MCAT Psychological Social Foundations Flashcards: 8c Status Roles Role Conflict

What this deck covers

This deck focuses on 8c Status Roles Role Conflict, 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 the looking-glass self?

Answer: Self-concept shaped by perceived judgments of others. Cooley's theory: we see ourselves through others' eyes.

Flashcard 2: What is role ambiguity?

Answer: Unclear expectations about a role's duties or boundaries. Creates stress from not knowing proper role performance.

Flashcard 3: What is role set?

Answer: All roles associated with a single status. One status connects to multiple relationships and expectations.

Flashcard 4: What is status set?

Answer: The collection of all statuses held by an individual. Status set includes every social position an individual holds, influencing their overall social identity and interactions.

Flashcard 5: Identify the concept: a parent feels pulled between being nurturing and enforcing discipline in the same role.

Answer: Role strain. Competing demands exist within the single parent role.

Flashcard 6: What is role conflict?

Answer: Incompatibility between expectations of two or more roles. Different roles pull person in opposing directions.

Flashcard 7: What is a master status?

Answer: A status that strongly shapes identity and others' perceptions. Often overshadows other statuses, especially if stigmatized.

Flashcard 8: What is role exit?

Answer: The process of leaving a role central to one's identity. Involves stages: doubt, search, turning point, new identity.

Flashcard 9: Identify the most likely master status in a hospital setting: patient, hobbyist, neighbor.

Answer: Patient. In a hospital, the patient status dominates interactions and perceptions, overshadowing other personal identities.

Flashcard 10: Which status type is illustrated when a person becomes a licensed attorney after education and exams?

Answer: Achieved status. Earned through personal effort, not assigned at birth.

Flashcard 11: Choose the best label: being a first-generation student is assigned at birth or earned later?

Answer: Ascribed status. Ascribed statuses are involuntary and based on inherent traits or family circumstances present from birth.

Flashcard 12: Choose the best label: becoming a licensed physician is an ascribed or achieved status?

Answer: Achieved status. Achieved statuses are acquired through deliberate actions, such as completing rigorous training and certification in a profession.

Flashcard 13: What is a social role?

Answer: A set of expected behaviors tied to a particular status. Roles define how someone in a status should act.

Flashcard 14: What is role conflict?

Answer: Incompatibility between expectations of two or more roles. Arises when multiple roles have contradictory demands.

Flashcard 15: Identify the concept: a physician feels tension between hospital rules and patient advocacy.

Answer: Role conflict. Two roles (employee vs. advocate) create incompatible demands.

Flashcard 16: What is role performance?

Answer: How an individual actually carries out the behaviors of a role. Role performance involves the practical enactment of role expectations, which can vary based on individual interpretation and situational factors.

Flashcard 17: What is role exit?

Answer: The process of disengaging from a role central to identity. Role exit involves a transitional process where individuals detach from significant roles, often requiring adjustment to new identities.

Flashcard 18: What is role-taking in symbolic interactionism?

Answer: Adopting another person's perspective to guide one's behavior. Mead's concept of understanding others' expectations.

Flashcard 19: What is social status in sociology?

Answer: A socially defined position in a group with associated prestige. Combines position in social structure with relative ranking.

Flashcard 20: What is a master status?

Answer: A status that dominates identity and shapes social interactions. Often visible characteristics like disability or celebrity.

Flashcard 21: Identify the concept: A physician feels pressure to see more patients while providing thorough care.

Answer: Role strain. Conflicting demands within the physician role itself.

Flashcard 22: What is the difference between ascribed status and achieved status?

Answer: Ascribed is assigned at birth; achieved is earned through actions. Ascribed statuses are inherent and unchangeable, while achieved statuses result from personal merit or choices in social contexts.

Flashcard 23: What is an achieved status?

Answer: A status obtained through effort, choice, or accomplishment. Reflects meritocracy and individual agency in social mobility.

Flashcard 24: What is a role set?

Answer: The collection of roles associated with a single status. A role set encompasses the array of expectations linked to one status, interacting with different social actors in varied contexts.

Flashcard 25: What is an achieved status?

Answer: A status attained through effort, choice, or accomplishment. Achieved statuses reflect personal agency and accomplishments, allowing mobility within social structures through education or career efforts.

Flashcard 26: Identify the concept: pressure to conform to a role to gain social approval.

Answer: Normative social influence. Normative social influence motivates adherence to role expectations to avoid disapproval and gain acceptance within a group.

Flashcard 27: What is social status in sociology?

Answer: A socially defined position in a group linked to prestige and power. Reflects hierarchical social organization and resource distribution.

Flashcard 28: What is role strain?

Answer: Stress from competing demands within a single role. Occurs when one role has conflicting expectations.

Flashcard 29: What is role-making?

Answer: Modifying a role through negotiation and individual agency. Shows active construction rather than passive acceptance.

Flashcard 30: What is an ascribed status?

Answer: A status assigned at birth or involuntarily later in life. Examples include race, sex, or family background.

Flashcard 31: What is meant by status inconsistency?

Answer: Mismatch in social rank across different statuses (e.g., low income, high education). Status inconsistency creates social ambiguity and potential stress when rankings in different status dimensions do not align.

Flashcard 32: What is role embracement?

Answer: Strong identification with and commitment to a role. Person fully accepts and internalizes role expectations.

Flashcard 33: What is role set?

Answer: The set of roles linked to one status across different relationships. Teacher has roles with students, parents, administrators.

Flashcard 34: What is an ascribed status?

Answer: A status assigned at birth or involuntarily later in life. Examples include race, sex, or family background—not chosen.

Flashcard 35: What is role distance?

Answer: Detachment from a role while still performing it. Creates separation between self and role performance.

Flashcard 36: Identify whether this is role strain or role conflict: a parent must work late and attend a child recital.

Answer: Role conflict. Role conflict stems from incompatible demands across different roles, like balancing professional and familial obligations.

Flashcard 37: What is role exit?

Answer: The process of disengaging from a role central to one's identity. Often involves stages of doubt, search, and adjustment.

Flashcard 38: What is status set?

Answer: All statuses held by an individual at a given time. Shows complexity of modern social positions and identities.

Flashcard 39: What is an ascribed status?

Answer: A status assigned involuntarily, often at birth. Ascribed statuses are determined by factors beyond individual control, such as ethnicity or family background, shaping social interactions from birth.

Flashcard 40: What is an achieved status?

Answer: A status attained through effort, choice, or accomplishment. Examples include education level or career position.

Flashcard 41: What is the relationship between status and role?

Answer: Status is the position; role is the behavioral expectation for it. Status is structural position; role is its performance requirements.

Flashcard 42: What is role overload?

Answer: Difficulty meeting role demands due to limited time or resources. Role overload happens when the cumulative demands of a role exceed an individual's capacity, leading to stress and inefficiency.

Flashcard 43: Which term describes groups that set and enforce norms for a role?

Answer: Reference groups. Reference groups provide standards for behavior and self-evaluation, influencing role conformity through comparison and aspiration.

Flashcard 44: What is impression management in Goffman's dramaturgical theory?

Answer: Strategic control of how one is perceived by others. Life as theater: front stage vs. backstage behavior.

Flashcard 45: What is role strain?

Answer: Stress from competing demands within one role or status. Occurs when single role has contradictory expectations.

Flashcard 46: What is socialization in the context of roles and status?

Answer: Learning norms and role expectations through social interaction. Socialization teaches individuals the cultural norms, values, and role behaviors necessary for functioning within society through ongoing interactions.

Flashcard 47: Which term best fits: among many statuses, being "incarcerated" dominates how others treat the person?

Answer: Master status. Criminal status overrides other identities in social interactions.

Flashcard 48: Identify whether this is role strain or role conflict: a teacher must grade and tutor simultaneously.

Answer: Role strain. Role strain involves internal contradictions within one role, such as a teacher's dual duties that compete for attention.

Flashcard 49: Identify the concept: A student-employee misses class due to work scheduling demands.

Answer: Role conflict. Student and employee roles have incompatible demands.

Flashcard 50: Which option best defines a social role?

Answer: Expected behaviors and obligations tied to a particular status. Social roles outline the normative behaviors and responsibilities expected from individuals occupying specific statuses in society.

Flashcard 51: What is status set?

Answer: The collection of all statuses a person holds at one time. Multiple simultaneous positions like parent, employee, friend.

Flashcard 52: What is meant by social status in sociology?

Answer: A socially defined position in a group associated with prestige. Social status refers to one's position within a societal hierarchy, often linked to levels of respect or influence based on cultural values.

Flashcard 53: What is a social role?

Answer: A set of expected behaviors for a given social status. Guides interaction and maintains social order through predictable patterns.

Flashcard 54: Identify the concept: An intern adopts professional dress and jargon before starting a job.

Answer: Anticipatory socialization. Practicing professional role before officially entering it.