1,800+ MCAT terms, defined.

Social behaviorism is George Herbert Mead's theory that the self and mind develop through social interaction, as people use symbols and language to take on others' perspectives. The most testable point is his stages of self-development:...

A class system ranks people by economic position such as wealth, income, occupation and education, so social mobility is possible. It is more open than a caste system, which rests on ascribed status. Marx defines class by relation to the...

Cultural lag is the gap that arises when nonmaterial culture (norms, values, laws) changes more slowly than material culture (technology). Proposed by William Ogburn, it explains social problems that appear while rules and beliefs catch...

Karl Marx was a 19th-century theorist behind conflict theory, which holds that society is shaped by struggle between classes over resources. The most testable point is his split between the bourgeoisie, who own the means of production, a...

The looking-glass self is Charles Horton Cooley's idea that we build a self-concept by imagining how others see and judge us, then reacting to that imagined judgment. The testable point is that it rests on our perception of others' views...

Life course theory is a sociological view that lives unfold from birth to death within social and historical contexts, shaped by cohort, timing of events, linked lives and personal agency. Unlike stage theories, it does not assume one un...

Ethnicity is a social category based on shared culture, such as ancestry, language, religion, and traditions. Race, by contrast, is a socially constructed category based on perceived physical traits. The most testable point: ethnicity is...

A baby boomer is a member of the large birth cohort born after World War II, usually about 1946 to 1964 in the United States. Most testable: as this cohort ages and retires, the share of older adults and the old-age dependency ratio typi...

Material culture is the physical objects, technologies, and spaces a society creates and uses, such as tools, clothing, buildings, and art. It is contrasted with symbolic (nonmaterial) culture, which covers beliefs, values, language, and...

Relative poverty means having much less income or resources than most others in one's society, so a person falls below the standard of living typical there. It is defined by comparison, unlike absolute poverty, which is lack of basic nec...

Stigma is a socially defined attribute or label that is deeply discrediting, so others devalue the person carrying it (Goffman). The testable point is that stigma arises from social reaction in a given context, not from the trait itself,...

Absolute poverty is a lack of the resources needed for basic survival, such as food, clean water, shelter, and clothing, judged against a fixed standard. It does not depend on how others in the society live. The testable contrast is with...

Polyandry is a form of marriage in which one woman has two or more husbands at the same time. It is a type of polygamy (plural marriage) and is documented much less often than its counterpart, polygyny, in which one man has several wives.

A coercive organization secures compliance mainly through force or the threat of it, and its members usually did not choose to join. Prisons are the standard example. The testable point is the contrast with utilitarian organizations (pay...

Capitalism is an economic system based on private ownership of the means of production, market competition, and the pursuit of profit. The most testable point is Marx's conflict-theory view: it divides society into owners (bourgeoisie) a...

In Goffman's dramaturgical approach, the front stage is the social setting where a person performs a role for an audience, managing behavior to fit that audience's expectations. The testable point is the contrast with the back stage, whe...

Cultural imperialism is the promotion or imposition of one society's culture, usually a economically or politically powerful one, on other societies, often displacing local practices. The testable point is that it operates through media,...

The hidden curriculum is the unofficial set of norms, values, and expectations students learn through schooling, beyond the formal academic lessons. Its most testable point: it socializes students into roles such as punctuality, obedienc...

Low-effort syndrome is a phrase from John Ogbu's work on school achievement gaps: students say education matters but put in little effort, which he tied to perceived blocked opportunity and peer norms. It is niche; the MCAT more often te...

Mass society theory says industrialization, urbanization, and large bureaucracies weaken close community ties, leaving individuals isolated and more open to influence by impersonal institutions and mass media. Testable point: it is the l...

Racial formation theory (Omi and Winant) holds that race is a socially constructed category, continually created and reshaped by social, economic, and political forces rather than fixed by biology. Testable point: racial categories and m...

Socialism is an economic and political system in which the means of production are owned collectively or by the state, aiming at a more equal distribution of resources. The most testable point is the contrast with capitalism, where priva...

A meritocracy is a system in which position and rewards are assigned by merit (ability, effort, achievement) rather than ascribed traits like family background. It is an ideal; conflict theorists argue unequal access to resources means r...

Stratification is the ranking of people into layers of a social hierarchy based on unequal access to wealth, power and prestige. Functionalists explain it as a way to reward important roles; conflict theorists explain it as powerful grou...

Collective behavior is relatively spontaneous, loosely organized action by a large group responding to a shared situation, such as crowds, riots, panics, fads and rumors. The MCAT often asks which account fits: contagion, convergence, or...

Cultural means relating to culture: a group's shared beliefs, values, symbols, language, norms, and objects, learned through socialization and passed on across generations. The most testable point is that culture is learned, not biologic...

Secularization is the process by which religion loses influence over social institutions, public life, and often individual practice, usually linked to modernization, science, and rationalization. Classic theory predicts religion decline...

Division of labor is the splitting of work into specialized roles, so no one person produces everything. Durkheim (functionalism) held that it makes members interdependent and creates organic solidarity in complex societies. Marx saw it...

In Marxist conflict theory, the bourgeoisie is the capitalist class that owns the means of production (factories, land, capital). Its interests conflict with the proletariat, who must sell their labor for wages. The MCAT tests this as th...

Sexual orientation is an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and sexual attraction to people of the same gender, a different gender, more than one gender, or no gender. The most testable point is that it is separate from gender iden...

In demography, fecundity is the biological capacity of a woman, man, or population to reproduce, the potential number of children. Fertility is the number of births that actually occur, so fecundity is usually higher than fertility.

In Marx's conflict theory, the proletariat is the working class: people who do not own the means of production and must sell their labor for wages to the bourgeoisie, the owners. Class position depends on relation to production, not on i...

Polygamy is marriage involving more than two spouses at the same time. It has two forms: polygyny (one husband, several wives), the more common form in societies that permit polygamy, and polyandry (one wife, several husbands). It contra...

In demography, fertility is the actual number of children born in a population, usually given as a rate. It is not the same as fecundity, the biological capacity to reproduce. Fertility typically falls as a society industrializes and wom...

McDonaldization is George Ritzer's term for the spread of fast-food restaurant principles into other parts of society. It extends Max Weber's rationalization. The testable point is its four dimensions: efficiency, calculability, predicta...

Urbanization is the rise in the share of a population living in cities, driven mainly by rural-to-urban migration and often tied to industrialization. Testable point: it concentrates people and resources, shifting social structure, healt...

Exchange theory (social exchange theory) says people shape social interactions by weighing perceived rewards against perceived costs, and tend to continue relationships that seem to give a net benefit. It is a micro-level theory, often g...

Sociological theories are frameworks for explaining social patterns. Functionalism sees interdependent parts keeping society stable, conflict theory sees inequality and competition for resources, and symbolic interactionism sees meaning...

An interactionist (symbolic interactionism) view holds that society and the self are built through everyday interactions and the shared meanings of symbols. It is a micro-level theory, unlike the macro-level functionalist and conflict th...

Residential segregation is the physical separation of social groups, most often by race, ethnicity or income, into different neighborhoods. Testable point: it stems from institutional practices like redlining as well as individual choice...

Ethnography is a qualitative research method in which a researcher immerses in a group or community, usually through participant observation over an extended time, to describe its culture from the members' view. It gives rich, in-depth d...

Medicalization is the process by which a normal life event or a behavior once seen as immoral or criminal comes to be defined and treated as a medical problem. The testable point is that it reflects changing social definitions, an exampl...

Xenocentrism is the preference for the products, styles, or ideas of a foreign culture over those of one's own. It is the opposite of ethnocentrism, which judges other cultures by one's own standards and favors one's own.

Incidence is the number of new cases of a condition that arise in a defined population during a specified time period. Prevalence counts all existing cases at a point in time, so incidence measures how fast new cases appear, while preval...

Mortality is the occurrence of death in a population, usually measured as a death rate per 1,000 people per year. With fertility and migration, it is one of three demographic processes that change population size. Falling mortality while...

Institutional facts are facts that exist only because people collectively agree to give something a status, such as money, marriage, or property. They contrast with brute facts, which hold regardless of belief. Testable point: they are s...

In Marx's conflict theory, class consciousness is a group's awareness of its shared economic position and of interests that oppose another class, such as workers recognizing exploitation by owners. Its opposite is false consciousness, wh...

Cultural assimilation is the process by which a person or group adopts the language, values, and norms of a dominant culture, so original cultural traits fade. Most testable point: it differs from multiculturalism (pluralism), where cult...

A gender script is a culturally learned guide to how people of a given gender are expected to act, speak and respond in a particular situation, such as a date. Scripts are acquired through socialization, so the MCAT treats them as social...

Role exit is the process of disengaging from a role that was central to your identity, such as spouse, employee, or patient, and building a new identity as an "ex." The testable point is Ebaugh's four stages: first doubts, seeking altern...