final- social identities

Question 1

Define Cooley’s Looking Glass Self

Answer 1

• we tend to see ourselves in terms of how others perceive us even if this is not how we wish to see ourselves
• even before social interaction, we imagine how they are likely to perceive us. we alter what we say, wear, and do based on the expectations of others’ perceptions of us
• we construct our identity and self-view based on not only interactions but our imagination of interactions

Question 2

What does it take to create a recognized identity? What are the benefits of doing so?

Answer 2

• you need someone to self-identify themself as something
• benefits: legitimizes suffering, psychological relief, creates a new kind of social role, support from family and friends

Question 3

Achieved vs. ascribed characteristics?

Answer 3

• achieved characteristics: acquired through the course of living (ex: college degree). can also be in category of chosen group membership that has no achievement (ex: Society for the Sons of the American Revolution)
• ascribed characteristics: you are labelled this or defined externally whether you like it or not (ex: gender identity, race, age, IQ)

Question 4

What is stratification? What is the stratification system?

Answer 4

• stratification: the unequal distribution of scarce resources across ascribed or achieved categories (resource ex: material income and wealth, social standing, love, support, sex)
• stratification system: stratifiation becomes a system when the social structure divides people into categories; those divided categories and people are labelled as out-groups; social mechanisms reserve resources for in-group members, and in time, the system seems natural

Question 5

Absolute vs. relative inequality- identify changes from ancient to modern eras

Answer 5

• key changes in society allowed for greater degrees of inequality to emerge
• less complex societies have a lower absolute degree of inequality based on less capacity to create and store wealth in absolute terms
• the more affluent your society, the higher wealth but also greater degree of stratification emerges

Question 6

define exploitation

Answer 6

• expropriating a resource from another social group while preventing them from realizing the value on that resource

Question 7

define opportunity hoarding

Answer 7

• restricting access to a scarce resource through denial to others (in and out-group) or monopolistic control (for the in-group)
• ex: Handshake is a job posting/seeking service only available to elite colleges and universities

Question 8

define Fibromite identity

Answer 8

• Instead of being a person who also happens to have fibromyalgia, you become a fibromite: a new kind of person who is fundamentally defined by having/suffering from fibromyalgia.

Question 9

identify the levels of identity

Answer 9

we construct our identities on multiple levels, many of which aren’t under our control or direction

• micro: small group interactions (cooley, goffman)
• meso: socio-cultural and community (barker)
• macro: overarching institutions, policies, laws, and economies (massey)

Question 10

define emulation and adaptation as strategies for dealing with being in a subordinate position

Answer 10

• emulation: copying or transferring a set of social distinctions from one group to another (dominant to subordinate or subordinate to dominant)
• adaptation: thinking and acting in ways that accord with and often strengthen macro-social categories. essentially: knowing your place

Question 11

define in-group/out-group typology and their subgroups

Answer 11

• in-group: preference/affinity for one’s in-group over the out-group or anyone viewed as outside the in-group
• out-group: people not in the in-group
• one of the key determinants of division is the need to improve self-esteem. individuals will find a reason to prove to themselves why their group is superior