9.6: Key Terms
- Page ID
- 172105
\( \newcommand{\vecs}[1]{\overset { \scriptstyle \rightharpoonup} {\mathbf{#1}} } \) \( \newcommand{\vecd}[1]{\overset{-\!-\!\rightharpoonup}{\vphantom{a}\smash {#1}}} \)\(\newcommand{\id}{\mathrm{id}}\) \( \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}\) \( \newcommand{\kernel}{\mathrm{null}\,}\) \( \newcommand{\range}{\mathrm{range}\,}\) \( \newcommand{\RealPart}{\mathrm{Re}}\) \( \newcommand{\ImaginaryPart}{\mathrm{Im}}\) \( \newcommand{\Argument}{\mathrm{Arg}}\) \( \newcommand{\norm}[1]{\| #1 \|}\) \( \newcommand{\inner}[2]{\langle #1, #2 \rangle}\) \( \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}\) \(\newcommand{\id}{\mathrm{id}}\) \( \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}\) \( \newcommand{\kernel}{\mathrm{null}\,}\) \( \newcommand{\range}{\mathrm{range}\,}\) \( \newcommand{\RealPart}{\mathrm{Re}}\) \( \newcommand{\ImaginaryPart}{\mathrm{Im}}\) \( \newcommand{\Argument}{\mathrm{Arg}}\) \( \newcommand{\norm}[1]{\| #1 \|}\) \( \newcommand{\inner}[2]{\langle #1, #2 \rangle}\) \( \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}\)\(\newcommand{\AA}{\unicode[.8,0]{x212B}}\)
- absolute poverty
- deprivation so severe that it puts day-to-day survival in jeopardy.
- caste system
- a system in which people are born into a social standing that they will retain their entire lives
- class
- a group who shares a common social status based on factors like wealth, income, education, and occupation
- class system
- social standing based on social factors and individual accomplishments
- class traits
- the typical behaviors, customs, and norms that define each class (also called class markers)
- closed system
- a system of stratification that accommodates little change in social position.
- conspicuous consumption
- the act of buying and using products to make a statement about one’s social standing
- Davis-Moore thesis
- a thesis that argues some social stratification is a social necessity and is functional
- downward mobility
- a lowering of one’s social class
- endogamous marriages
- unions of people within the same social category
- exogamous unions
- unions of spouses from different social categories
- global stratification
- a comparison of the wealth, status, power, and economic stability of countries as a whole
- ideology
- the cultural belief system that justifies a society’s system of stratification
- income
- the money a person earns from work or investments
- intergenerational mobility
- a difference in social class between different generations of a family
- intragenerational mobility
- changes in a person's social mobility over the course of their lifetime.
- meritocracy
- an ideal system in which personal effort—or merit—determines social standing
- open system
- a system of stratification, based on achievement, that allows some movement and interaction between layers and classes.
- primogeniture
- a law stating that all property passes to the firstborn son
- relative poverty
- is not having the means to live the lifestyle of the average person in your country
- social mobility
- the ability to change positions within a social stratification system
- social stratification
- a socioeconomic system that divides society’s members into categories ranking from high to low, based on things like wealth, power, and prestige. Also called inequality.
- socioeconomic status (SES)
- an individual’s level of wealth, power, and prestige
- standard of living
- the level of wealth available to acquire material goods and comforts to maintain a particular socioeconomic lifestyle
- status consistency
- the consistency, or lack thereof, of an individual’s rank across social categories like wealth, power, and prestige
- structural mobility
- a societal change that enables a whole group of people to move up or down the class ladder
- upward mobility
- an increase—or upward shift—in social class
- wealth
- the value of money and assets a person has from, for example, inheritance or salary.