| social change | Social process whereby the values, attitudes, or institutions of society, such as education, family, religion, and industry become modified. It includes both the natural process and action programs initiated by members of the community. (12 Dec 1998) |
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| social class | A stratum of people with similar position and prestige; includes social stratification. Social class is measured by criteria such as education, occupation, and income. (12 Dec 1998) |
| social conditions | The state of society as it exists or in flux. While it usually refers to society as a whole in a specified geographical or political region, it is applicable also to restricted strata of a society. (12 Dec 1998) |
| social conformity | Behavioural or attitudinal compliance with recognised social patterns or standards. (12 Dec 1998) |
| social control | The influence on the behaviour of a person exerted by other persons or by society as a whole; e.g., through appropriate social norms, ostracism, or the criminal law. (05 Mar 2000) |
| social control, formal | Control which is exerted by the more stable organizations of society, such as established institutions and the law. They are ordinarily embodied in definite codes, usually written. (12 Dec 1998) |
| social control, informal | Those forms of control which are exerted in less concrete and tangible ways, as through folkways, mores, conventions, and public sentiment. (12 Dec 1998) |
| social control policies | Decisions for determining and guiding present and future objectives from among alternatives. (12 Dec 1998) |
| social desirability | A personality trait rendering the individual acceptable in social or interpersonal relations. It is related to social acceptance, social approval, popularity, social status, leadership qualities, or any quality making him a socially desirable companion. (12 Dec 1998) |
| social diseases | An obsolete term used to designate venereal disease's, especially gonorrhoea and syphilis. (05 Mar 2000) |
| social distance | The degree of closeness or acceptance an individual or group feels toward another individual or group. (12 Dec 1998) |
| social dominance | Superiority of relationship and rank of an individual in relation to his associates. (12 Dec 1998) |
| social environment | The aggregate of social and cultural institutions, forms, patterns, and processes that influence the life of an individual or community. (12 Dec 1998) |
| social facilitation | Any enhancement of a motivated behaviour in which individuals do the same thing with some degree of mutual stimulation and consequent coordination. (12 Dec 1998) |
| social identification | The process wherein the individual so strongly feels himself a member of a group that he adopts its ideas, beliefs, and habits. (12 Dec 1998) |