Chapter+3-+Socialization

Chapter 3: Socialization

Terms:

Socialization- the lifelong social experience by which people develop their human potential and learn culture
 * Olive through her experience in highschool, learns what society looks down upon (adultery) and what it is like to be against most of the peer group.

Personality- a person’s fairly consistent patterns of acting, thinking, and feeling
 * Marianne acts like she is perfect because she is a devoted Christian and a leader of many groups. She believes that other people need to be more committed to God and should not be acting out against her moral standards.

Self- part of an individual’s personality composed of self- awareness and self-image
 * Rhiannon through her social interaction with Olive finds that Olive not being honest with her symbolizes the end of their friendship

Looking glass self- self- image based on how we think others see us
 * Olive thinks that everyone at highschool thinks of her as a slut, so she begins wearing promiscuous clothing and pretends to sleep with more people

Mass media- means for delivering impersonal communications to a vast audience
 * Olive uses mass media when she does her web cam show.

Formal operational stage- the level of human development at which individuals think abstractly and critically
 * Olive is at the formal operational stage of development because she understands that fake sleeping with Brandon will help him out.

Cohort- category of people with something in common, usually their age
 * Marianne is part of the Cross Your Heart group that are all Christians.

Ego- person’s conscious efforts to balance innate pleasure-seeking drives with the demands of society
 * Olive uses here ego when she keeps her temper when the Cross Your Heart group are protesting against her.

**Significant others:** people, such as parents, who have special importance for socialization
 * An example of a significant other in this movie is Olive’s parents. When Olive is sent to the principal’s office for calling Nina a bad word, Olive’s parents are supportive and understanding. Olive’s parents have an important influence on instilling certain values in Olive and respect their daughter’s choices.

**Generalized other:** widespread cultural norms and values we use as a reference in evaluating ourselves **Peer group:** a social group whose members have interests, social position, and age in common **Anticipatory socialization:** learning that helps a person achieve a desired position
 * The people who attend Melody Bostic’s party are considered generalized others for Brandon and Olive. Olive and Brandon show up at Melody Bostic’s party because they want their peers to think that they are having sexual intercourse. The people at the party are considered “cool”, so if they think Brandon is a “player”, he will be accepted by his peers.
 * Marianne’s conservative church group could be considered a peer group. This group of people shares similar interests, social position, and age. For example, the members of the church group are all wealthy white teenagers who are devoted to maintaining Christian values in their school.
 * Micah joins the church group at school and conforms to their values in order to date Marianne. Although Micah acts like he has morals so he can date Marianne, he actually engages in sinful behavior.