| A | B |
|---|
| Socioeconomic status | A social-class ranking that comes from occupation, family status, education, and earned income |
| Upper class | About 4% of the population; divided into the elite and the "newly rich" |
| Middle class | Highly educated professional who work in nonmanual positions; independent small business owners |
| Working class | Blue collar workers, construction, and skill manufacturing - manual labor |
| Stereotypes | Rigid images of a racial or cultural group held whether or not they are true |
| Prejudice | An attitude that prejudges a person, positively or negatively, on the basis of the group to which that person belongs |
| Discrimination | Actual unfair treatment of a person based on their group membership |
| Institutional discrimination | Systematic exclusion of a certain group of people from participating in a particular institution |
| Ethnic nationalism | The belief that one's ethnic group is distinct and should be separate from the larger society |
| Affirmative action | Policies designed to eliminate discriminatory practices in hiring, promotion, and access to opportunity |
| Frustration-agression | A build-up of frustration where prejudice is taken out on a scapegoat |
| Projection | The process where the feelings and behaviors that people find unacceptable in themselves are seen in other people (whether they exist or not) |
| Internal colonialism | The theory that many minority groups live within the larger society in small, "ghetto" populations |
| Gerontology | The study of aging and older people |
| Sexism | Prejudice and discrimination based on gender |
| Ageism | Prejudice and discrimination based on age |
| Church | A religious organization that has strong ties to the larger society |
| Denomination | A small group that has split from a church, but remains largely in agreement with it |
| Religiosity | The depth of a person's religious feelings and how they translate those feelings into action and behavior |
| Fundamentalists | Believers who are devoted to the strict observance of ritual and doctrine |
| Racism | The idea that discriminating against people of other races is justifiable |
| Ethnic groups | A population with a group identity based on a distinct cultural background |
| Minority group | People who share the same characteristics and are discriminated against |
| Segregation | Physically or institutionally separating one group from another |
| Assimilation | When a minority group's disctinctness is absorbed into a dominant culture and disappears |
| Age strata | Divisions of people based on age-related social roles |
| Rites of passage | Coming of age rituals or ceremonies |
| Sex ratio | How many men there are to every 100 women |
| Age cohorts | People of the same age group |
| Life expectancy | The number of years someone can expect to live |
| Religion | Any defined beliefs that make the world understandable |
| Sacred | Something supernatural, transcendent |
| Secularization | Becoming less influenced by religion |
