MCAT Psychology Ch. 11 Social Structure & Demographics

Focuses on function of each component of society & how these components fit together

• Functions - help keep society in balance, beneficial consequences of people's actions
  • Manifest Functions
  • ​Latent Functions
• Dysfunctions - harmful consequences of people's actions as they undermine a social system's equilibrium

Deliberate actions that serve to help a given system

Unexpected, unintended, or unrecognized positive consequences of manifest functions

How power differentials are created & how these differentials contribute to the maintenance of social order

Study of the ways individuals interact through a shared understanding of words, gestures, & other symbols (ex: thumbs up)

Explores ways in which individuals & groups make decisions to agree upon a given social reality; how people communicate & work together to agree on the significance of a concept or principle (ex: how a society defines honor & justice)

Individuals will make decisions that maximize benefits & minimize harms; exchange theory applies rational choice theory w/in social groups

Explores ways in which one gender can be subordinated, minimized, or devalued compared to another

Well-established social structures that dictate certain patterns of behavior or relationships & are accepted as fundamental part of culture. Ex: family, education, religion, government & economy, & health & medicine

1. Beneficence - acting in patient's best interest
2. Nonmaleficence - avoiding treatments for which risk outweighs benefit (do no harm)
3. Respect for Autonomy - respecting patients' rights to make decisions about their own healthcare
4. Justice - treating similar patients similarly & distributing health resources fairly

The lifestyle of a group of people

• Material Culture
• Symbolic Culture

Physical items one associates w/ a given group. Ex: artwork, emblems, clothing, jewelry, foods, buildings, & tools

Includes ideas associated w/ a cultural group. Ex: mottos, songs, catchphrases, or themes that are pervasive in that culture

Material culture changes more quickly than symbolic culture. (ex: Americans have traditionally been pretty private (symbolic culture), but the invention of smartphones (material culture) has made us very connected all of the sudden

Social difference that impedes interaction