Deck 6: Social Interaction in Everyday Life

Question 1

"Role conflict" refers to the conflict or incompatibility among the roles linked to two or more statuses.

Answer 1

True

Question 2

The term "master status" refers to being the best in one's occupational field.

Answer 2

False

Question 3

A "role set" refers to all the roles a person has over the course of a lifetime.

Answer 3

False

Question 4

Having "street smarts" really amounts to the ability to make daily events unfold in the way that you want them to.

Question 5

The process by which people disengage from important social roles is termed "role exit."

Question 6

Sociologists use "status" to mean someone's importance.

Question 7

Having a terminal illness may operate as a master status because people can react to the disease as much as they do to the person.

Question 8

People create reality through their social interaction.

Question 9

Typically, each status is linked to several roles.

Question 10

A person's racial or ethnic identity is an ascribed status.

Question 11

Only a few statuses that we hold figure in to our social identity.

Question 12

"Role strain" refers to differences between the same roles when performed by two different people.

Question 13

Being a professional baseball player is mostly an achieved status.

Question 14

The idea that reality is socially constructed means that, to most people, nothing seems real at all.

Question 15

Social structure, including status and role, provides a guide for everyday living.

Question 16

A father who wants to be both a friend and a role model to his son might experience role strain.

Question 17

The global map in this chapter of the text shows that, in general, when a nation's income level is low, the share of housework for women increases.

Question 18

People usually have more statuses than roles.

Question 19

The Thomas theorem states that situations that are defined as real become real due to their consequences.

Question 20

A status set refers to the roles people have over the course of their lifetimes.

Question 21

Because emotions are biologically based, it is incorrect to say they are "socially constructed."

Question 22

In general, how much power someone possesses has little to do with that person's claims regarding personal space.

Question 23

Dramaturgical analysis treats embarrassment as "losing face."

Question 24

Emotions have both a biological and cultural foundation.

Question 25

Because men typically have more power in daily interactions than women, they are more likely to intrude on the personal space of women.

Question 26

The reality people build in their interaction depends only on the actors themselves, not on the larger culture in which they live.

Question 27

In dramaturgical analysis, an examination room in a doctor's office is called a "back region."

Question 28

There are specific gestures that indicate when a person is lying or otherwise engaging in deception.

Question 29

Ending words with "ette" and "ess" denotes femininity, which generally reduces the value of something.

Question 30

Erving Goffman is the sociologist who developed the approach known as dramaturgical analysis.

Question 31

The less incongruity that people perceive between conventional and unconventional social definitions of reality, the greater the potential for humor.

Question 32

People with less power typically have greater personal discretion in terms of how they act in the presence of others.

Question 33

In everyday conversation, men tend to maintain more eye contact than women.

Question 34

Tact is common because embarrassment causes discomfort for both the presenter and members of the audience.

Question 35

According to dramaturgical analysis, a role operates like a part in a play and a status serves as a script.

Question 36

A person's effort to foster certain impressions in the minds of others is called the "presentation of self."

Question 37

Ethnomethodology is the study of how people present themselves to others.

Question 38

People around the world create the same realities in their everyday interactions.

Question 39

Nonverbal communication is communication using body movements, gestures, and facial expressions instead of speech.

Question 40

Employers rarely concern themselves with the emotions of employees.

Question 41

What concept refers to a social position that is received at birth or involuntarily assumed later in life?

A)passive role
B)master status
C)ascribed status
D)achieved status

Question 42

A role set refers to

A)all the roles found in a society.
B)a number of roles attached to a single status.
C)all the roles that are similar in function.
D)a number of roles within any particular organization.

Question 43

Which of the following concepts defines a social position that a person holds?

A)role
B)status
C)role set
D)presentation of self

Question 44

Harold and Sybil are lost while driving to some friends' house.Harold will not stop to ask for directions as Sybil wants him to.This story illustrates the pattern that

A)social interaction is actually mostly random.
B)men and women may have disagreements about who should drive.
C)men avoid asking for directions because they want to keep a sense of control.
D)men are more interested in connectedness than women are.

Question 45

Deborah Tannen claims that women and men communicate similarly.

Question 46

People sometimes use jokes to "put down" others, which is a basic form of social conflict.

Question 47

At any given time you occupy a number of statuses.These statuses make up your

A)master status.
B)role set.
C)achieved statuses.
D)status set.

Question 48

Despite the fact that the world's people live in different cultures, humor "travels well" because it is a universal element of human culture.

Question 49

Which concept refers to a social position that is assumed voluntarily and that reflects a significant measure of personal ability and effort?

A)active role
B)master status
C)ascribed status
D)achieved status

Question 50

The process by which people act and react in relation to others is called

A)social connectedness.
B)social construction.
C)social dynamics.
D)social interaction.

Question 51

Julie is a police officer who finds that wherever she goes in her small town, people seem to think of her as a "cop." Julie is experiencing the effects of which of the following?

A)role exit
B)master status
C)ascribed status
D)status conflict

Question 52

What is the concept that refers to the conflict among roles corresponding to two or more statuses?

A)role conflict
B)role strain
C)role set
D)role exit

Question 53

Which item in the following list might serve as a master status?

A)occupation
B)physical or mental disability
C)gender
D)All of these are correct.

Question 54

Which of the following is involved when a surgeon chooses not to operate on her own son because the personal involvement of motherhood could impair her professional objectivity as a physician?

A)role conflict
B)role strain
C)role ambiguity
D)role exit

Question 55

Akbar is an honors student.In sociological terms, being an honors student is an example of which of the following?

A)role conflict
B)master status
C)ascribed status
D)achieved status

Question 56

Shawna is an excellent artist, but as a mother, she feels that she cannot work and devote enough time to her family.She is experiencing

A)role conflict.
B)role strain.
C)role ambiguity.
D)role exit.

Question 57

Sociologists use what concept to refer to behavior that people expect from someone who holds a particular status?

A)role
B)master status
C)status set
D)role set

Question 58

Which concept refers to the tension among roles connected to a single status?

A)role conflict
B)role strain
C)role ambiguity
D)role exit

Question 59

Which concept refers to a status that has special importance for social identity, often shaping a person's entire life?

A)social status
B)master status
C)ascribed status
D)achieved status

Question 60

Which of the following is involved when a plant supervisor wants to be a good friend and confidant to the workers, but must remain distant in order to rate the workers' performances?

A)role conflict
B)role strain
C)role ambiguity
D)role exit

Question 61

What does the term "presentation of self" mean?

A)efforts to create impressions in the minds of others
B)being very self-conscious
C)interaction that is highly formal
D)trying to take attention away from others

Question 62

"Personal space" refers to

A)owned property, such as a house or land.
B)unowned space in a public place.
C)the surrounding area over which an individual makes some claim to privacy.
D)a feeling of needing isolation from others.

Question 63

Which sociologist developed the approach called dramaturgical analysis?

A)George Herbert Mead
B)Harold Garfinkel
C)Erving Goffman
D)W.I.Thomas

Question 64

Which concept is used to designate the process by which people creatively shape reality as they interact?

A)status interaction
B)social construction of reality
C)interactive reality
D)role reality

Question 65

Nonverbal communication refers to

A)body movements, gestures, and facial expressions.
B)instant messaging and other e-communication.
C)written language.
D)beliefs assumed to be true by everyone.

Question 66

Research suggests that

A)men "read" women better than women "read" men.
B)women "read" men better than men "read" women.
C)neither sex is any better at "reading" the other.
D)both sexes can "read" behavior of own sex better than the other sex.

Question 67

In the United States, people stand farther away from one another when they are talking than two people would in a Middle Eastern nation.This pattern reveals differences in meaning attached to

A)personal hygiene.
B)personal space.
C)facial gestures.
D)the rights of women compared to men.

Question 68

Which of the following is an important element of nonverbal communication?

A)hand gestures
B)eye contact
C)body language
D)All of these are correct.

Question 69

The Thomas theorem states that

A)a role is as a role does.
B)people rise to their level of incompetence.
C)situations defined as real are real in their consequences.
D)people know the world only through their language.

Question 70

Garfinkel's research, an approach called ethnomethodology, involves

A)studying the way people make sense of their everyday surroundings.
B)tracking people's roles over the life course.
C)the study of interaction in terms of theatrical performance.
D)studying unfamiliar cultural systems.

Question 71

Flirting is a playful way of seeing if someone is interested in you without risking outright rejection.From this point of view, flirting illustrates

A)the Thomas theorem.
B)the process of role exit.
C)the social construction of reality.
D)All of these are correct.

Question 72

The study of social interaction in terms of theatrical performance is referred to as

A)ethnomethodology.
B)dramaturgical analysis.
C)the Thomas theorem.
D)the social construction of reality.

Question 73

What is the term for the process by which people disengage from important social roles?

A)role rejection
B)role reversal
C)role loss
D)role exit

Question 74

Which of the following might be part of the classroom performance of a professor?

A)books and notes
B)lectern or desk
C)acting in charge of the situation
D)All of these are correct.

Question 75

Which of the following likely plays a part in the reality we construct through social interaction?

A)social class background
B)the country we live in
C)our ethnicity
D)All of these are correct.

Question 76

The power relationship between a physician and patient is immediately evident when the patient enters the doctor's office because

A)it is up to patients to decide when they will see the doctor.
B)the physician is there to greet the patient.
C)patients must wait until a "gatekeeper" admits them to see the doctor in the office's "back region."
D)All of these are correct.

Question 77

The careful observer can notice clues indicating that someone is telling a lie.People give off these clues because

A)our culture defines specific gestures to convey dishonesty.
B)nonverbal communication is hard for most people to control.
C)few people ever intend to lie.
D)research shows that most criminals really want to be caught.

Question 78

Rebuilding relationships with people who knew you in an earlier period of life is a common experience for those who are undergoing which of the following?

A)role conflict
B)role strain
C)role ambiguity
D)role exit

Question 79

According to Erving Goffman, people usually make efforts to _____ their intentions.

A)idealize
B)reveal
C)hide
D)contradict

Question 80

According to Erving Goffman, we engage in a _____ when we use costumes, props, tone of voice, and gestures to convey information to others.

A)role
B)performance
C)status
D)self