MCAT Psychological Social Foundations Flashcards: 10a Power Privilege Prestige Reproduction

What this deck covers

This deck focuses on 10a Power Privilege Prestige Reproduction, giving you a quick way to review the definitions, rules, and examples that matter most for MCAT Psychological Social Foundations.

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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 habitus in Bourdieu's theory of stratification?

Answer: Internalized dispositions shaping perceptions, preferences, and behavior. Habitus links social structure to individual action unconsciously.

Flashcard 2: What is economic capital in Bourdieu's framework?

Answer: Material wealth and financial assets that can be converted to power. Money and property directly translate to social influence.

Flashcard 3: What is socioeconomic status (SES) on the MCAT?

Answer: Composite of income, education, and occupational prestige. Combines three key indicators to measure social position comprehensively.

Flashcard 4: What is habitus in Bourdieu's theory?

Answer: Internalized dispositions shaped by social position that guide behavior. Class-based patterns of thinking and acting that feel "natural" to individuals.

Flashcard 5: What is absolute poverty?

Answer: Poverty defined by inability to meet basic survival needs. Lacks minimum resources for food, water, shelter, and health.

Flashcard 6: What is the hidden curriculum in education?

Answer: Implicit norms and values taught by schools beyond formal content. Teaches conformity, competition, and class-based expectations.

Flashcard 7: Identify the concept: hiring favors applicants referred by insiders, excluding outsiders.

Answer: Social capital (network-based advantage). Insider networks create unequal access to opportunities.

Flashcard 8: What is intergenerational mobility?

Answer: Change in social status between parents and their children. Intergenerational mobility measures status changes across family lines, highlighting the persistence or disruption of inequality over time.

Flashcard 9: What is intragenerational mobility?

Answer: Change in social class within a person's lifetime. Tracks individual's class changes from career start to end.

Flashcard 10: What is cultural capital in Bourdieu's framework (10A)?

Answer: Valued cultural knowledge, tastes, skills, and credentials. Non-economic assets that provide advantages in social interactions.

Flashcard 11: Which option best indicates prestige rather than power: A) celebrity admiration B) firing employees?

Answer: A) Celebrity admiration. Prestige involves respect without control; power involves control.

Flashcard 12: What is the difference between achieved status and ascribed status?

Answer: Achieved: earned; Ascribed: assigned at birth or involuntarily. Achieved requires effort; ascribed is predetermined.

Flashcard 13: Identify the concept: unequal school funding by neighborhood property taxes maintains class differences.

Answer: Social reproduction. Funding disparities perpetuate educational inequality across generations.

Flashcard 14: What is cultural capital in Bourdieu's framework?

Answer: Nonfinancial assets (knowledge, tastes, skills) that confer advantage. Includes linguistic skills, cultural knowledge, and aesthetic preferences.

Flashcard 15: What is prestige in sociology, as tested on the MCAT?

Answer: Social honor or respect granted to a person or status. Prestige reflects the esteem associated with social positions, influencing status hierarchies and social interactions in sociological frameworks.

Flashcard 16: What is privilege in sociology, as tested on the MCAT?

Answer: Unearned advantages granted by membership in a social group. Based on group identity like race, gender, or class rather than individual merit.

Flashcard 17: Identify the concept: hiring is influenced by referrals from current employees' networks.

Answer: Social capital. Networks provide job access beyond formal application processes.

Flashcard 18: Identify the concept: invisible, unacknowledged advantages tied to dominant identity.

Answer: Privilege. Benefits accrue without effort or awareness.

Flashcard 19: What is the conflict theory view of stratification?

Answer: Inequality is maintained by elites to preserve power and resources. Dominant groups create systems that benefit themselves.

Flashcard 20: What is cultural capital in Bourdieu's theory?

Answer: Nonfinancial assets (knowledge, tastes, skills) that confer advantage. Bourdieu showed how culture functions as a form of capital.

Flashcard 21: What is the meritocracy ideology in stratification as tested on the MCAT?

Answer: Belief that success is earned by individual ability and effort. Ignores structural barriers and inherited advantages.

Flashcard 22: What is socioeconomic status (SES) typically based on in MCAT sociology?

Answer: Income, education level, and occupational prestige. These three factors combine to determine social class position.

Flashcard 23: What is power in a social context (MCAT sociology definition)?

Answer: Ability to influence others and control resources or outcomes. Encompasses both formal authority and informal social influence.

Flashcard 24: What is cultural capital in Bourdieu's framework?

Answer: Valued cultural knowledge, skills, tastes, and credentials. Includes language patterns, artistic preferences, and educational credentials.

Flashcard 25: What is socioeconomic status (SES) typically based on?

Answer: Education, income, and occupational prestige. These three factors combine to determine social position.

Flashcard 26: What is power in sociology as tested on the MCAT (10A)?

Answer: The ability to influence others and control resources or outcomes. Power shapes decisions and resource distribution in social hierarchies.

Flashcard 27: Identify the concept: elite speech norms and "good taste" are rewarded in interviews.

Answer: Cultural capital. Dominant class norms become criteria for success.

Flashcard 28: What is the difference between social mobility and social immobility?

Answer: Mobility is movement in rank; immobility is persistence across ranks. Mobility changes position; immobility maintains same class status.

Flashcard 29: Identify the concept: higher-status groups define norms that others are judged by.

Answer: Cultural hegemony. Dominant culture becomes "common sense," marginalizing alternatives.

Flashcard 30: Identify the concept: a person is treated as representative of a group and denied individuality.

Answer: Stereotyping. Reduces complex individuals to simplified group characteristics.

Flashcard 31: What is symbolic capital in Bourdieu's framework?

Answer: Status and recognition that can be converted into social advantage. Prestige and honor that can be exchanged for material or social benefits.

Flashcard 32: What is habitus in Bourdieu's theory of social reproduction?

Answer: Internalized dispositions shaped by one's social position. These unconscious patterns guide behavior and reproduce class.

Flashcard 33: Identify the concept: a job has low pay but high respect (for example, clergy).

Answer: High prestige with low economic capital. Shows prestige and economic rewards can be independent.

Flashcard 34: What is a closed stratification system?

Answer: System with rigid boundaries and limited social mobility. Birth determines life chances with minimal opportunity for advancement.

Flashcard 35: What is social capital as used in MCAT sociology (10A)?

Answer: Resources gained through social networks, ties, and group membership. Networks provide access to opportunities and information.

Flashcard 36: Which concept best describes control of institutions and decision-making: power, prestige, or privilege?

Answer: Power. Institutional control enables resource allocation and policy-making.

Flashcard 37: What is the functionalist explanation for social stratification (Davis-Moore)?

Answer: Stratification incentivizes filling roles that are difficult or important. Society rewards vital roles with higher status to ensure they're filled.

Flashcard 38: What is social reproduction in sociology?

Answer: Intergenerational transmission of social inequality and status. Mechanisms like education perpetuate class advantages across generations.

Flashcard 39: What is the class system as a form of stratification?

Answer: More open system where position is influenced by achievement and SES. Allows mobility through education and work, though starting point matters.

Flashcard 40: What is relative mobility?

Answer: Mobility compared with others, independent of structural change. Measures individual advancement relative to peers, not overall growth.

Flashcard 41: What is intergenerational mobility in sociology (10A)?

Answer: Change in social position between parents and their children. Compares child's social position to their parents' position.

Flashcard 42: Identify the term for power based on the ability to punish noncompliance.

Answer: Coercive power. Controls behavior through threats of negative consequences or sanctions.

Flashcard 43: What is prestige as a dimension of social stratification?

Answer: Social honor or respect attached to a status or occupation. Distinct from power (control) and wealth (material resources).

Flashcard 44: What is the difference between absolute poverty and relative poverty?

Answer: Absolute: cannot meet basic needs; Relative: below societal standard of living. Absolute lacks necessities; relative compares to community standards.

Flashcard 45: What is structural violence in the context of inequality and power?

Answer: Systemic harm caused by social structures that limit basic needs. Galtung's term links poverty, racism to preventable suffering.

Flashcard 46: What is social capital in the context of inequality?

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

Flashcard 47: Identify the concept: a manager can hire, fire, and set workplace rules for others.

Answer: Power. Power involves direct control over others' actions and resources.

Flashcard 48: What is the hidden curriculum in education?

Answer: Implicit lessons (obedience, norms) that reinforce social inequality. Schools teach compliance and class-based behaviors beyond academics.

Flashcard 49: What is social reproduction in sociology (10A)?

Answer: Intergenerational transmission of social inequality and social status. Explains how inequality persists across generations through various mechanisms.

Flashcard 50: What is intersectionality in analyzing privilege and oppression?

Answer: Overlapping identities create unique, combined patterns of advantage/disadvantage. Crenshaw's framework shows how race, gender, class interact.

Flashcard 51: Identify the concept: unequal school funding by property taxes preserves class gaps.

Answer: Social reproduction. Wealthy areas fund better schools, perpetuating advantages.

Flashcard 52: What is social capital in the context of inequality?

Answer: Resources gained through social networks and group membership. "Who you know" matters as much as what you know in accessing opportunities.

Flashcard 53: What is social reproduction in sociology?

Answer: Intergenerational transmission of social inequality and advantage. Mechanisms include inheritance, education, and cultural transmission.

Flashcard 54: Which concept best explains why a prestigious title increases influence even without new resources?

Answer: Symbolic capital. Honor and recognition translate into social power.

Flashcard 55: What is social reproduction in sociology as tested on the MCAT (10A)?

Answer: Intergenerational transmission of social inequality and social status. Perpetuates class structure through family resources and opportunities.

Flashcard 56: What is human capital in stratification research as tested on the MCAT?

Answer: Skills and education that increase productivity and economic value. Investment in skills yields economic returns in labor markets.

Flashcard 57: What is the difference between absolute and relative poverty?

Answer: Absolute: basic needs unmet; Relative: below societal standard. Absolute poverty denotes survival-level deprivation, while relative poverty measures disparity against community averages, both key to analyzing inequality.

Flashcard 58: What is the difference between absolute poverty and relative poverty?

Answer: Absolute: cannot meet basic needs; relative: below societal standard. Absolute is objective deprivation; relative is comparative disadvantage.

Flashcard 59: What is cultural capital in Bourdieu's theory?

Answer: Valued cultural knowledge, tastes, skills, and credentials. Elite tastes and education function as class markers and barriers.

Flashcard 60: What is socioeconomic status (SES) typically composed of in MCAT sociology?

Answer: Education, income, and occupational status. These three factors determine one's position in social hierarchy.

Flashcard 61: What is social reproduction in sociology?

Answer: Intergenerational transmission of social inequality and class position. Parents' status predicts children's, perpetuating class structure.

Flashcard 62: What is privilege in sociology as tested on the MCAT (10A)?

Answer: Unearned advantages conferred by membership in a favored group. Privilege operates through systemic advantages, not individual merit.

Flashcard 63: What is social capital?

Answer: Resources gained through social networks, trust, and group membership. "Who you know" matters; networks provide access to opportunities.

Flashcard 64: What is socioeconomic status (SES) typically based on?

Answer: Income, education, and occupational status. These three factors combine to determine one's position in social hierarchy.

Flashcard 65: What is prestige in sociology?

Answer: Social honor or respect attributed to a person, role, or occupation. Differs from power/wealth; based on social esteem and reputation.

Flashcard 66: What is social stratification in sociology, as tested on the MCAT (10A)?

Answer: Hierarchical arrangement of groups with unequal access to resources. Creates layers of inequality in society based on resource distribution.

Flashcard 67: What is human capital as used in stratification research?

Answer: Skills and education that increase productivity and labor market value. Investment in self that yields economic returns through employment.

Flashcard 68: What is intragenerational mobility?

Answer: Change in social class within an individual's lifetime. Tracks changes from first job to retirement within one person.

Flashcard 69: What is economic capital in Bourdieu's framework (10A)?

Answer: Material wealth and financial assets that can be invested or spent. Traditional form of capital involving money and property.

Flashcard 70: What is the "Matthew effect" as applied to education or careers?

Answer: Initial advantages compound over time, widening inequality. Named after biblical verse: "to those who have, more will be given."

Flashcard 71: What is the difference between meritocracy and social reproduction?

Answer: Meritocracy rewards merit; social reproduction preserves inequality. One assumes equal opportunity; the other recognizes systemic barriers.

Flashcard 72: What is the difference between social class and status group in Weberian theory?

Answer: Class: economic position; Status group: shared prestige and lifestyle. Weber distinguished economic position from social honor/lifestyle.

Flashcard 73: What is social power in sociology as tested on the MCAT?

Answer: Capacity to influence others or control resources and outcomes. Differs from authority (legitimate) or coercion (force-based).

Flashcard 74: Identify the concept: unequal school funding preserves class differences across generations.

Answer: Social reproduction. Unequal resources perpetuate inequality across generations.

Flashcard 75: What is social reproduction in sociology?

Answer: Transmission of social inequality from parents to children. Mechanisms include inheritance, education, and social networks.

Flashcard 76: What is conspicuous consumption (Veblen)?

Answer: Displaying wealth through visible spending to signal status. Buying expensive items primarily to demonstrate economic power.

Flashcard 77: What is social reproduction?

Answer: Intergenerational transmission of social class and inequality. Parents pass advantages/disadvantages to children, maintaining stratification.

Flashcard 78: Identify the concept: using alumni connections to obtain an internship despite average grades.

Answer: Social capital. Network connections provide advantages beyond individual qualifications.

Flashcard 79: What is intergenerational mobility?

Answer: Change in social class between parents and their children. Compares child's status to parent's status.

Flashcard 80: What is privilege in the context of social stratification?

Answer: Unearned advantages granted by membership in a dominant group. These benefits exist regardless of individual merit or effort.

Flashcard 81: What is prestige in social stratification?

Answer: Social honor or respect granted to a status or role. Differs from power by being based on admiration rather than control.

Flashcard 82: What is symbolic interactionism's definition of a status symbol?

Answer: A visible indicator used to signal social status to others. Examples include luxury cars, designer clothes, or prestigious addresses.

Flashcard 83: What is the Matthew effect in education and stratification?

Answer: Initial advantages compound over time, widening achievement gaps. Named after biblical verse: "to those who have, more will be given."

Flashcard 84: What is intergenerational mobility?

Answer: Change in social position between parents and their children. Compares child's position to parent's at similar life stage.

Flashcard 85: What is the functionalist view of stratification (Davis-Moore thesis)?

Answer: Stratification allocates rewards to fill important societal roles. Argues inequality motivates talent to pursue difficult roles.

Flashcard 86: What is privilege in the context of social stratification?

Answer: Unearned advantages granted by membership in a dominant group. Includes systemic benefits like access, safety, and representation.

Flashcard 87: What is social mobility?

Answer: Movement of individuals or groups within a stratification system. Can be upward, downward, or horizontal in direction.

Flashcard 88: What is symbolic capital in Bourdieu's framework?

Answer: Recognized legitimacy and honor that can be converted into advantage. Prestige and reputation can be exchanged for material benefits.

Flashcard 89: What is power in sociology, as tested on the MCAT?

Answer: The ability to influence others and control resources or outcomes. Power operates through relationships and resource control.

Flashcard 90: What is social capital in sociology (10A)?

Answer: Resources and opportunities gained through social networks. "Who you know" matters - connections provide access to opportunities.

Flashcard 91: Identify the concept: unequal treatment by individuals based on group membership.

Answer: Interpersonal discrimination. Direct person-to-person bias in everyday interactions.

Flashcard 92: What is cultural capital in Bourdieu's framework?

Answer: Valued cultural knowledge, tastes, skills, and credentials. Bourdieu's concept explains how elites maintain advantages.

Flashcard 93: What is power in sociology, as tested on the MCAT?

Answer: Capacity to influence others and control resources or outcomes. Power shapes behavior through authority, coercion, or resource control.

Flashcard 94: What is the caste system as a form of stratification?

Answer: Closed system where social position is ascribed at birth. Hereditary and unchangeable, often reinforced by religious beliefs.

Flashcard 95: What is prestige in sociology, as tested on the MCAT (10A)?

Answer: Social honor or respect granted to a person or status. Differs from power by focusing on social recognition rather than control.

Flashcard 96: What is vertical social mobility (as opposed to horizontal mobility)?

Answer: Movement up or down the social hierarchy. Horizontal is movement within same level (e.g., job change).

Flashcard 97: What is economic capital in discussions of stratification?

Answer: Material wealth and financial assets that can be invested or spent. Unlike other capitals, directly convertible to goods and services.

Flashcard 98: Identify the mechanism: elite families using networks to secure internships for their children.

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

Flashcard 99: Which concept best explains why elite norms in schools advantage high-SES students?

Answer: Cultural capital. Schools reward dominant cultural knowledge and behaviors.

Flashcard 100: What is social reproduction in sociology, as tested on the MCAT?

Answer: Intergenerational transmission of social inequality and status. Families pass advantages/disadvantages to next generations.