Chapter 3 Social Interaction True or False 1. There is much to be learned about social interaction in a public restroom. Answer: True 2. The self is not a thing, but a process of interaction. Answer: True 3. The looking-glass self is a key survey tool sociologists use to perform a reverse audit. Answer: False 4. Erving Goffman coined the term the looking-glass self. Answer: False 5. Once adults fully form their sense of self through social interaction, they do not require further social interaction. Answer: False 6. Our own self-understanding is dependent on how others view us. Answer: True 7. Identity tends to be a stationary part of our personalities that does not change over time or location. Answer: False 8. People all over the world, regardless of culture or historical moment, use the same methods for interacting with others. Answer: True 9. When talking with others face-to-face, the social context is conveyed only through the words we use. Answer: False 10. In conversation with each other, men interrupt women more often than women interrupt men. Answer: True 11. Emotions are not beyond our capacity to control. Answer: True 12. The way people express emotion is universal across all cultures. Answer: False 13. Gender differences are present in the way that high-power individuals greet each other. Answer: True 14. Sociologists consider Facebook profiles a form of digital self-presentation. Answer: True 15. Sociologists use the term civil inattention to refer to the way in which strangers ignore each other to an appropriate degree when their paths cross in public spaces (e.g., in theatres). Answer: True 16. People signal that they don't want to talk by making quick responses to questions or compliments. Answer: False 17. People signal their willingness to converse through pauses and nonresponses. Answer: False 18. Reference groups influence behavior among individuals who share similar preferences or social positions. Answer: True 19. Role models are reference group stars who exhibit significant influence on others in terms of how to act. Answer: True 20. The age of people who spent the most time online per month on average, in 2010, was 18 to 24. Answer: False 21. The generalized self is the social control we exercise over our behavior because we have a commonsense understanding of what is appropriate in a specific time and place. Answer: True 22. We enter into different life statuses as we age. Answer: True 23. Conforming college students accept that taking exams is part of their role set. Answer: True 24. What makes people competent members of society is not so much knowing all the rules but knowing what to do on particular occasions given what is expected of us. Answer: True 25. Ethnocentrism is the inability to understand, accept, or reference patterns of behavior or belief different from one's own. Answer: True Multiple Choice 1. What does NOT typically influence behavior in a public restroom? A. gender issues B. fear of contamination C. the need for social contact D. cultural differences Answer: C 2. According to sociologists, what is the key element that separates humans from other animals? A. tool use B. the concept of the self C. walking on two legs D. the ability to think about objects Answer: B 3. According to George Herbert Mead, what is the self? A. The self is composed of our interactions in the world. B. The self is an unchanging idea that each individual possesses. C. The self is a series of electrical and chemical impulses in our brains. D. The self is an illusion and does not actually exist. Answer: A 4. The __________ is the individual's reflection on one's own identity and social position that is made and reformulated through social interactions. A. self B. id C. ego D. mind Answer: A 5. What name refers to George Herbert Mead's sociological school of thought, which is based on understanding how people's personalities and concepts of reality are shaped and constructed? A. structural functionalism B. positivism C. symbolic interactionism D. symbolism Answer: C 6. In Spitz's study of the differences between children in an orphanage and a nursery for incarcerated mothers, half of the children were denied __________. A. nutritious food B. social interaction C. sufficient warmth D. natural sound Answer: B 7. In his orphanage study, what difference did Spitz find between babies who were properly socialized and those who were not? A. The older the children were, the more social interaction they required. B. Those children who received more interaction tended to be more emotionally unstable. C. Those children who received less social interaction tended to be more withdrawn and susceptible to physical illness. D. There was little difference found between children who received social interaction and those who had not. Answer: C 8. What did Craig Haney find the impact of solitary confinement to be on inmates in the California prison system? A. Prisoners suffered from numerous physical maladies but did not suffer mentally from solitary confinement. B. Solitary confinement caused no change in the prisoners. C. Prisoners benefited from solitary confinement and were better behaved afterward. D. Prisoners' physical and mental health was negatively impacted; some committed suicide. Answer: D 9. Jon views himself as a lazy person who is not very intelligent. His self-perception comes from his overly critical father who continually belittled him when he was growing up. Jon's perception of himself is what Charles Horton Cooley referred to as __________. A. the looking-glass self B. backstage behavior C. role consistency D. the social construction of reality Answer: A 10. According to Charles Horton Cooley, how do most people construct the way they view themselves? A. We view ourselves based on how we think others view us. B. We view ourselves based on our own personal philosophies. C. We view ourselves based on the media we consume. D. We view ourselves based on genetically based criteria. Answer: A 11. Which of the following conclusions might an individual come to by utilizing the looking-glass self? A. that she is anatomically female B. that she lives in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania C. that she has naturally brown hair D. that she is intelligent and worthwhile Answer: D 12. What part does the looking-glass self-play in our determination of identity and self-worth? A. We see others as we wish others would see us. B. We behave in certain ways in order to hide our true selves from others. C. We see ourselves as we imagine others see us. D. We present ourselves in ways similar to how others present themselves. Answer: C 13. What did Christena Nippert-Eng conclude from her study of the stuff people carry around in their wallets? A. Wallets repel romantic partners, if they contain too much stuff. B. Wallets are toolkits for managing the multiple faces we show others in social interactions. C. Wallets, if made of synthetic material, undermine employment opportunities. D. Wallets with too many credit cards convey troubling messages about indebtedness. Answer: B 14. What do sociologists mean when they describe life as a stage? A. that our interactions are all scripted, leaving very little room for free will B. that we are always on stage, performing the self in the spotlight of others C. that acting is as natural as breathing D. that our lives are directed by unseen individuals behind the scenes Answer: B 15. What is ethnomethodology? A. Ethnomethodology is the study of people's methods of navigating their social worlds. B. Ethnomethodology is the study of people's belief systems. C. Ethnomethodology is the study of group identity. D. Ethnomethodology is the study of emotion. Answer: A 16. Why is it important to understand context when engaging in ethnomethodology? A. Ethnomethodology almost exclusively studies context. B. Most human communication cannot be understood outside of the context in which it occurs. C. Context provides us with hidden clues that are revealed only after careful study. D. Context makes it possible to study human language in a quantifiable way. Answer: B 17. What is conversational precision? A. Conversational precision is the inability to improvise. B. Conversational precision refers to body language cues and to brief pauses that people use to pace and give additional meaning to their conversations. C. Conversational precision is conversation enhanced by sophisticated vocabularies. D. Conversational precision is the exact timing that can make some people very persuasive performers and speakers. Answer: B 18. According to Emanuel Schegloff, what part do pauses play in conversational precision? A. Pauses detract from conversational precision by omitting information. B. Pauses break up the syntax of a conversation and damage message delivery. C. Pauses neither enhance nor detract from conversational precision. D. Pauses convey nuanced information that enhances conversation. Answer: D 19. Why is conversational precision critical to interacting with other individuals in society? A. Conversational precision provides us with the vocabulary needed to convey complex ideas. B. Without conversational precision, we cannot interpret complex ideas. C. Conversational precision allows us to study language in a way that is of use to the social sciences. D. Timing and spacing in the delivery of spoken communication conveys subtle cues that are critical for understanding. Answer: D 20. In terms of conversational precision, what do we call the act of bowing out of a conversation when two or more people are talking at once? A. a pause B. taking turns C. a repair D. conversational permissiveness Answer: C 21. Which of the following statements regarding conversational interruptions is true? A. Women interrupt men more often than men interrupt women. B. Men are more likely than women to stop talking if they accidentally begin talking at the same time. C. Patients interrupt doctors more often than doctors interrupt patients. D. Doctors interrupt patients more than patients interrupt doctors, except when the doctor is a woman; then interruption patterns are equal. Answer: D 22. What have sociologists found in relation to crying as an emotional display when comparing different societies? A. Crying and other displays of emotion are uniform across societies. B. Who cries and the situations in which they cry vary from society to society. C. Why people cry varies dramatically across societies, except in the case of mourning; then crying is universally acceptable. D. Crying is completely unpredictable both across and within societies. Answer: B 23. According to Randall Collins, the social interactions leading up to physical altercations are usually dictated by __________. A. verbal interaction sequences B. interaction ritual chains C. symbolic interactionism D. ethnocentrism Answer: B 24. How does taking turns play out in terms of conversation and laughing? A. When people do not take turns in conversation or when they laugh, it mars social cohesion. B. When people take turns in conversation but laugh all at once, it aids social cohesion. C. When people take turns laughing, but all talk at once, it contributes to social cohesion. D. Talking contributes to social cohesion, but laughing detracts from social cohesion. Answer: B 25. What have sociologists learned about confrontations? A. Participants carefully fit their threats and gestures into a script of calls and countercalls that all parties understand. B. Verbal altercations usually escalate quickly and without warning into physical fights. C. Participants in a confrontation are usually only subconsciously hostile. D. On a biological level, most people know how to fight. For this reason, fights usually escalate at a uniform pace. Answer: A 26. According to sociologists, what part do audiences play in a performance? A. Audience members are in almost total control of any given performance. B. Audience members interact with each other and the performers in a way that contributes to the collective experience. C. Audience members play very little part in performances. D. Performers should be aware of an audience's mood, but the performer, ultimately, is the one in control. Answer: B 27. What did sociologist Max Atkinson find after studying British politicians? A. The persuasive skills of highly successful politicians are often completely unique to those individuals. B. The ability to work a crowd is a social skill that comes from knowing what people need to act together. C. British politicians possess an entirely different set of persuasive skills from American politicians. D. British politicians are far more nuanced in their control of audiences than American politicians. Answer: B 28. When we update our profiles on Facebook, we are also __________. A. damaging our organic solidarity B. managing our presentation of self C. engaging in civil inattention D. refuting the looking-glass self Answer: B 29. How do social media contribute to our social interaction in the real world? A. Social media contribute to our ability to plan social interactions in the real world. B. Social media train us to be more attentive to our communications in the real world. C. Social media damage our interactions with people in the real world by draining our capacity for social interaction. D. Social media neither contribute nor detract from our interactions in the real world. Answer: A 30. According to Georg Simmel, ignoring someone out of politeness, who is only inches away from you on a crowded bus, is an example of __________. A. civil inattention B. industrial rudeness C. zeitgeist D. self-preservation Answer: A 31. How does social interaction in crowded public places differ from interactions in other settings? A. When in crowded spaces, we frequently engage in civil inattention to minimize interactions. B. When in crowded spaces, we are required to take into consideration the feelings of all others in the space, even if only on a subconscious level. C. When in crowded spaces, we should ignore each other if people behave rudely. D. When in crowded spaces, we tend to stare more at strangers than in other settings. Answer: A 32. When we fail at public social performances, such as accidentally dropping a book in class, how do we repair our mistake? A. Most people immediately stop what they are doing and launch into a detailed apology. B. Most people signal that all is okay by quietly indicating that they have performed imperfectly. C. Most people go on as though nothing has happened. D. Most people involved in the scene will have an embarrassed reaction. Answer: B 33. According to Duneier and Molotch, which of the following interactions is least likely to occur between panhandlers and the people they bother for money? A. panhandlers forcing people to be civil even when they don't want to B. panhandlers attempting to entangle women in conversation by commenting about their appearance C. panhandlers ignoring social cues that signal an unwillingness to interact D. panhandlers continuing to ask questions even when responses are not immediate Answer: D 34. According to George Herbert Mead, the term significant other refers to __________. A. individuals we look up to but with whom we have little personal experience B. individuals we care about in a romantic way C. individuals close enough to us to have a strong capacity to motivate our behavior D. individuals we know but do not care about Answer: C 35. A __________ is a group of people who share similar preferences or social positions and have influence on members of the group. A. reference group B. significant collective C. social network D. society Answer: A 36. Imagine that you are a senior in college with one semester to go before graduation. You do not have a job yet, but you are looking for one. You have a good relationship with your parents, are married, but do not have children. Which of the following is one of your reference groups? A. current high-school students B. new parents C. recent college graduates D. business professionals Answer: C 37. Which of the following statements about reference groups is true? A. We are only associated with one reference group at a time. B. We are often associated with several reference groups simultaneously. C. Reference groups do not tend to influence our behavior. D. Reference groups are important only in the teenage years. Answer: B 38. __________ are people who have a disproportionate influence on how we behave. We use them as examples to shape our behavior in ways that we interpret as desirable. A. Role models B. Significant others C. Referents D. Generalized others Answer: A 39. What percentage of adults are friends with people whom they have met only online? A. under 10 percent B. 25 percent C. 50 percent D. 75 percent Answer: A 40. __________ is a type of social control exercised by common-sense understandings of what is appropriate in a specific time and place. A. The sociological presentation of self B. The generalized other C. A self-fulfilling prophecy D. The social construction of reality Answer: B 41. In terms of social science, what is socialization? A. the process through which private businesses are taken over by the state B. the process through which we meet new people and make friends C. the process by which we come to understand the expectations, rules, and norms of the society in which we live D. the process through which we come to understand ourselves and develop a sense of self Answer: C 42. In terms of sociology, what is culture? A. the total sum of systems of beliefs and knowledge of a given society B. the set of artistic endeavours most appreciated by social elites C. the instinctual rules with which all humans are programmed D. the set of artistic endeavours most appreciated by mainstream members of society Answer: A 43. A __________ is a relatively small group of people whose affiliation is based on shared beliefs, preferences, and practices that distinguish them from the mainstream or larger social group to which they also belong. A. cult B. commune C. co-op D. subculture Answer: D 44. Sociologists define __________ as a distinct social category that is set off from others and has associated with it a set of expected behaviours and roles for individuals to assume. A. status B. role set C. subculture D. culture Answer: A 45. When we change statuses, what happens to our role sets? A. Status change rarely results in a change in role set. B. Status change can, but does not always, change the roles we are expected to play. C. When our status changes, our corresponding role sets also change. D. When our status changes, role conflict vanishes. Answer: C 46. How does a status change impact the behavior of an individual? A. Status change has little effect on well-rounded individuals, as long as they have strong social networks. B. Status change almost never causes role conflict. C. Status change confers different types of group expectations and role expectations on individuals. D. Status change often forces individuals to label members of other status categories as deviants. Answer: C 47. How do statuses and roles interact? A. Roles are relationships we have with other people, and statuses are ways we maintain those relationships. B. We each possess certain statuses. Roles are positions we take to maintain those statuses. C. Statuses are often at odds with the roles we fill. D. Statuses do not impact roles. Answer: B 48. Which of the following expectations are parts of the role set of traditional college students? A. respect authority figures, pay for food in restaurants, drive safely B. attend religious services, vote in elections, treat senior citizens with respect C. respect the teacher, show up for lectures, complete assigned papers, take exams D. binge drink, sleep until noon, eat a diet mostly of pizza Answer: C 49. What causes role conflict? A. individuals failing to compete fairly with others who have the same role B. the expectations of one role preventing the fulfilment of other role expectations C. individuals mistakenly taking on the wrong roles D. individuals intentionally behaving in ways opposite to role expectations Answer: B 50. According to sociologists, why are certain people who question authority labelled as deviant? A. People are labelled as deviant because they are mentally ill. B. People are labelled as deviant because they are morally corrupt and not properly socialized to follow society's rules. C. People are labelled as deviant because their parents did not properly socialize them. D. People are labelled as deviant because dominant members of society see them as threats. Answer: D 51. The __________ can be described as an interactive process by which knowledge is produced and codified, thus making it specific to a certain group or society. A. social construction of reality B. self-fulfilling prophecy C. symbolic interaction of society D. establishment of role sets Answer: A 52. According to Robert Merton, what is a drawback to labeling individuals in our society as deviant? A. The label will be misapplied. B. The label will become a self-fulfilling prophecy. C. The label will not stick. D. The label will restrict innovation. Answer: B 53. In his study of mental health institutions, David Rosenhan sent his research assistants, all with no history of mental health issues, to present themselves to different psychiatric hospitals and report hearing voices in their heads. Once admitted, what was the outcome? A. All were quickly identified as not being mentally ill and released. B. Half were quickly identified as not being mentally ill and released; half were not. C. All were treated as if they were indeed mentally ill and were not released until they admitted to having a mental illness. D. All eventually developed signs of mental illness. Answer: C 54. What policy change did David Rosenhan's study "Being Sane in Insane Places" lead to? A. The study contributed to the deinstitutionalization movement. B. The study caused a cultural shift in how mainstream Americans view mental illness. C. The study raised many ethical research concerns, resulting in the establishment of institutional research boards. D. The study renewed long-terminated funding for mental hospitals and other similarly structured institutions. Answer: A 55. Which of the following is an example of an informal rule? A. Not driving while intoxicated. B. Filing tax returns. C. Respecting the needs of children. D. Stopping at red lights. Answer: C 56. Which of the following statements regarding the relationship between formal and informal rules is accurate? A. Informal rules replace formal rules in situations where enforcement is not possible. B. Informal rules fill the spaces between formal rules by allowing for exceptions in social behavior that are generally agreed upon. C. Informal rules allow new organizations to maintain some semblance of order before organizational bylaws have been drafted. D. Informal rules dictate our behavior in legal situations. Answer: B 57. What happens to people who are incapable of viewing rules as flexible guidelines for rational and appropriate behavior? A. They strike people as silly or incompetent. B. They get along better with authority figures than other types of people. C. They become leaders of complex organizations. D. They go more or less unnoticed. Answer: A 58. What happens when individuals follow an organization's formal rules very strictly but disregard its informal rules? A. Organizations function better and more harmoniously since everyone is happy. B. Productive output increases markedly since more work is getting done. C. Social interaction continues more smoothly since the rules are being followed so closely. D. Organizations suffer since no one is taking the necessary shortcuts to get all of the work done. Answer: D 59. Solomon Asch conducted a conformity experiment in which respondents were presented with lines of varying lengths and asked to select the line that most closely matched a separate line. Covert research assistants were also present and were instructed to encourage respondents to select incorrectly. What were the results of this study? A. Respondents never went along with the covert research assistants. B. Respondents went along with the covert research assistants at least 37 percent of the time. C. Respondents went along with the covert research assistants 90 percent of the time. D. Respondents said they would go along with the covert research assistants then changed their minds at the last minute. Answer: B 60. Stanley Milgram induced research subjects to deliver what they thought were painful electrical shocks to other subjects, who were actually actors. What were his findings? A. All subjects refused to participate in the experiment. B. Subjects refused to deliver shocks 80 percent of the time. C. Research subjects eventually figured out that they were not actually shocking the actors. D. Over 60 percent of the time, subjects eventually delivered dangerous shocks of over 450 volts. Answer: D 61. In his controversial study in which he led subjects to believe they were delivering painful shocks to innocent people, what social phenomenon was Stanley Milgram trying to understand? A. the difference between normal individuals and sociopaths B. the process through which normal individuals can be compelled to hurt others simply because they are told to C. the ways in which codes of conduct are violated by scientific professionals D. the situations in which society's deviants can thrive and flourish Answer: B 62. What were the findings of the Stanford Prison Experiment? A. People are capable of quickly accepting social roles and of fervently conforming to those roles' expectations. B. If given the opportunity, certain individuals are capable of very distasteful things. C. If left to professionals, prisons can be functional institutions. D. The study was so flawed that there were no discernible findings. Answer: A 63. How do identity classifications impact personal behavior? A. Identity classifications tell us exactly what is expected of us at all times. B. Identity classifications determine those who surround us and give meaning to self and personal identity. C. Identity classifications help mask our true intentions to others outside our group. D. Identity classifications allow us to keep our personal thoughts to ourselves. Answer: B 64. What is ethnocentrism? A. Ethnocentrism is making ethics central to one's life. B. Ethnocentrism is seeing one's self as the centre of social reality. C. Ethnocentrism is the inability to understand, accept, or reference patterns of behavior or belief different from one's own. D. Ethnocentrism is putting ethics first when creating social-scientific experiments. Answer: C 65. How does interactionism allow sociologists to understand the individual? A. by providing guidelines for how best to examine the more private aspects of the individual B. by focusing on how the individual's personalities, preferences, ideas, etc., are constructed and shaped by and through communication with other individuals, groups, and institutions C. by showing how individuals impact the social world through day-to-day events D. by preventing sociologists from straying too far from the individual in their studies Answer: B Scenario Multiple Choice 1. Public restrooms are a complex social space in which we are both required to prepare for our public performances and deal with others who may view that performance. You want to study a similar backstage area. Which of the following spaces would suit your requirements? A. the personal confession booth on a reality television show B. the kitchen in a restaurant C. the open-air amphitheatre in a city park D. the boardroom of a major corporation Answer: B 2. You are interviewing teenagers in order to understand how they develop their sense of self. Which of the following statements can be classified as a statement of self that could be attributed to the concept of the looking-glass concept? A. I really don't like swimming. The chlorine makes my feet peel and being in the pool with all those people is just gross. B. I love playing chess. I'm not so great, but all my friends are in the chess club. C. Riding the bus is lame. It just takes so long when I could be doing other things. D. I'm no good at geometry. Whenever I answer questions wrong in class, the teacher looks at me like I'm stupid and other students laugh at me. Answer: D 3. Reggie wanted to ask Sharyl on a date. Rather than coming out directly and asking her, he went about it indirectly by asking her if she was busy on Saturday night. She indicated that she had plans. Through this exchange, Reggie has been gently rejected and Sharyl does not feel like a rude person. This social interaction allowed Reggie and Sharyl to __________. A. preserve the looking-glass self B. engage in ethnomethodology C. save face D. talk down to each other Answer: C 4. Your evening is not going as planned. While at a bar, you accidentally knock over a man's drink. Although the spill was an accident, it has ruined his date's clothing and he is very angry. What is the most likely next step in this conflict's interaction ritual chain? A. You get punched in the face. B. He begs you for mercy. C. You get insulted. D. A full-scale bar fight breaks out. Answer: C 5. You are a sociologist who specializes in human behavior in urban areas. Of the following locations, which would be the best area for studying civil inattention? A. a popular restaurant B. a busy bus line C. the office of a paper company D. a public park Answer: B 6. You wish to study reference groups. Which of the following groups would make the best subject for studying reference groups and how they shape identity? A. a little league team B. workers at a fast-food franchise C. people in line at the division of motor vehicles D. audience members at the movies Answer: A 7. As part of your morning routine you eat breakfast, drink a cup of coffee, take a shower, and walk your dog. Which part of this routine is most likely controlled by the voice of the generalized other? A. eating breakfast B. drinking coffee C. taking a shower D. walking the dog Answer: C 8. You want to study status change and its associated role changes. Which of the following demographic groups would make the best research subject for studying these topics? A. first-time fathers B. high-school teachers C. college juniors D. firefighters Answer: A 9. You have been tasked with a longitudinal study involving interviews with a group of individuals as they age from 5 to 40. At the onset of the project, you decide it would be helpful to try to predict which children may be later labelled as deviant. Based on the concept of the self-fulfilling prophecy, which child do you predict will be so labelled? A. Robert really enjoys baseball and is very physically active. He sometimes gets in fights with other children, especially when they do not follow the rules. B. Phillip is a nice boy, but he often eats his crayons and paste. C. Jenny talks a lot during story hour and has trouble sitting still. She often talks over other students and the teacher. D. Susan generally enjoys school and follows directions well. However, she has trouble making friends. Answer: C 10. You are interviewing Americans about how they feel about their country. Which of the following statements reflects elements of ethnocentrism? A. America is the best country ever! You'd have to be stupid to want to live anywhere else! B. I really love this country! We have a lot to be proud of! C. The United States is okay, but there are a lot of ways we can improve. D. I don't care. I guess it doesn't suck to live here, but whatever. Answer: A Short Answer 1. Erving Goffman made the analogy that social life can be understood much like a theatrical performance. What, then, is a backstage? How does it relate to our performances? Answer: The backstage is where we prepare ourselves for the social performances that allow us to present ourselves in ways that we want the world to perceive us. The backstage allows us to complete those tasks, such as bathing, that we would rather not have the world examine. 2. According to the author's example at the beginning of the chapter, why is the public bathroom a tricky place in terms of Goffman's concept of the backstage? Answer: Public bathrooms are problematic because there we attend to tasks; we normally complete in private. Public restrooms, therefore, are not strictly backstages, but in-between areas where we are surrounded by strangers, performing and preparing to perform at the same time. 3. What is meant by this statement: The concept of social identity is so basic that, if it becomes too hard to achieve, even the physical becomes problematic. Answer: A person must build a sense of self through social interaction in order to perform even the most basic of tasks in our society. If someone has no social skills whatsoever, then he does not know to put on clothes before leaving the house, how to buy food, or even how to communicate with others. An inability to perform any of these basic tasks would make even the physical problematic. 4. In sociological terms, what is the self? How does group membership contribute to the development of the self? Answer: According to sociologists, the self is an identity and social position that is made and reformulated through interaction. Membership in groups adds or modifies elements of our self by providing us with additional identities or by helping us to better understand how others perceive us. 5. In terms of social interaction, how does the looking-glass self-motivate us? Answer: Through our use of the looking-glass self, we are able to determine how others perceive us in society. We are motivated to seek the approval of other people to improve our own sense of self, and this in turn helps us conform to the rules of our social world. 6. Explain how social context affects emotion and its display. Give an example. Answer: Social context can affect our emotion by telling us what type of emotion may or may not be inappropriate in a given situation. If we find something funny when we are in a somber social context, it is unlikely that we will burst out in laughter. In fact, if the situation is somber enough, we may be incapable of finding humour in anything at all. 7. What is civil inattention? How could this behavior be considered polite in one situation but rude in another? Answer: Civil inattention is the act of ignoring other people in highly crowded areas. We do this so that we do not have to interact with every single person we encounter. On the bus, it is often considered rude to strike up a conversation with a stranger out of nowhere, but in a more intimate situation with acquaintances, similarly ignoring others could be considered unforgivably rude. 8. How is interactional vandalism, as discussed by Duneier and Molotch, performed? Answer: When people engage in interactional vandalism, they take advantage of social conventions that benefit their motives, while ignoring those conventions that do not further their motives. An example of interactional vandalism is a panhandler who makes eye contact so that passersby are socially compelled to say hello, but who ignores other social cues that indicate that those passersby do not want to interact. 9. In sociological terms, what is the difference between a role model and a significant other? How do they each impact our social development? Answer: A role model is someone we wish to imitate as part of our presentation of self. We often do not always have direct access to role models (e.g., celebrities). They impact our social development by giving us behavior to integrate into our own. A significant other is an individual who is close enough to us to motivate our behavior. Significant others can impact our development by giving us input on actions that are favourable or not. Because it is in us to want to please these individuals, their attitudes and behaviours can go a long way in impacting our social development. 10. Explain how subcultures interact with cultures. Is it possible to be part of both a subculture and the general culture? Answer: A subculture is a set of individuals who share common preferences or understandings of specific aspects of the social world. However, they still interact with the larger culture in terms of shared language, basic behavior, and other aspects of mainstream collective culture. 11. In sociological terms, what is culture? How does culture impact us on a day-to-day basis? Answer: Cultures are systems of belief and knowledge shared by members of a group or society that shape individual and group behavior and attitudes. A society's culture includes its language, customs, symbols, rituals, and other forms of meaning that are widely shared. Culture determines many day-to-day actions and thoughts, such as how, when, and what we eat; how we educate and entertain ourselves; what we wear and whom we find attractive. 12. Define the generalized other. How does the generalized other contribute to social control? Answer: The generalized other is the concept that each of us holds in our heads of what a representative "other" may think of our behavior and our thoughts in a given situation. In this way, we stay in step with society and conform to its expectations. 13. As a student, list at least three roles that you must fulfil as part of your student role set. Answer: As a student, I must do my homework, show up for class, and pay my tuition. 14. How do self-fulfilling prophecies lead to the creation of social deviants? Answer: When individuals are labelled as troublemakers or as deviants, they start to believe that they are, in fact, deviant. For example, if a teacher views a child as hyperactive or out of control and feels that the child is no good, the teacher may start to treat the child as if he or she is bad. Once children perceive that the teacher perceives them as bad, they respond by actually misbehaving. In this way, labeling a child as deviant can create a self-fulfilling prophecy. 15. What is ethnocentrism? Why must one overcome ethnocentrism before being capable of conducting social science research? Answer: Ethnocentrism is the inability to understand, accept, or reference patterns of behavior or belief that differ from one's own, often believing that one's own culture is somehow superior to the cultures of everyone else. Social scientists must overcome ethnocentric biases or the objectivity needed to make reliable observations will be lacking. Essay 1. How do the opinions of others shape our identities? Consider the concept of looking-glass self in your answer. Answer: A large portion of our sense of self is determined by our perceptions of how others perceive us. This phenomenon is the looking-glass self. If we perceive that a behavior will be seen as favourable by others, we will be more likely to engage in said behavior. Likewise, we would be less likely to engage in a behavior we feel others would perceive negatively. Furthermore, concepts of self-identity are deeply reliant on the looking-glass self. If we are continually told we are stupid, we will start to feel stupid. If we are repeatedly treated as if we are beautiful, we will start to feel beautiful. 2. Is it possible to shift one's identity from minute to minute? Explain. Answer: We each bring at least a slightly different self to any new circumstance. As we act in the world and the world responds to us, we become different selves. Depending on any given situation, we may sometimes identify ourselves by our occupation ("I am a lawyer") and, at other times, by our hobbies or passions ("I am an activist," or "I am a Giants fan"). Sometimes we are American; sometimes we are Irish American or African American. Each of us bounces, searches, lurches, and passes through particular settings, interacting with a different array of individuals and expectations. 3. How does conversational precision come into play in people's day-to-day communicating methods? Give an example. Answer: Conversational precision is the process through which we contribute additional information to a conversation based on conversational pauses, body language, and similar nuances. Through conversational precision, the meaning of the message communicated can be quite different from the content of our words. People often "say" no to requests, not directly with words, but by signalling their responses using overlong conversational pauses, shifting about awkwardly, or by saying something else besides no. "I'm really busy" often substitutes for no. 4. What is the significance of taking turns, when in conversation with another person, and what patterns have sociologists observed as to who gives in when two people begin to speak simultaneously. Answer: People take turns because simultaneous talk is almost impossible to maintain. Somebody has to bow out, and they almost always do within seconds of the start of an overlap. Sociologists have discovered some patterns to who gives in. Allowing of course for some frequent exceptions, men, quite counter to the stereotype of being "strong and silent," interrupt women more than the reverse. Should both be speaking simultaneously, it is the women who most often relent. Doctors interrupt patients more than patients interrupt doctors—except when the doctor is a woman; then the pattern becomes more equal. Adults interrupt children more than children interrupt adults, something that goes against the common assumptions. 5. How is the presentation of self-affected by digital-age technologies? Answer: Social media tools like Facebook have made instantaneous social interaction with a large number of people possible. Thus, we are able to manage our presentation of self in ways that simply were not possible before the dawning of our digital age. When we fret over our Facebook profiles, arranging and rearranging the details, we are manipulating our presentation of self in ways that sociologist Erving Goffman would immediately recognize. Based on others' responses or lack of responses, we alter our pages accordingly. How much people yearn for the approval of others and work social media to bring it about keeps Facebook, Twitter, and similar digital-age technologies in business. 6. How do our interactions with individuals and groups impact our social development in both adulthood and childhood? Discuss significant others, reference groups, and role models in your answer. Answer: Interactions with individuals and social groups are critical to the development of a child into a fully functional person. We are socialized primarily by three different types of agents: significant others, reference groups, and role models. Significant others are individuals close enough to us to have a strong capacity to motivate our behavior; an example of a child's significant other is a parent. Reference groups are those collections of people who we compare ourselves to in terms of social position and preferences; an example of a reference group for a child is a little league team. Role models are people who we model our behavior after, even though we may not know them; a child's role models could include parents, professional baseball players, or celebrities. It is a common misconception that an individual is fully socially developed upon adulthood. In fact, we continue to develop throughout the life course. Adults develop socially through significant others, reference groups, and role models, just as children do. A spouse may take the place of a parent in terms of the significant other. Likewise, reference groups, such as coworkers or bowling teams, may take the place of our childhood reference groups. While they may not have as great an impact on adults, role models certainly influence our developing sense of style and elements that we would like to incorporate into our own personality. 7. How does the generalized other help us to conform to the rules and expectations of society? Answer: The generalized other tells us what is and is not acceptable behavior in our society. Grounded in the larger cultures in which each of us participates, people have a sense of what everyone knows to be appropriate as proper behavior. Wearing clothes, for example, is so commonly understood that there generally does not need to be a rule about it. Our common-sense understandings of what is appropriate in a specific time and place, therefore, is a form of social control. We walk around with all kinds of unspoken knowledge of do's and don'ts without the need to consult where we got that knowledge. We do the do's and avoid the don'ts, as do virtually all our significant others, all our role models, and all our reference groups, because we can imagine what people would think of us if we were to engage in, or not engage in, certain behaviours. 8. What causes role conflict? Answer: We experience role conflict when fulfilling the expectations of one of our roles conflicts with meeting the expectations of another. We experience discomfort, for example, when our role as a son or a daughter conflicts with fulfilling the expectations of a friend. As a son or daughter, we would want to fulfil our parents' expectation that we come home for a grandmother's birthday. But, if our best friend needed our help during a move to a new apartment, which role are we supposed to fulfil? We are damned if we do and damned if we don't. Severe instances of role conflict can create enough psychological stress to put some of us on the therapist's couch or push others into escape with drugs or alcohol. 9. What is the social construction of reality? How does the social construction of reality dictate how individuals interact in the social world? Answer: The social construction of reality is the interactive process by which knowledge is produced and codified, making it specific to a certain group or society. The goal of many sociologists has been to understand the larger interaction systems that create such classifications, keep them alive, or cause them to erode. The social construction of reality dictates individuals' interactions with the social world in that it determines how individuals actually perceive reality. If individuals perceive that certain actions are simply not possible, such as becoming a professional baseball player, they simply will not try, even if it is a life goal. Likewise, if some interaction is seen as completely expected and ordinary, such as committing oneself to one romantic partner for life, the choice is not questioned. Much of what is and is not possible in our social world, in terms of what we perceive to be possible or not, is completely dependent on the social construction of reality. 10. What were the collective findings of the conformity experiments of Asch, Milgram, and Zimbardo? What do they tell us about human nature? How do their findings both explain social cohesion and more barbaric behavior? Answer: Although highly ethically problematic, the conformity experiments of Asch, Milgram, and Zimbardo taught us a great deal regarding human nature. Asch showed us that our perceptions or, at least, what we will say are our perceptions, can be manipulated by the insistence of third parties. Milgram showed us that, if placed into the proper bureaucratic setting, people can be caused to perform acts that they would not normally perform, even if those acts are highly unethical. Zimbardo showed us that people are capable of quickly accepting a social role and of readily conforming to the expectations surrounding that role, even if those expectations are dehumanizing. These studies give us insight into human nature, in so far as we are creatures that want to conform to the individuals in our social surroundings. We want to please authority figures, and we will go to almost any lengths, even barbaric lengths, to accomplish that goal. Again, although deeply troubling, these experiments provide insight in into troubling human behavior, ranging from war atrocities to petty white-collar crime. Test Bank for The Sociology Project : Introducing the Sociological Imagination Jeff Manza, Richard Arum, Lynne Haney 9780205949601, 9780205093823, 9780133792249
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