Nature vs. Nurture Debate
The ongoing discussion of the respective roles of genetics and socialization in determining individual behaviors and traits.
Socialization
The process of learning and internalizing the values, beliefs, and norms of our social group, by which we becoming functioning members of society.
Feral children
In myths and rare real world cases, children who have had little human contact and may have lived in the wild from a young age.
Self
The individual's conscious, reflexive experience of a personal identity separate and instinct from other individuals.
Id
Basic, inborn drives that are the source of instinctive psychic energy.
Ego
The realistic aspect of the mind that balances the forces of the id and superego.
Superego
Two components (the conscience and the ego-ideal) and represents the internalized demands of society.
Conscience
Serves to keep us from engaging in socially undesirable behavior.
Ego-Ideal
Upholds our vision of who we believe we should ideally be
Psychosexual stages of development
Freud's four distinct stages of development of the self between birth and adulthood. Each stage is associated with a different erogenous zone.
Looking-glass Self
Charles Cooley's notion that the self develops through our perception of others' evaluations and appraisals of us.
Preparatory Stage
The first stage in Mead's theory of the development of self wherein children mimic or imitate others.
Play stage
The second stage in Mead's theory of the development of self wherein children pretend to play the role of the particular or significant other
Particular or significant other
The perspectives and expectations of a particular role that a child learns and internalizes.
Game stage
The third stage of Mead's theory of the development of self wherein children play organized games and take on the perspective of the generalized other.
Generalized other
The perspectives and expectations of a network of others (or of society in general) that a child learns and then takes into account when shaping his or her own behavior.
Dual nature of the self
The belief that we experience the self as both subject and object, the "I" and the "me
Thomas Theorem
Classic formulation of the way individuals define situations, whereby "if people define situations as real, they are real in their consequence.
Definition of the situation
An agreement with others about "what is going on" in a given circumstance. This consensus allows us to coordinate our actions with those of others and realize goals.
Expressions of behavior
Small actions such as an eye roll or head nod that serve as an interaction tool to help project our definition of the situation to others.
Expressions given
Expressions that are intentional and usually verbal, such as utterances.
Expressions given off
Observable expressions that can be either intended or unintended and are usually non-verbal.
Impression management
The effort to control the impressions we make on others so that they form a desired view of us and the situation; the use of self-presentation and performance tactics.
Dramaturgy
An approach pioneered by Erving Goffman in which social life is analyzed in terms of its similarities to theatrical performance.
Front
In the dramaturgical perspective, the setting or scene of performances that helps establish the definition of the situation.
Personal front
The expressive equipment we consciously or unconsciously use as we present ourselves to others, including appearance and manner, to help establish the definition of the situation.
Region
In the dramaturgical perspective, the context or setting in which the performance takes place.
Backstage
In the dramaturgical perspective, places in which we rehearse and prepare for our performances.
Frontstage
In the dramaturgical perspective, the region in which we deliver our public performances.
Social construction
The process by which a concept or practice is created and maintained by participants who collectively agree that it exists.
Cooling the mark out
Behaviors that help others to save face and avoid embarrassment, often referred to as civility or tact.
Autoethnography
Ethnographic description that focuses on the feelings and reactions of the ethnographer.
Agents of Socialization
Social groups, institutions, and individuals (especially the family, schools, peers, and the mass media) that provide structured situations in which socialization takes place.
Hidden Curriculum
Values or behaviors that students learn indirectly over the course of their schooling because of the structure of the educational system and the teaching methods used.
Resocialization
The process of replacing previously learned norms and values with new ones as a part of a transition in life.
Total institutions
An institution in which individuals are cut off from the rest of society so that their lives can be controlled and regulated for the purpose of systematically stripping away previous roles and identities in order to create new roles.
Status
Position in a social hierarchy that carries a particular set of expectations
Ascribed status
An inborn status; usually difficult or impossible to change.
Embodied status
A status generated by physical characteristics.
Achieved status
A status earned through individual efforts or imposed by others.
Master status
A status that is always relevant and affects all other statuses we possess
Stereotyping
Judging others based on preconceived generalizations about groups or categories of people.
Role
The set of behaviors expected of someone because of his or her status.
Role conflict
Experienced when we occupy two or more roles with contradictory expectations.
Role strain
The tension experienced when there are contradictory expectations within one role.
Role exit
The process of leaving a role that we will no longer occupy.
Role-taking emotions
Emotions like sympathy, embarrassment, or shame that require that we assume the perspective of another person or many other people and respond from that person or group's point of view.
Feeling rules
Socially constructed norms regarding the expression and display of emotions; expectations about the acceptable or desirable feelings in a given situation.
Emotion work
The process of evoking, suppressing, or otherwise managing feelings to create a publicly observable display of emotions.
Copresence
Face to face interaction or being in the presence of others.
Agency
The ability of the individual to act freely and independently.