MCAT Psychological Social Foundations Flashcards: 10a Cultural Social Capital Meritocracy

What this deck covers

This deck focuses on 10a Cultural Social Capital Meritocracy, giving you a quick way to review the definitions, rules, and examples that matter most for MCAT Psychological Social Foundations.

How to use these flashcards

Work through these flashcards in short sessions. Try to answer each prompt before flipping the card, then revisit any cards you miss until the explanation feels automatic.

Flashcard 1: What is bonding social capital?

Answer: In-group ties that strengthen solidarity within a relatively homogeneous group. Strengthens group cohesion but may limit exposure to new resources.

Flashcard 2: Identify the concept: a mentor introduces a student to a professional network outside their community.

Answer: Bridging social capital. This scenario exemplifies bridging social capital by linking individuals to external opportunities via diverse ties.

Flashcard 3: Which term describes cultural capital embodied as manners, accent, and tastes?

Answer: Embodied cultural capital. Internalized through socialization as habits and dispositions.

Flashcard 4: What is credentialism in the context of cultural capital and education?

Answer: Overreliance on degrees as signals of ability, regardless of actual skills. Inflated importance of credentials creates barriers to mobility.

Flashcard 5: What is a weak tie in social network theory?

Answer: Acquaintance-level connection that often provides novel information or opportunities. Distant connections bridge social circles and offer diverse resources.

Flashcard 6: What is the sociological critique of meritocracy regarding inequality?

Answer: It can legitimize inequality by ignoring unequal starting resources and barriers. Critics argue meritocracy masks systemic disadvantages, justifying disparities as deserved rather than inherited.

Flashcard 7: What is cultural capital in sociology (Bourdieu)?

Answer: Nonfinancial cultural knowledge and skills that confer social advantage. Includes tastes, manners, and knowledge that signal class position.

Flashcard 8: What is cultural capital in sociology (Bourdieu)?

Answer: Nonfinancial cultural knowledge, skills, and tastes that confer status. Bourdieu defines cultural capital as intangible assets like education and tastes that enable social mobility and reproduce class distinctions.

Flashcard 9: Which option best describes bonding social capital?

Answer: Strong ties within a homogeneous group that provide support and solidarity. Bonding social capital fosters cohesion and emotional support within similar social groups.

Flashcard 10: What is the Matthew effect as it relates to capital accumulation?

Answer: Initial advantage compounds, producing increasing inequality over time. "Rich get richer" phenomenon where advantages accumulate exponentially.

Flashcard 11: What is symbolic capital in Bourdieu's framework?

Answer: Prestige, recognition, and legitimacy that function as social power. Symbolic capital arises when other capitals are recognized and legitimized, granting authority in social fields.

Flashcard 12: What is social capital in sociology?

Answer: Resources and advantages gained through social networks and relationships. Networks provide access to opportunities, information, and support.

Flashcard 13: Identify the concept: a job offer comes from a friend's referral rather than an open posting.

Answer: Social capital. Network connections provide job access beyond formal channels.

Flashcard 14: Identify the best label: a parent's alumni network helps a student get an interview.

Answer: Social capital. Network connections provide privileged access to opportunities.

Flashcard 15: Which term describes unequal access to valued cultural signals that advantages higher-SES students in school?

Answer: Cultural capital advantage. Cultural capital advantage privileges students with dominant cultural knowledge, exacerbating educational inequalities.

Flashcard 16: Which option best describes how elite internships often function in stratification?

Answer: They convert social connections into career opportunities and status. Networks matter more than merit in accessing elite positions.

Flashcard 17: What is habitus in Bourdieu's theory of cultural capital?

Answer: Internalized schemas and dispositions shaped by one's social environment. Unconscious patterns of behavior reflecting one's social position.

Flashcard 18: Which type of social capital connects individuals to institutions and authority?

Answer: Linking social capital. Vertical connections to power structures enable resource access.

Flashcard 19: Which term refers to the gap between one's cultural norms and those valued by dominant institutions?

Answer: Cultural mismatch. Cultural mismatch occurs when minority cultural practices conflict with institutional expectations, hindering success.

Flashcard 20: Identify the concept: owning a grand piano and curated art collection signals high status.

Answer: Objectified cultural capital. Objectified cultural capital uses material possessions to convey and reinforce socioeconomic status.

Flashcard 21: What is bridging social capital?

Answer: Connections across diverse groups that provide broader access to resources. Cross-group ties expand opportunities and reduce social isolation.

Flashcard 22: Identify the concept: a student gains an internship through a family friend's referral.

Answer: Social capital. This example illustrates social capital as leverage from personal networks to secure professional advantages.

Flashcard 23: Which term describes cultural capital as credentials such as degrees or titles?

Answer: Institutionalized cultural capital. Formal recognition that legitimizes cultural competence.

Flashcard 24: Which option best describes bridging social capital?

Answer: Weaker ties across diverse groups that provide new information and opportunities. Bridging social capital connects disparate groups, enabling access to novel resources and broader networks.

Flashcard 25: Identify the concept: blaming poverty on laziness rather than unequal opportunity.

Answer: Fundamental attribution error (dispositional attribution). Overemphasizes personal traits while ignoring situational factors.

Flashcard 26: Which option best describes objectified cultural capital?

Answer: Material cultural goods valued by society (for example, books, art, instruments). Physical objects that signal cultural knowledge and class position.

Flashcard 27: What is the hidden curriculum in schooling?

Answer: Implicit norms and behaviors schools teach beyond formal academics. Teaches conformity, punctuality, and deference to authority.

Flashcard 28: What is the hidden curriculum in schools?

Answer: Implicit norms and values taught indirectly (for example, obedience, punctuality). Schools socialize students into dominant cultural values beyond academics.

Flashcard 29: Which belief most directly supports meritocracy as an explanation for inequality?

Answer: Success primarily reflects individual effort and talent. Ignores structural barriers and assumes equal starting conditions.

Flashcard 30: Identify the concept: a student's elite accent and etiquette are rewarded in interviews.

Answer: Embodied cultural capital. Embodied cultural capital rewards internalized traits from elite socialization in evaluative settings.

Flashcard 31: What is social reproduction in education and stratification?

Answer: Transmission of class advantages across generations through institutions. Social reproduction maintains class structures by passing privileges via education and cultural mechanisms.

Flashcard 32: Which type of social capital connects people within a similar group identity?

Answer: Bonding social capital. Strong ties within homogeneous groups provide emotional support.

Flashcard 33: What is habitus in Bourdieu's theory?

Answer: Durable dispositions shaped by upbringing that guide perceptions and actions. Habitus represents ingrained habits and mindsets from one's social environment, influencing behavior in various fields.

Flashcard 34: Identify the concept: a hiring manager favors applicants from elite universities.

Answer: Institutionalized cultural capital. Elite credentials function as cultural capital in hiring decisions.

Flashcard 35: Which type of tie most often provides access to new job information across groups?

Answer: Weak ties. Granovetter showed weak ties connect to different social circles.

Flashcard 36: What is the "myth of meritocracy" most directly used to explain?

Answer: Persistence of inequality despite claims that success is purely earned. Structural advantages contradict claims of purely merit-based success.

Flashcard 37: Identify the concept: a bachelor's degree is used as a hiring screen for many jobs.

Answer: Institutionalized cultural capital. Institutionalized cultural capital serves as a gatekeeping mechanism by validating competence through formal credentials.

Flashcard 38: What is social capital in sociology?

Answer: Resources and benefits gained through social networks and relationships. Networks provide access to opportunities and information.

Flashcard 39: What is habitus in Bourdieu's theory of social reproduction?

Answer: Internalized dispositions and norms shaped by one's social environment. Unconscious patterns of behavior learned from one's class position.

Flashcard 40: What is the Matthew effect as applied to education and achievement?

Answer: Early advantages compound over time, producing widening achievement gaps. The Matthew effect describes how initial disparities amplify over time through cumulative advantages in education.

Flashcard 41: What is social reproduction in the context of capital and stratification?

Answer: Intergenerational transmission of social advantage and disadvantage. Class advantages persist across generations through capital transfer.

Flashcard 42: What is objectified cultural capital?

Answer: Cultural goods (for example, books, instruments, art) that signal status. Objectified cultural capital includes physical objects that embody cultural value and can be transmitted or sold.

Flashcard 43: Identify the concept: parents teach interview etiquette and "professional" speech patterns.

Answer: Cultural capital. Parents transmit class-based behaviors and communication styles.

Flashcard 44: Identify the concept: unequal school resources produce unequal outcomes across classes.

Answer: Structural inequality (institutionalized inequality). Systemic barriers create persistent disparities between groups.

Flashcard 45: What is a strong tie in social network theory?

Answer: Close, frequent, emotionally intense relationship (for example, family, best friends). Deep bonds provide emotional support but limited new information.

Flashcard 46: What is embodied cultural capital?

Answer: Internalized dispositions, language style, and skills acquired through socialization. Embodied cultural capital consists of long-lasting personal attributes developed through cultural immersion and family upbringing.

Flashcard 47: Which option best describes institutionalized cultural capital?

Answer: Credentials that certify competence (for example, degrees and licenses). Formal recognition that converts cultural knowledge into economic value.

Flashcard 48: What is economic capital in Bourdieu's framework?

Answer: Material wealth and financial resources that can be directly used or invested. In Bourdieu's theory, economic capital encompasses tangible monetary assets that can be converted into other forms of capital.

Flashcard 49: What is meritocracy as an ideology of stratification?

Answer: Belief that status and rewards reflect individual ability and effort. Assumes success is earned, ignoring structural advantages.

Flashcard 50: What is cultural capital in sociology (Bourdieu)?

Answer: Nonfinancial cultural knowledge, skills, tastes that confer social advantage. Bourdieu's concept includes education, tastes, and behaviors that signal class.

Flashcard 51: Which term describes the belief that success is earned solely through hard work and talent?

Answer: Meritocratic ideology. Meritocratic ideology attributes outcomes to personal qualities, often overlooking structural inequalities.

Flashcard 52: What is the main critique of meritocracy in stratified societies?

Answer: It obscures structural inequality by attributing outcomes to individual merit. Meritocracy ideology masks how privilege shapes outcomes.

Flashcard 53: What is institutionalized cultural capital?

Answer: Credentials (for example, degrees) that certify cultural competence. Institutionalized cultural capital provides official recognition of skills, enhancing employability and social standing.

Flashcard 54: Which term describes cultural capital in objects like books, art, or instruments?

Answer: Objectified cultural capital. Physical possessions that signal cultural knowledge and status.

Flashcard 55: What is social reproduction in relation to cultural capital?

Answer: Intergenerational transmission of advantage that maintains class stratification. Cultural capital passes from parents to children, preserving inequality.

Flashcard 56: What is social capital in sociology?

Answer: Resources and benefits gained through social networks and relationships. Social capital refers to the advantages derived from one's connections, facilitating access to opportunities and resources.

Flashcard 57: Which type of social capital links people across different social groups?

Answer: Bridging social capital. Weak ties across diverse groups expand opportunities.

Flashcard 58: What does Bourdieu mean by a social field?

Answer: A structured social arena where actors compete for valued forms of capital. Bourdieu's social field is a competitive space governed by specific rules where agents vie for dominance using capitals.

Flashcard 59: Identify the best label: a student learns debate norms that match elite universities.

Answer: Cultural capital (embodied). Speech patterns and argumentation styles match dominant class norms.

Flashcard 60: What is meritocracy as a model of social stratification?

Answer: Status and rewards are allocated based on individual merit and achievement. Assumes equal opportunity and rewards based on ability/effort.

Flashcard 61: Which statement best describes how cultural capital can affect teacher expectations?

Answer: Shared norms with teachers can be misread as higher ability and motivation. Class-based behaviors are interpreted as intelligence or effort.