Deck 6: Social Interaction in Everyday Life

Question 1

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 chapter-opening 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 it makes them dependent on someone else.
D) men are more interested in connectedness than women are.

Answer 1

C

Question 2

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

Answer 2

B

Question 3

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

Answer 3

D

Question 4

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

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

Question 5

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

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

Question 6

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

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

Question 7

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 8

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 9

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 10

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 11

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 12

Which of the following concepts defines who and what we are in relation to others?

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

Question 13

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 14

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 15

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 16

At a 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 17

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 18

Shawna is an excellent artist but, as a mother, finds she cannot devote enough time to her family. She is experiencing:

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

Question 19

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 20

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 21

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

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

Question 22

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 the above are correct.

Question 23

At web sites such as Second Life, people:

A) can engage in whatever behavior they can imagine.
B) are able to construct a virtual reality.
C) can create, sell, or buy the products they create.
D) All of the above are correct.

Question 24

Which of the following is an important element of non-verbal communication?

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

Question 25

The power relationship between 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 the above are correct.

Question 26

"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 27

In the United States, people stand farther away from one another when speaking than do two people 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 28

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 29

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 30

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 31

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 most criminals really want to be caught.

Question 32

Smiling and making polite remarks to people we do not like is an example of:

A) making another feel embarrassment.
B) exercising power over another.
C) idealizing a personal performance.
D) losing face.

Question 33

Flirting is a way of seeing if someone is interested in you without risking 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 the above are correct.

Question 34

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

Question 35

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 36

Which of the following is likely to play 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 the above are correct.

Question 37

Which of the following phrases was used by Erving Goffman to refer to being embarrassed in a social situation?

A) "breaking" a role
B) "idealizing" a performance
C) "exiting" a role
D) "losing face"

Question 38

In terms of dramaturgical analysis, another term for helping a person to "save face," or avoid embarrassment, is:

A) role exit.
B) tact.
C) idealization.
D) creating personal space.

Question 39

Garfinkel's research, 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 40

Which sociologist developed the approach called dramaturgical analysis?

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

Question 41

Based on research around the world, Paul Ekman concludes that people everywhere have how many basic emotions?

A) six
B) three
C) one
D) None of the above is correct emotions vary from culture to culture.

Question 42

Humor is created when people:

A) set up double meanings that are conventional and unconventional.
B) say things that have no meaning at all.
C) speak with great clarity.
D) say things that offend others.

Question 43

Looking at humor from a structural-functional viewpoint, jokes:

A) are often used to safely express potentially disruptive sentiments.
B) are often used to relieve tension-"lightening" a situation.
C) can be used as a form of tact, stating, "Hey, it was only a joke!"
D) All of the above are correct.

Question 44

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

Question 45

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

Question 46

The idea of "getting" a joke, according to the text, depends on:

A) knowing the joke teller well.
B) having a different social background than the joke teller.
C) understanding the two realities involved and appreciating their difference.
D) understanding exactly why someone is telling a joke.

Question 47

In general, an important foundation of humor is:

A) incongruity-differences in meaning.
B) differences in social standing.
C) gender differences.
D) differences in culture.

Question 48

When interacting with people of an unfamiliar cultural background:

A) telling jokes is a good way to "break the ice."
B) we find people everywhere enjoy many of the same jokes.
C) we find that some cultures do not have humor.
D) what is funny to people in one society may not be funny to those from another society.

Question 49

Arlie Hochschild explains that companies typically:

A) try to regulate the emotions of workers.
B) focus on behavior rather than emotions.
C) encourage the free expression of emotions.
D) All of the above are correct.

Question 50

People generate reality in their social interaction.

Question 51

Cultures differ in terms of:

A) what triggers emotions.
B) the rules for how people display emotions.
C) how emotional we expect people to be.
D) All of the above are correct.

Question 52

Women often take the family name of men upon marriage. In sociological terms, this is an example of how language can be used to convey:

A) power over others.
B) personal knowledge of others.
C) the importance of others.
D) All of the above are correct.

Question 53

In her study of women's abortions experiences, Jennifer Keys discovered that feelings are guided by:

A) biological processes over which people have no control.
B) our inner selves.
C) "emotional scripts."
D) All of the above are correct.

Question 54

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

Question 55

Ekman claims that a major function of emotions is to:

A) let us be "ourselves."
B) support group life by forging connections with others.
C) limit the power of society over us.
D) give people a feeling of independence from others.

Question 56

From a social-conflict point of view, jokes:

A) tend to bring people together.
B) can be a way of making one category of people feel good at the expense of another.
C) are a good way of reducing conflict in society.
D) All of the above are correct.

Question 57

Which of the following best describes a "well-told" joke?

A) The unconventional and conventional definitions of reality are given so quickly that people will not understand the difference.
B) There is a very sharp contrast between the conventional and unconventional definitions of reality.
C) The conventional and unconventional definitions of reality are virtually the same.
D) All of the above are correct.

Question 58

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

Question 59

The English language often treats as ______ whatever has greater value, power, or importance.

A) gender-free
B) feminine
C) masculine
D) humorous

Question 60

Tact is a common response in potentially embarrassing situations because:

A) we like most people with whom we interact.
B) our cultural norms demand looking out for others.
C) everyone feels discomfort when a constructed reality breaks down.
D) most people are unsure how to act in most situations.

Question 61

Being a professional baseball player is mostly an achieved status.

Question 62

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

Question 63

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

Question 64

Having "street smarts" really amounts to the ability to take charge and making everyday events unfold in the way you want.

Question 65

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

Question 66

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

Question 67

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

Question 68

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

Question 69

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

Question 70

Typically, each status is linked to several roles.

Question 71

The global map shows that, in general, the lower a nation's average income, the greater the share of housework that is done by women.

Question 72

Having a terminal illness may operate as a master status insofar as people react to the disease as much as to the person.

Question 73

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

Question 74

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

Question 75

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

Question 76

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

Question 77

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

Question 78

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

Question 79

People usually have more statuses than they have roles.

Question 80

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