social psychology
-focuses on the systematic study of individual-level, process through social scientific methods
-highlights connection between individual and society
examples of the individual and society
-society affects our behavior (key to sociology)
-society influences the individual
-society is influenced by the individual (AGENCY)
--we can change society (multiple ways to approach this topic)
sociology
systematic study of human societies and social interactions
sociologists focus on...
industrialized societies and stress external factors
-psychs look inside, socios look outside
sociological imagination
ability to look at the social world from a unique viewpoint
-normally we see things and we dont pay a lot of attention and choose the obvious answer. wright wants us to look beyond and see's what's really in it
-The sociological imagination is the practic
c. wright mills
-created concept of sociological imagination
-book describes how one should approach the world if one wants to see and understand as a sociologist does
-emphasizes the importance of seeing the connections between individuals and everyday life and the grea
peter berger
-"seeing the general in the particular"
-sociology helps us see the general patterns in behavior in particular people
berger marriage example
-we look at economic background, good education, personality, how we feel about them
-usually we pick people who share the same values and background
-society puts us in the context to be around similar people which LIMITS us because we arent meeting peop
Comte
-came up with the term sociology
-what holds society together? how do we make it work? (french rev guy)
-infinite predictability of mankind
-systematic observation and social order
Comte's infinite predictability of mankind
-scientific method
-social reform
sociology is a product of 3 stages: (name them)
1. theological stage: its god's will, its been predetermined
2. metaphysical stage: nature rules us
3. scientific stage: using the scientific method, finding laws to explain behavior, having reasons for things
Spencer
-natural evolution of society
--barbarian: lower
--civilized: higher
-society should not guide social reform
-"survival of the fittest
social darwinism
-evolution of societies
-people are subject to the same darwinian laws he set for plants and animals
(survival of the fittest / natural selection)
Marx
-conflict theory
-social change
--revolution/class conflict
--bourgeoisie - capitalists/owners
--proletariat - workers/poor
-economy: central force in social change
marx conflict theory
society is in a state of conflict due to competition for limited resources
--societal order is maintained by domination and power rather than consensus and conformity
--where idea of class conflict comes into play
durkheim
-first sociologist to teach in universities
-wanted to est sociology as an independent discipline
-social forces affect people's behavior
-study on suicide
-social integration
durkeim - how social forces affect ppl's behavior
-chemical imbalances, biological aspects
-now we can show that people's behavior was influenced by the external as well
durkheim - suicide study
-methodology
-multidisciplinary approach
--lower suicide rate amount catholics than protestants bc stronger forms of social control and cohersion among each other
--lower suicide rates in women than men, more common in singles, less common in those w kids
Weber
-religious beliefs can transform society's economy
--think: industrial revolution bc of ethical and religious consideration, ppl save money and have capital so they were ready for the industrial rev
-study people's action
-different vantage points to stud
weber - verstehen
-"interpretive understanding"
-meaning of action from the actor's POV
-values, traditions, emotions, interests by which people live
-why do people do what they do?
what is a theory
-set of unrelated universal statements to which a set of rules or procedures can be applied to create new statements
-explain statements about relationships b/w phenomena
-explain social behavior in real world
-subject to be falsified/tested (dogma)
structural-functional sociological approach
-society as a complex system whose parts work together to promote solidarity and stability
see later: social structure / social function
structure vs function
-structure: how the parts fit together to make the whole
-function: what each part does
social structure
any relative stable pattern of social behavior
ex. the family, school, religion
social function
consequences of a social pattern for the operation of society as a whole
--criticized bc it keeps status quo without changes
merton: functions, dysfunction and social dysfuntion
functions: beneficial consequences
dysfunctions: consequences that harm a society
social dysfunction: social pattern that may disrupt the operation of society
social-conflict sociological approach
-groups in society are engaged in a continuous power struggle for control of scare resources
-society as an arena of inequality
---conflict
---change
-capitalists vs workers
-inequalities: class, race/ethnicity, gender, age
symbolic-interaction sociological approach
-individuals and small groups of individuals and how we interact
-society as the product of the everyday interactions of individuals
-symbols: language
ex. picture of a tree we say 'tree,' someone who speaks spanish would say 'arbol'
symbolic interactionists:
how social life depends on the ways we define ourselves and others
-face to face interactions
symbolic interactionism roots
-WEBER:"interpretive understanding"
-MEAD: an indv's personality devs from social experiences
-BLUMER: 'symbolic interaction' - people construct/define reality
-COOLEY: 'the looking glass self' - self image is based on how we think others see us
culture
way of thinking
way of acting
shared way of life/social heritage
-material culture: physical things
�-Nonmaterial culture: ideas (from art and religion)
-�-Humans rely on culture rather than instinct to ensure their survival
ethnocentrism
judging another's culture by the standards of one's own culture
-necessary for ppl to become emotionally attached to one's own way of life
-our lives become so routine, we expect others to be the same way
prob of ethnocentrism
my way is the best way" - leads to misunderstanding/conflict/separation can lead to missing out on another view of the world
-ppl believe they have to change their lives to understand the lives of someone else
cultural relativism
judging a culture by its own standards
-values/behavior/knowledge of ppl must be understood within their own cultural context
-openness to unfamiliar values and norms
-ability to put aside out cultural standards
example of cultural relativism
what constitutes breakfast varies widely from place to place
prob of cultural relativism
...if almost any behavior is the norm somewhere in the world
-does that mean everything is equally right? what about slavery or female genital mutilation? or notion of universal human rights?
- Ie: believing that everything you see is acceptable because y
human universals
-traits/practices found in every culture�
-Everything has a use, things vary and emotional triggers vary but some are shared
video: arranged marriages in modern india
� Concerned with what other people thought about them
� Politeness and rudeness
� Gesture, Language, Body language: communication
� Most emotions are shared: revenge, fear, shame, etc: different cultural cutes that make us have these different emotions
�
video: arranged marriages
POSITIVES: culture / pleases parents / supportive fams / same religious and financial backgrounds
NEGATIVES: not based on love / hardly know each other / arranged can mean forced
HUMAN UNIVERSALS: today: you can say no (not forced anymore)
INDIAN VALUES/N
socialization
-lifelong social experience by which people develop their human potential and learn culture
-process by which individuals internalize the values, beliefs, and norms of a given society and learn to function as members of that society
freud
-bio plays a major part in human development
-2 basic human needs or drives
freud's 2 basic human needs/drives
1 a need for sexual and emotional bonding ('life instinct' or eros)
2 aggressive drive ('death instinct' or thanatos)
freud elements of personality
ID: basic drived (food, sex, attention)
-unconscious level: you dont think about it
SUPEREGO: internalization of cultural values and norms
-our conscience
EGO: balances basic drives w demands of society
example of freud elements of personality
college student at conference in fest
id: eat all of the food, youre hungry
superego: mingle with people the whole time
ego: get a little food and mingle some too
piaget
cognition
-how people think and understand
-model of cognitive development
piaget 4 stages og cognitive dev
1 SENSORIMOTOR STAGE
-senses
-like a baby touching everything
2 PREOPERATIONAL STAGE
-language and other symbols
-kids using imagination 2-6 yrs old
3 CONCRETE OPERATIONAL STAGE
-casual connections 6-11 yrs old
-"why?" "how?"
4 FORMAL OPERATIONAL STAGE
-a
kohlnerg
-theory of moral development
-moral reasoning: right/wrong
kohlbergs 3 levels of moral development
1 PRECONVENTIONAL LEVEL
-self interest: what feels good to me?
ex pre-kind takes toy everyone wants - kids are crying but youre happy so its okay
2 CONVENTIONAL LEVEL
-cares for others (not just about 'me')
-upholds laws and social rules
3 POSTCONVENTIONA
critique of kohlberg model
subjects were all MALE
cant generalize his findings
gilligan
-the 2 sexes use diff standards of rightness
gilligan: theory of gender and moral dev
BOYS: justice perspective
-rely on formal rules to determine right from wrong
GIRLS: care and responsibility perspective
-personal relationships and loyalties (rather than the rules)
gilligan critique
moral attitudes conditioned by socialization?
in diff societies, etc
erikson
-psychological task: a crisis or challenge that needs resolution
-if you pass it, you wont have psychological issues later on
erikson stage 1: infancy to 18 months
TRUST VERSUS MISTRUST
-infants depend on others for food, warmth and affection
-must be able to blindly trust the parents
posi outcome: if needs are met consistently and responsively by parents, infants will dev secure attachment w parents and will learn
erikson stage 8: old age late 60's and up
INTEGREITY VERSUS DEPAIR
-time for reflecting on one's own life and its role in the big scheme of things and seeing it filled w pleasure and satisfaction or disappointment and failures
posi outcome: achieve a sense of fulfillment about life and sense of u
mead: the self
-part of an indv's personality
-comprised of self awareness and self image
-dev ONLY w social experience
--social experience is exchange of symbols
-understanding intention requires imagining a situation from other's POV
-taking the role of other: seeing
self: 2 parts
I: subjective side of self
-active and spontaneous
ME: objective side of self
-way we imagine others see us
--a baby is born without a self/blank canvas
---starts to dev when one starts to interact w others
dev of the self
-learning to take the role of the other
ex: infants mimic the behavior of other without understanding underlying intention (no self)
as children learn to use symbols, the self emerges in the for of play
--assuming roles modeled on significant others
e.g.
generalized other
widespread cultural norms and values
critique of mead
view is completely social
allows for no biological elements
social inequality
-state of affairs involving an uneven distribution of resources or opportunities in society, creating patterns along lines of socially distinguished groups of people
-can be based on income, race, gender, etc
-structural factors: economic, educational, po
example of social inequality
back in 1960: even when they came from middle-class families, black ppl had fewer opps than whites
logic of scientific inquiry
-systematic description of reality
-induction to deduction
-induction: observations to empirical generalizations
then
-deduction: cycle of hypothesis to testing to theory
induction
-process involving of movement from casual to systematic observations allowing the emergence of coherent patterns that provide the basis for theorizing
-starting point in scientific inquiry when little is known about the phenomenon under study
-stimulates
deduction
-involves the specification of an abstract theory from which hypothesis deduced from it can be tested through further specifically focused observations in a research study
-making a more specific theory out of an abstract one and the thoery comes from the
theory
-systematic explanation for the observations that link 2 or more aspects of social life
-comes from a hypothesis that has been tested over and over
operationalization
-when researches must translate the concepts of a hypothesis into what can be readily observed or measured
-allows movement from the abstract level of theorizing to the concrete level of measurement
symbolic interactionism
relies on the symbolic meaning that people develop and rely upon in the process of social interaction
SI assumption 1
-humans act toward a "thing" (such as an event, a sign, a behavior, a tradition, or a material object) on the basis of the meaning they assign to that thing
-we act toward something based on the meanings of the experiences we have had with it
S1 assump 1 example
a cellphone is something we use everyday. We think of it as out communication system, our entertainment system, and something that helps us navigate and answer questions we don't know the answers to. But to a young teenager in a third world country who ha
SI assumption 2
-the meanings of "things" are socially derived
-means that the meanings of objects, events, and behaviors are created through social interaction among individuals and groups of individuals and those meanings are not found in the objects themselves
-assump
SI assumption 3
-meanings of things are "handled in, and modified through, an interpretive process used by the person in dealing with the thin h/she encounters
-means that the use of the meanings of things by an individual occurs through a process of interpretation and i
SI assumption 3 example
if someone hugs you after playing football all afternoon and you smell sweaty, you wouldn't be as repulsed by it because you knew they had been outside. But if you're meeting someone for dinner in a nice restaurant and they have the same sweat smell, you
looking glass self
-to see yourself in action and watch how other people react to your behavior
--you see in their reactions the meaning of your behavior
-reactions of others serve as a mirror in which people see and eval themselves
-TAKE THE PERSPECTIVE OF OTHERS TOWARD YO
self conception
-social process and arises in social interaction
---what makes us human depends on and is only achieved through interactions with others (family, peers, etc are most important for dev of self)
-based on we think others see us not on how they actually see
reflected appraisals
perceptions of how we think others see us
-most important in the development of the self concept when there is no clear criteria or objective feedback as self views
-perception of ones attractiveness more likely influenced by how you think others view you
actual appraisals
perceptions of how others actually see us
self appraisals
perceptions of self
role taking
-learning to adopt the perspective of others by imagining being in their position
-seeing yourself from another's perspective
ex. do this a lot via conversations in our head
-anticipate their responses to our behavior then plan how we will respond to them
preparatory stage
-children imitate behavior and gestures
-do not have a sense of self separate from others (self is not yet an object)
-begin to learn to use symbols (necessary before moving into the play stage)
play stage
-children learn to take the role of others
-pretend to take on the roles of particular people (real or imagined) such as teacher, firefighter, mom, dad, baby
-try out diff roles one at a time and learn appearances/behaviors assc w each role
-try to enact
game stage
-children learn more complex role taking abilities
-can imagine the roles of several people reacting toward them at the same time
-can imagine the viewpoints of several others at the same time
-capable of learning the rules of complex games as a result of