Society: Ch.8 Social Stratification

Social mobility refers to *changes in people's positions in the social hierarchy*.

*True*: For most people in the United States, *social standing* remains *much the same*.

*False*: Social stratification is found in *all* societies.

*False*: *Caste systems* are typical of *low-income* (traditional, agrarian) societies.

*False*: In class systems, *social categories* are *less* clearly and rigidly defined.

*True*: *Class systems assign social position based on both *birth* and *individual achievement*.

*True*: As *meritocracy* increases, *social mobility* also increases.

*False*: People in the *U.S.* are *more* likely to experience social mobility; and people in *Great Britain* are *less* likely to experience social mobility.

*False*: Although the UK has a class system today, a small number of British families still have *evident aristocratic backgrounds*.

*False*: In reality, the Soviet Union was *not classless at all*. The Soviet people were actually stratified into *four unequal categories*.

*False*: Structural social mobility refers to *a shift in the social position of large numbers of people* due more to *changes in society itself* than to individual efforts.

Ideology refers to *ideas* that support *social stratification*.

*False*: The Davis-Moore thesis implies that *social stratification* has *beneficial consequences* for the operation of a society.

*True*: Max Weber said that *social stratification* involved *these three distinct dimensions*.

*False*: Conspicuous consumption refers to buying and using products because of *the "statement" they make about social position*.

*False*: The *Kuznets curve* shows that greater *technological sophistication* is generally accompanied by greater *social stratification*.

*True*: The richest 20 percent of U.S. families earn *48 percent of all income*, while the bottom 20 percent earn only about *4 percent*.

*True*: The wealth of rich people is not only *greater*, but more of it is in the *form of investments*.

*True*: In general, *white-collar occupations* have *more prestige* than blue-collar occupations.

*False*: Although education is a right, and industrial societies have expanded opportunities, *there is still a lot of inequality in schooling*.

*False*: *White people* have a *higher overall occupational standing* than African Americans and also receive *more schooling*.

*True*: Hispanic families, on average, *lag behind non-Hispanic white families* in both *income and wealth*.

*False*: In the United States, there are *more people* in the *lower class* than in the upper class.

*True*: The *working class* is sometimes called the "*lower-middle class*."

*False*: Intergenerational mobility refers to *upward or downward* social mobility of *children* in relation to their parents.

*Intragenerational* mobility refers to changes in social position *within an individual's lifetime*.

*False*: People who marry and stay married accumulate *about twice* as much wealth as people who remain single.

*False*: The expansion of the global economy has moved industrial production overseas, causing a loss of factory jobs and creating more low-wage service work in the U.S. However, the expansion has helped create more high-paying jobs in law, finance, marketing, and computer technology.

*True*: The age category of the U.S. population most likely to be poor is *children and young adults under age twenty-four*.

*False*: *Twenty-three percent* of all poor people are *African American*; and seventy-one percent of all poor people are white.

*True*: William J. Wilson claims that *many central cities no longer have enough jobs to support the families living there*.

*False*: The reform has *greatly reduced the number of people receiving welfare*, but it has *done little to reduce the extent of poverty*. Instead, it has weakened families and encouraged poor people to become dependent on government handouts.

*True*: Societal factors that contribute to homelessness include *low wages* and *a lack of low-income housing*.

*True*: In the wake of the recession that began in 2007, the majority of U.S. adults say *their belief* that their family can achieve the American dream has *declined*.

Social stratification refers to *ranking categories of people in a hierarchy*.

We see that social stratification *gives some people more privileges and opportunities* than others.

*what is unequal* varies; *how unequal people are* varies; and *why people are unequal* varies from one society to another.

social stratification based on *ascription*, or *birth*.

He can expect to *have the same social standing as his parents*.

You would expect your marriage to be *endogamous*.

Based on birth, you would be.... - raised to do a certain type of job; - required to marry someone of your own social category; and - encouraged to socialize with other people within your own category.

replaces *one kind of inequality* with another.

"Meritocracy" refers to social stratification *based entirely on personal merit*.

The degree of status consistency is *higher in caste systems* than in class systems.

The college professor can be described as having *low status consistency*.

The point of the story about passenger deaths is that *social stratification is important and can sometimes be a matter of life and death*.

The law of *primogeniture* refers to the historical practice of passing on property to only the first-born male descendant.

One good indication is the importance people attach to *accent in speech*.

In 1917, *the Russian Revolution* placed *productive property* under the control of *the state*.

The concept of *structural* social mobility refers to change in *the social position of many people* due to changes in society itself.

In the People's Republic of China, a *new set of social classes* is *gradually emerging*.

Ideology is found in *both class and caste systems*.

According to the Davis-Moore thesis, more *important jobs* must *provide enough rewards* to attract the talent necessary to perform them.

A system of unequal rewards increases productivity by.... - encouraging people to *want an important job*; - motivating people to *work longer, harder, or better*; and - encouraging people to *gain the schooling and skills needed to perform more important jobs*.

*Herbert Spencer* coined the concept *"survival of the fittest"*.

Social stratification in a capitalist society always involves *class conflict*.

The idea that *social inequality benefits society* is associated with the *structural-functional* approach.

The idea that *social inequality is harmful and divides society* is associated with the *social-conflict* approach.

Work involving mostly mental activity is called *white-collar* work.

The statement, *"Wealth is no longer concentrated in the hands of a few"*, is not a reason given for why a socialist revolution never took place in capitalist societies.

A socialist revolution never took place in capitalist societies because.... - Stock places ownership of companies in the hands of tens of millions of people; - Living standards for the majority have gone up; and - The law affords workers far more legal protections.

The *white-collar* category correctly describes the work of a district sales manager for a small corporation.

- Living standards in the United States have risen since Marx's lifetime; - More workers have unions to represent them than in Marx's lifetime; - Today, laws enhance workplace safety and set minimum wages, which was not the case during Marx's lifetime; and - Today, ordinary working people *still* experience the effects of social inequality.

In contrast, Weber envisioned inequality in terms of *a socioeconomic ranking*.

*Max Weber* claimed that *agrarian* societies give special importance to *social prestige or honor*.

A common micro-level pattern involving social interaction is that *people tend to socialize with others of about the same social position*.

The concept "conspicuous consumption" refers to *the practice of buying things* to make *a statement about one's social position*.

Income inequality is greatest in *Latin America*.

*Income* refers to earnings from work or any investments.

The total amount of financial assets, minus any debts, is referred to as *wealth*.

In 2010, the median income for U.S. families was *$60,395*.

The wealthiest 1 percent of U.S. families (the "super-rich") controls about *35 percent* of the nation's privately held wealth.

Occupational rankings are *similar in all high-income nations*.

About *one-third* of the richest people in the United States gained at least some of their fortune from inheritance.

You would think of social stratification in terms of *a multidimensional status hierarchy*.

Being in the upper-upper class is usually the result of *birth*; and, Being in the lower-upper class is more a matter of *achievement*.

The family of actor Will Smith and actress Jada Pinkett Smith would be best described as *lower-upper class*.

Roughly 40 to 45 percent of the U.S. population falls within the *middle class*.

*Working class* people might also be described as *lower-middle class*.

According to Marx, *the working class* forms the core of the industrial proletariat.

People of low social position are more *liberal* on *economic* issues and are more *conservative* on *social* issues.

The concept, *intragenerational social mobility*, refers to change in social position during a person's lifetime.

Social mobility is lowest for people at the top and the bottom of the wealth hierarchy

*Marrying and staying married* tends to raise your social standing.

In the United States, people of *high social position* are most likely to vote.

Relative poverty is *found everywhere*.

In 2010, about *15.1 percent* of the U.S. population was *officially counted as poor*.

*Children and young adults under twenty-four years of age* have the highest poverty rate.

The concept "feminization of poverty" refers to the fact that, in the United States, *women make up an increasing percentage of the poor*.

*Central cities* have the highest rate of poverty in the United States.

The anthropologist Oscar Lewis suggested the cause of poverty lies in *a lower-class culture of poverty*.

You are in agreement with *William Julius Wilson*.

Critics of the 1996 welfare reforms claim that the new system *has done little to reduce poverty in the United States.*

*One-third* of all homeless people consist of *families*.