What do sociologists believe that the key to explaining human behavior is?

Question

a.) IQ and aptitude

b.) our socially constructed self

c.) our biological makeup

d.) temperament and personality

I'm stuck on this last question and I can't find it anywhere in my book. Can u please help

Answer 1

B) our socially constructed self

In role theory, for example, we determine what our role is and behave in accordance with what behaviors we know the role to include. So, if you are student then your role is sit in a desk quietly and take notes, rather than going before the front of the classroom and addressing the group of people in front of you, because that is not your role. Or if you have child, then you are parent. A parent cares the child by cooking its food, watching over it, clothing it, bathing it or in short, what a parent does.

Or if you are female, you are labeled as a girl. Girls, like make up, are sociable, emotional, etc (I'm not trying to push  stereotypes here, just give an example of how one may see one's self, because society sees them that way, can impact  behavior).

Answer 2

Yes, it's B generally. But sociologists are morons.

Answer 3

George Herbert Mead believed that human behavior was socially grounded.  I guess that resembles b) in your answer choices.

Answer 4

Definitely "B." Perhaps the most influential book in Sociology in the 20th Century was "The Social Construction of Reality" by Berger & Luckmann.  A lot of works in sociology are called social construction approaches - the gist is that objective reality is largely not a given, but that the meaning we give reality is socially shaped. Once we create that meaning - it can have real, objective consequences on our life (even if our creation is mythical/illusory). That is a very oversimplified, vulgar explanation.

"A" isn't right, because intelligence(s) is/are seen as more complex than an IQ score; and what aptitudes are considered "good" is socially shaped. IQ and aptitude falls under psychology.

"C" isn't right - in fact, a huge assumption of sociology is that biology is not as important as social environment in determining reality. In fact, social beliefs can mask true biological facts - we have idealized images of men and women (and these ideas change across societies over space and  time) that do not always correspond to people's actual biological makeup.

"D" is wrong - those are big concerns in psychology. They are specific to the individual, and sociology is largely concerned with group behavior.