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The term role model is credited to sociologist Robert K. Merton, [2] [3] who hypothesized that individuals compare themselves with reference groups of people who occupy the social role to which the individual aspires, [4] an example of which is the way young fans may idolize and imitate professional athletes or entertainment artists.
Social development theory attempts to explain qualitative changes in the structure and framework of society, that help the society to better realize aims and objectives.. Development can be defined in a manner applicable to all societies at all historical periods as an upward ascending movement featuring greater levels of energy, efficiency, quality, productivity, complexity, comprehension ...
Parsons defines a "role" as the normatively-regulated participation "of a person in a concrete process of social interaction with specific, concrete role-partners". [4] Although any individual, theoretically, can fulfill any role, the individual is expected to conform to the norms governing the nature of the role they fulfill.
The United Nations defines community development as "a process where community members come together to take collective action and generate solutions to common problems." [1] It is a broad concept, applied to the practices of civic leaders, activists, involved citizens, and professionals to improve various aspects of communities, typically aiming to build stronger and more resilient local ...
In the social sciences, a social group is defined as two or more people who interact with one another, share similar characteristics, and collectively have a sense of unity. [1] [2] Regardless, social groups come in a myriad of sizes and varieties. For example, a society can be viewed as a large social group.
Examples include study groups, sports teams, schoolmates, attorney-client, doctor-patient, coworkers, etc. Cooley had made the distinction between primary and secondary groups, by noting that the term for the latter refers to relationships that generally develop later in life, likely with much less influence on one’s identity than primary groups.
For example, it may be the case that among first-year graduate students, strong social norms exist around how many daily cups of coffee a student drinks. If the return curve in Figure 1 correctly displays the example social norm, we can see that if someone drinks 0 cups of coffee a day, the group strongly disapproves.
Social constructionism is a term used in sociology, social ontology, and communication theory.The term can serve somewhat different functions in each field; however, the foundation of this theoretical framework suggests various facets of social reality—such as concepts, beliefs, norms, and values—are formed through continuous interactions and negotiations among society's members, rather ...