Chapter 4 Societies and Nations

1. Chapter 4Societies and Nations Key Terms

2. society A population that is organized in a cooperative manner to carry out the major functions of life. social structureThe recurring patterns of behavior that people create through their interactions, their exchange of information, and their relationships.

3. groupAny collection of people who interact on the basis of shared expectations regarding one another's behavior. statusA socially defined position in a group.

4. roleThe way a society defines how an individual is to behave in a particular status. role expectationsA society's expectations about how a role should be performed, together with the individual's perceptions of what is required in performing that role.

5. institutionA more or less stable structure of statuses and roles devoted to meeting the basic needs of people in a society. differentiationThe processes whereby sets of social activities performed by one social institution are divided among different institutions.

6. pastoral societyA society whose primary means of subsistence is herding animals and moving with them over a wide expanse of grazing land. horticultural societyA society whose primary means of subsistence is raising crops, which it plants and cultivates, often developing an extensive system for watering the crops.

7. social stratificationThe process whereby the members of a society are sorted into different statuses. open societyA society in which social mobility is possible for everyone.

8. closed societyA society in which social mobility does not exist. capitalismA system for organizing the production of goods and services that is based on markets, private property, and the business or company.

9. gemeinschaftA term used to refer to the close, personal relationships of small groups and communities. gesellschaftA term used to refer to the well-organized but impersonal relationships among the members of modern societies.

10. primary groupA small group characterized by intimate, face-to-face associations. secondary groupA social group whose members have a shared goal or purpose but are not bound together by strong emotional ties.

11. role conflictConflict that occurs when in order to perform one role well a person must violate the expectations associated with another role.  role strainConflict that occurs when the expectations associated with a single role are contradictory.

12. ascribed statusA position or rank that is assigned to an individual at birth and cannot be changed. achieved statusA position or rank that is earned through the efforts of the individual.

13. master statusA status that takes precedence over all of an individual's other statuses. stateA society's set of political structures.

14. nation-stateThe largest territory within which a society's political institutions can operate without having to face challenges to their sovereignty.