the components of the social structure and their impact on the beliefs, behaviors, and values of individuals.

• Define and discuss status characteristics.• Distinguish between primary and secondary groups. • Examine leadership styles.

Objectives (slide 2 of 2)

4.3 Societies, Technology, and Change• Identify the types of societies as identified by means of

subsistence and the major characteristics of each.

4.4 What Holds Societies Together• Compare and contrast the various macrosociological

theories of social order and the theorists associated with each.

4.5 Social Interaction from a Microsociological Perspective

• Recognize the principles of microsociological analysis and its impact on the beliefs, values, and behaviors of individuals.

Levels of Sociological Analysis

• Macrosociology: Analysis of social life that focuses on broad features of society, such as social institutions

• Microsociology: Analysis of social life that focuses on the specific aspects of interactions

• Mesosociology: Analysis of social life that falls between the microsociological and macrosociological levels

Social Interaction at the Macrosociological Level

• Social structure: Patterns or regularities in how people behave and interact with one another

• Social class: A broad measure of the location that a person occupies in the social structure

• Status: The position that a person holds in a group– Prestige: The esteem or reputation that

accompanies a status

Status Characteristics(slide 1 of 3)

• Ascribed status: A status that a person takes on involuntarily, either through birth or through other circumstances

• Achieved status: A status that is earned through some effort or activity

• Status symbols: Signs that identify a particular status

• Shaming: Using status symbols to identify those who have violated societal expectations

Status Characteristics (slide 2 of 3)

• Salient characteristics: Characteristics that distinguish between members of a group

• Diffuse characteristics: Status characteristics that are presumed to always matter in determining a person’s relative position in the group. These include:– Sex– Race– Age– Educational attainment– Occupational prestige– Physical attractiveness

Status Characteristics (slide 3 of 3)

• Specific characteristics: Status characteristics that matter in determining a person’s relative position in the group only if they are shown to be relevant to the circumstance of the group

• Master status characteristic: A status characteristic that is so important that it overshadows all other status characteristics

• Status inconsistencies: Statuses that contradict one another

Roles

• Role: Expected behaviors that accompany a status

• Role set: More than one role associated with a single status

• Role strain: Tension between roles connected to a single status

• Role conflict: Tension between roles connected to two or more statuses

• Role exit: Disengaging from a status and the social roles attached to it

Groups

• Group: Individuals who share common beliefs and values and who regularly interact with one another

• Aggregate: People who occupy the same space and time but who have no common goals or purpose

• Primary group: A group characterized by small, intimate relationships that have a strong influence over an individual’s socialization

• Secondary group: A large and impersonal group whose members share a specific goal or activity

Leadership in Groups

• Instrumental leadership: Leadership that focuses on the completion of tasks

• Expressive leadership: Leadership that focuses on the well-being and morale of group members

Social Institutions

• Social institutions: The ways in which a society meets it basic needs

Societies, Technology, and Change

• Nonmaterial culture: Symbols and ideologies that define a culture (sometimes called symbolic culture)

• Material culture: Physical items that reflect the ideologies of a culture

Hunting and Gathering Societies

• Hunting and gathering: Societies in which the dominant means of subsistence is hunting animals and gathering food

• Network: A web of weak social ties

• Optimum foraging strategy: A pattern of foraging that leaves enough flora and fauna in a foraged area for the land to recover in a reasonable amount of time

Horticultural and Pastoral Societies

Horticultural Societies• Horticulture: Farming

using simple hand tools to raise crops.

Pastoral Societies• Pastoralism: A means of

subsistence that relies on the domestication of animals as the primary food supply

Agrarian Societies

• Agriculture: Farming using machinery powered by engines

Industrial and Postindustrial Societies

Industrial Societies• Industry: A means of

subsistence that relies on the production of goods using machinery driven by advanced sources of energy

Postindustrial Societies• Postindustrialism: A

means of subsistence that relies on the production of services and information

Society and Conflict

• Capitalists: Marx’s term for the owners of the means of production

• Bourgeoisie: Marx’s term for white-collar professions and management who work for the capitalists

• Proletariat: Marx’s term for the working class who provide labor for the capitalists

• Lumpenproletariat: Marx’s term for the dispossessed, criminals, mentally ill, and disabled in society

• Alienation: Marx’s term for the limitations in life choices that accompany low social status

Society and Rationalization(slide 1 of 2)

• Bureaucracy: An organizational model designed to perform tasks rationally and efficiently

• Characteristics of bureaucracies:– Rely on specialization– Are organized hierarchically– Guide operations using rules and regulations– Rely on officials with technical competence– Place value on organizational rules rather than on

the individual– Track movementsby formal processes

Society and Rationalization (slide 2 of 2)

• Rationalization of society: The historical process by which rationality replaced tradition as the main mode of human thought

• Organizational environment: Factors external to an organization that affect its operation

• Emotion regulation: The idea that businesses try to regulate the emotions of their workers

Issues with Bureaucracy• Iron cage of bureaucracy: Limitations on creativity and

flexibility that are placed on workers by the bureaucratic process, causing alienation

• Bureaucratic ritualism: Rigid focusing on rules and regulations that undermine an organization’s goals

• Bureaucratic inertia: The tendency of a bureaucracy to perpetuate itself over time

• Mission drift: The tendency of formal organizations to shift their goals for their own survival

• Iron Law of Oligarchy: An idea, developed by Robert Michels, that suggests that bureaucracy always means the rule of the many by the few

Society from a Functionalist Perspective: Ferdinand Tönnies

• Gemeinschaft: Tönnies’s term for societies based on a strong sense of community developed around strong traditions about how members of the village should interact

• Gesellschaft: Tönnies’s term for a society based on individual self-interest

Society from a Functionalist Perspective: Emile Durkheim

• Mechanical solidarity: Durkheim’s term for societies based on strong moral values and a deep sense of community among members

• Organic solidarity: Durkheim’s term for societies based on individualism, specialization, and interdependence

• Anomie: A feeling of normlessness caused by a disconnect from the dominant norms of society

Social Interaction from a Microsociological Perspective

• Stereotype: A general assumption that a person holds about a particular group of people

• Personal space: Space surrounding a person that, when violated, causes discomfort

Facial Expressions and Body Language

• Studies show that between 60 and 90% of the meaning taken from face-to-face interactions is communicated nonverbally.

Dramaturgy (slide 1 of 2)

• Dramaturgy: A microsociological approach that analyzes social life in terms of the stage

• Jargon: Specialized language that indicates the authenticity of the person in the role

• “Front stage” behavior: Behaviors that are part of the role being played

• “Back stage: behavior: Behaviors that are not part of the role being played

• Role performance: The way in which a person plays a particular role within a given framework

Dramaturgy (slide 2 of 2)

• Sign vehicles: Elements that communicate the message of a performance, composed of the social setting, scenery, and appearance

• Teamwork: Two or more people working together to make a performance more realistic or appropriate

• Face-saving behavior: Actions that seek to salvage a performance that is going wrong

• Impression management: The ways in which an individual playing a role will try to control the performance such that others are convinced by the performance

The Social Construction of Reality

• Through interaction, individuals in groups develop background assumptions that influence how they see the world around them.

• The Thomas theorem states that situations that are defined as real are real in their consequences.

Ethnomethodology

• Ethnomethodology: A type of symbolic interactionism that seeks to understand how individuals make sense of their everyday surroundings

• Background assumptions: Understandings of the way the world works that are deeply embedded in our social understanding