SOCIOL 41 Lecture Notes - Lecture 10: Arthur Schuster, Physical Attractiveness
Document Summary
Any social attribute of a person around which evaluations and beliefs about that person come to be organized. Social interactions use personal and master status characteristics as stereotypic shortcuts to infer what we want/need to know about the other. Diffuse = attributes that provide an indirect indication of a member"s level of ability on the group"s task. Include master statuses (age, gender, race/ethnicity, ses), physical attractiveness, personal effects. Specific = attributes that more directly indicate level of ability on that group task. The tendency for member"s status characteristics to affect group structure and interaction. When status generalization occurs, a member"s status outside a group effects his/her status inside that group. Members who hold higher status in society at large will tend to hold higher status in the group. Accorded more respect, chosen more frequently as leaders, contributions evaluated more positively, exert more influence. Although some formally of equal status, some jurors have more influence on the verdict.
