social stratification their life chances.

The systematic process of categorizing and ranking people on a scale of social worth, thus affecting

achieved characteristic A status acquired through some combination of personal choice, effort, and ability. ascribed characteristics their own. (ch. 8) Attributes people have at birth, develop over time, or possess through no effort or fault of

brain drain The emigration from a country of the most educated and most talented people. intergenerational mobility more generations. intragenerational mobility her lifetime. sex A form of vertical mobility in which people move upward or downward in rank over two or

A form of vertical mobility in which a person moves upward or downward in rank duringhis or

A biological concept based on primary sex characteristics.

gender A social distinction based on culturally conceived and learned ideals about appropriate appearance, behavior, and mental and emotional characteristics for males and females. A term describing decisions that are infl uenced by a society's polarized defi nitions of masculinity and gender-schematic femininity rather than by criteria such as selffulfillment, interest, ability, and personal comfort. gender polarization The organizing of social life around male-female ideals, so that people's sex influences every aspect of their life, including how they dress, the time they get up in the morning, what they do before they go to bed at night, the social roles they take on, the things they worry about, and even the ways they express emotion and experience sexual attraction. commercialization of gender ideals The process of introducing products to the market by using advertising andsales campaigns that draw on socially constructed standards of masculinity and femininity. chance Something not subject to human will, choice, or effort it helps determine a person's racial and ethnic classification. choice The act of choosing from a range of possible behaviors or appearances a person's choices may evoke associations with a particular race or ethnic group. context The social setting in which racial and ethnic categories are recognized, constructed, and challenged..

Subgroups within a society that can be distinguished from members of the dominant group by visible minority groups identifying characteristics, including physical and cultural attributes. These subgroups are systematically excluded, whether consciously or unconsciously, from fullparticipation in society and denied equal access to positions of power, privilege, and wealth. melting pot assimilation Cultural blending in which groups accept many new behaviors and values from one another. The exchange produces a new cultural system,which is a blend of the previously separate systems. prejudice A rigid and usually unfavorable judgment about an outgroup that does not change in the face of contradictory evidence and that applies to anyone who shares the distinguishing characteristics of the outgroup. Pluralism (accommodation) - recognition and tolerance of diversity. discrimination Intentional or unintentional unequal treatment of individuals or groups because of attributes unrelated to merit, ability, or past performance-treatmentthat denies equal opportunities to achieve socially valued goals.

nonprejudiced discriminators (fair-weather liberals) Persons who believe in equal opportunity but discriminate because doing so gives them an advantage or because they fail to consider the discriminatory consequences of their actions. institutionalized discrimination The established, customary way of doing things in society-the unchallenged rules, policies, and day-to-day practices established by dominant groups that impede or limit minority members' achievement and keep them in subordinate and disadvantaged positions. It is "systematic discrimination through positions. the regular operations of societal institutions" (Davis 1978, p. 30). selective perception The process in which prejudiced persons notice only the behaviors or events related to an outgroup that support their stereotypes about the outgroup.