Self-image is the mental picture people hold of who they are, shaped not in isolation but through ongoing social interaction with others. This article defines self-image clearly, explains it through Cooley's looking-glass self, Mead's role-taking, Goffman's impression management and Bourdieu's habitus, gives worked real-world examples of each, and explores how social media is reshaping how people build their self-image today.
Sex typing is how society teaches children to adopt behaviours seen as fitting for their sex. This article explains the concept through key sociological theories, including Ann Oakley's socialisation processes and Sandra Bem's gender schema theory, with real-world examples from toys, school, and work.
Social demography studies how population size, age structure, fertility, and migration shape society. This article explains the field through theorists including Malthus, Durkheim, Notestein, Ravenstein, and Marx, using real-world examples such as UK ageing, rural-urban migration, and falling fertility, to show why population patterns matter to sociology and everyday life.
Exchange value is the worth a good or service has when it is traded for other goods, services, or money in the marketplace,…
Honour killings are murders carried out in the name of family honour. This article explains what honour killings are, examines real-world examples, and applies key sociological theories — including Bourdieu, Durkheim, Gramsci, Connell, and Crenshaw — to explain their causes and persistence.
Jomon culture is one of the world's oldest complex societies, flourishing in Japan from 14,000 BCE to 300 BCE. This article covers Jomon social structure, ritual life, pottery, trade networks, and what the culture reveals about hunter-gatherer societies — with key sociological theories explained.
Organisational culture refers to the shared values, norms, and practices that shape how people behave within workplaces and institutions. This article explains the concept using key sociological theories from Schein, Bourdieu, Goffman, and others, covering how culture forms, its different types, real-world examples, and why power and inequality are central to understanding it.
Video games are one of the most powerful cultural arenas through which ideas about gender — and masculinity in particular — are produced,…
In sociology, the concept of pathology has had a long and contested history. Borrowed from medicine, where it refers to the study of…
Scroll through any social media platform on any given day and you will encounter it: a post that has been shared thousands of…
