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Soc

Terms in this set (217)

cultural appropriation
The values, norms, and material goods characteristic of a given group. The notion of culture is widely used in sociology and the other social sciences (particularly anthropology). Culture is one of the most distinctive properties of human social association
values
Ideas held by individuals or groups about what is desirable, proper, good, and bad. What individuals value is strongly influenced by the specific culture in which they happen to live.
norms
Rules of conduct that specify appropriate behavior in a given range of social situations. A norm either prescribes a given type of behavior or forbids it. All human groups follow norms, which are always backed by sanctions of one kind or another—varying from informal disapproval to physical punishment.
language
A system of symbols that represent objects and abstract thoughts; the primary vehicle of meaning and communication in a society.
linguistic relativity hypothesis
A hypothesis, based on the theories of Edward Sapir and Benjamin Lee Whorf, that perceptions are relative to language; also referred to as the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis.
material culture
The physical objects that society creates that influence the ways in which people live
signifier
Any vehicle of meaning and communication.
society
A group of people who live in a particular territory, are subject to a common system of political authority, and are aware of having a distinct identity from other groups. Some societies, like hunting-and-gathering societies, are small, numbering no more than a few dozen people. Others are large, numbering millions—modern Chinese society, for instance, has a population of more than a billion people.
sociobiology .
An approach that attempts to explain the behavior of both animals and human beings in terms of biological principles
instinct
A fixed pattern of behavior that has genetic origins and that appears in all normal animals within a given species.
biological determinism
The belief that differences we observe between groups of people, such as men and women, are explained wholly by biological causes.
subcultures Cultural
groups within a wider society that hold values and norms distinct from those of the majority.
countercultures Cultural
groups within a wider society that largely reject the values and norms of the majority
assimilation
The acceptance of a minority group by a majority population, in which the new group takes on the values and norms of the dominant culture.
multiculturalism
The viewpoint according to which ethnic groups can exist separately and share equally in economic and political life
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