Chapter 1: Answers

What Influences Our Personality?

Comprehension Questions

1. What are two types of social groups that influence our socialization? Answer: Family and peer groups are two types of social groups that influence our socialization.
2. Describe two examples of how family influences a child’s social development. Answer: Any 2 of the following – Families are the first agent of socialization as they communicate expectations and reinforce societal norms. Mothers and fathers, siblings, and grandparents, plus members of an extended family, all teach a child what he or she needs to know.
3. Describe two ways that peers influence children’s development socially. Answer: Any 2 of the following – Peer groups are important as adolescents begin to develop an identity separate from their parents and exert independence. Peer groups provide their own opportunities for socialization since kids usually engage in different types of activities with their peers than they do with their families. Peer groups provide adolescents’ first major socialization experience outside of their families.
4. What are three examples of institutional influences on social development? Answer: Any 3 of the following: School, workplace, religion, government, mass media.
5. Choose one institutional agent and describe how it impacts on social development. Answer: School – Students are not in school only to study math, reading, science, and other subjects. Schools also serve a function in society by socializing children into behaviors like practicing teamwork, following a schedule, and using textbooks. They reinforce what society expects from children through the hidden curriculum. Workplace – Workers require new socialization into a workplace, in terms of both material culture (such as how to operate the copy machine) and nonmaterial culture (such as whether it’s okay to speak directly to the boss or how to share the refrigerator). Religion – Religion teaches participants how to interact with the religion’s material culture (e.g. a mezuzah, a prayer rug, or a communion wafer), important ceremonies related to family structure, and gender norms. Government – The government establishes age norms that many of the rites of passage people go through today are based on (e.g. age of adulthood, senior citizen, etc.). Mass Media – People learn about objects of material culture (like new technology and transportation options), as well as nonmaterial culture—what is true (beliefs), what is important (values), and what is expected (norms).

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