SOCPSY 2YY3 Lecture 5: Social Structure and Personality

• School: McMaster University
• Department: Social Psychology
• Course: SOCPSY 2YY3
• Professor: Kathleen Steeves

Document Summary

Kohn"s article says that we need more perspective on structure. Advocates that immediate environment around us doesn"t count just as structure. Interpretations matter but we may also be impacted by large structures that we aren"t aware of. Focus on all of the structures that impact an individual. Social structure - persisting patterns of behaviour and interactions between people/social conditions in a social condition. Institutions - system of behavioural and relationship patterns that are densely interwoven and enduring and function across an entire society (ex. Patterns in society that serve as guidelines for behaviour. Culture - cognitive and evaluative beliefs about what is/what ought to be that are shared by members of a social system and are passed onto new members. We must be able to identify the elements or components of society most likely to affect a given attitude or behaviour". Roles (things that provide guidelines about how you are to perform)