SOC 1100 Chapter 6: Chapter 6.docx
Document Summary
Central concept of this chapter is social interaction. In every society, status is one of the building blocks of everyday life. Status is part of the social identity and helps define our relationships to others. Each of us holds many status" at one, this being defined by the term status set. Over a lifetime people gain and lose dozens of statuses. Status set changes over the course of life. Sociologists classify statuses in terms of how people obtain them. Ascribed statuses are matters about which people have little or no choice, in contrast is the achieved status. People have somewhat of a choice in the matter of an achieved status. In practice, most statuses involve some combination of both ascription and achievement, ascribed status affects achieved status. In most societies gender also is included in master statuses, as well as disease.
