Sociology question

STATUS

& Expectation States

ORGANIZING

01. EXPECTATION STATES THEORY

Macro-level applicability

MACRO-LEVEL APPLICABILITY

From an expectation states theory perspective, social

inequality arises when members of one group are

perceived to have greater status & prestige than

members of another group

Social Change

Social Change

DISTINCTION

Distinction occurs when members of a

group systematically perceive that some

members have a structural advantage

LEGITIMIZATION

Systematic perceptions develop as individuals

reinforce these beliefs in

interactions with members of both high &

low status groups

DISRUPTION

By understanding how these beliefs form &

lead to certain groups becoming marginalized, EST provides insight for breaking these

patterns

02.EXPECTATION STATES THEORY

Critiques

CRITIQUES

EST suggests that status cues create performance expectations, which lead to

interaction inequalities

Socially significant characteristics

Social rewards

Behavioral interchange patterns

Performance expectations

Behavioral inequality/ status hierarchies

Critics argue that performance expectations could possibly be caused by neural impulses instead of cognitive processes

CRITIQUES

Despite the large amount of research utilizing models of

cognition & status stereotypes, they are subject to certain

limitations that account for their failures to address important features of social cognition

CRITIQUES

One critique challenges the images of humans as

mechanistic or rationalistic information

processors

Humans use heuristics, make sloppy assumptions about the world, & are influenced in their thinking by emotional, motivational, & other factors

A

Many decision-making processes are characterized by a limited amount of rationality

B

EXAMPLE ONE One study showed that humans tend to use heuristics under conditions of uncertainty that can produce erroneous judgments

Another study argues that much social interaction is mindless & involving less cognitive activity than is often assumed because people routinely follow scripts

EXAMPLE TWO EST does not adequately

address different approaches to human cognitive processes, resulting in an overly narrow depiction of what cognition

encompasses

CRITIQUES

CRITIQUES

Limited Scope Conditions

Status organizing processes occur in a broader range of settings than those defined by the scope conditions of EST (i.e., collectively-oriented task groups)

● For example, the settings where individuals take socially important mental ability tests, such as the SAT, ACT, & GRE, which are all highly task-oriented but clearly lack a collective orientation

Example One study demonstrated that

individuals randomly assigned to low status conditions, in experiments, scored lower on

a test of mental ability than those assigned to high status conditions. They contend that any attempt to measure mental ability needs to account for the way that salient status

processes actually interfere with test taking performance

Task-oriented without a collective orientation

CREDITS: This presentation template was created by Slidesgo, including icons by Flaticon, and infographics & images by Freepik

ALL! THAT’S