Learn all about social phenomena. Understand what social phenomena are, learn the types of social phenomena, and see different examples of social phenomena.
Updated: 11/21/2023
Social Phenomena | Definition, Types & Examples
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Social Phenomena
Activity 1:
You read about how marriage is a social phenomenon, in that it has been created by people and given meaning. The one act of a wedding changes the behaviors of others. How do you think that society treats a married couple differently than an unmarried couple, even when all other variables such as age and length of time together, are equal? In what way does this affect the married couple and the unmarried couple? Write a two to three paragraph reflective paper about your thoughts on these questions.
Activity 2:
Racism was given as an example of a social phenomenon in the lesson. Have you ever experienced racism, gender discrimination, religious discrimination, or cultural discrimination? If so, how has it affected your thoughts and behaviors? Have you tried to prove negative stereotypes incorrect by performing at a very high level? Have you inadvertently succumbed to stereotype threat, wherein a person unwittingly conforms to a stereotype that society holds about a given group? What is the best way to overcome negative stereotypes that are held against a group to which you belong? Are positive stereotypes harmful as well? If so, how? Examine your thoughts on these issues and write a journal entry describing your answers to these questions and your reflections about how the social phenomenon of prejudice can affect people's lives.
Activity 3:
You may have seen the video on the news wherein an 8-year-old girl was kidnapped in broad daylight while walking with her mother in a safe neighborhood. Fortunately, the girl has been rescued. How do you think this event will change her mother's behavior in the future? How will her perception of the world change? In what way will this behavioral phenomenon of being a victim of crime alter the rest of the mother's life? Write two to three paragraphs explaining how her life might change in both the short-term and the long-term.
Is COVID-19 a social phenomenon?
The classification of the COVID-19 pandemic is a major social phenomenon. The pandemic has caused many individuals to work from home, seek education from home, adjust their medical practices, and make many other adjustments to their lifestyle.
Is poverty a social phenomenon?
Poverty is a social phenomenon like crime or language or political participation. All of these things are not decisions made by an individual. They are all results of significant societal influences, including the actions of others.
What is an example of a cultural phenomenon?
One subtype of behavioral phenomena is cultural phenomena. An example of a cultural phenomenon is the practice of using weddings to mark the marriage of a couple.
Table of Contents
ShowSocial phenomena can be defined as the effects of actions or behaviors of other people that alter or influence one's own actions. On an institutional level, social phenomena are the current institutions and norms in society that are regarded as foregone conclusions, either because of their necessity or because of their pervasiveness.
Social phenomena could be thought of as ''social facts'' that are integral to researchers' understanding of society. As such, social phenomena are the undergirding realities that are the basis of the theories of sociologists and social scientists. Both of these fields are concerned with discovering the root causes of each sociological phenomenon and the roles they play in society.
Characteristics of Social Phenomena
While social phenomena exist in many areas of life and thus can have a variety of causes, they all have certain consistent characteristics. These include:
- Actions of others, including institutions and individuals
- Effects of those actions on a member of society
- Resultant actions of that individual
Often, individuals who react to social phenomena are not aware that they are being impacted by them. They view their actions as being independent and voluntary. For example, a couple who will soon have a baby decides to hold a baby shower. This decision, to them, is voluntary and is something that was always going to happen. However, the prospect of a baby shower, the expectation of a baby shower that made it so inevitable, is the result of societal norms and cultural trends that have existed for decades. Thus, what seems to the couple to be their own decision is a choice that was strongly influenced by behavioral and historical phenomena.
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There are three main types of social phenomena: behavioral, historical, and political. Behavioral social phenomena are based on the behavior of individuals due to societal norms or culturally accepted forms of behavior. These actions, norms and accepted behaviors have major effects on how one acts in response to them. Historical social phenomena are various institutions, trends, and actions that existed and were major influences in the past. These may or may not have been recognized as major influences while they existed, but historians and sociologists can see trends and motivations that were not readily present in past decades and centuries. Historical phenomena can cause noticeable reactions in the present. For instance, historic trends of discrimination against Black Americans in various ways have influenced the formation of the Black Lives Matter movement. Political social phenomena are political measures, organizations, events, and institutions that influence individual political action. For example, individuals who are concerned about the environment join organized interest groups such as the Citizens' Climate Lobby.
Behavioral Social Phenomena
Behavioral social phenomena are social institutions and facts that influence individual behavior in certain contexts and environments. The main characteristics of behavioral social phenomena are:
- Individual or group actions that affect society
- Effects of those actions on the behavioral choices available to an individual
- Actions of that individual, which may be significantly different from what they may have done otherwise
An example of a behavioral social phenomenon is the influence of cultural, social, and cosmopolitan influences on the choices of tourists. Often, when deciding on which places and events to view and participate in, tourists rely on the accounts of others. Local governmental and institutional recommendations and restrictions can also affect these choices. Even those tourists who attempt to eschew the recommendations of institutions and ''organized tourism'' are impacted by the opinions of others, such as the recommendations of residents in their destination.
Historical Social Phenomena
Historical social phenomena include behavioral and political social phenomena that existed in the past, as well as other societal influences. Whereas behavior social phenomena are focused on interactions at the individual level and political social phenomena are built around institutions' influence on people, historical political phenomena take into account historical events and behavioral trends. This is especially true when these trends have continued into the present day.
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An example of a historical social phenomenon is the civil rights movement that lasted from the 1940s to the 1970s. These actions were initiated by individuals and groups who were tired of living with prejudicial and discriminatory policies and norms. This dissatisfaction drove them to drastic, noticeable actions that deviated from the behavioral norms of their society. These actions, in turn, eventually caused policymakers and other influential individuals to change government policies and cultural norms.
Political Social Phenomena
Political social phenomena are facts about the political situation of a society that is understood to be immutable. This type of social phenomenon leads to the formation and changing nature of political movements or parties. The main characteristics of a political social phenomenon are:
- pressures from political institutions on members of society
- pressures of society on political institutions
- changes in elements of society that influence the aggravation or cessation of these pressures
An example of a political social phenomenon is the existence of governmental political parties. For example, the Republicans and Democrats are not officially supported by the federal government, but their presence and political influence are so strong that they are viewed as being essential parts of society.
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There are many more examples of social phenomena than those listed above. Further examples include:
- Racism: Discrimination against certain groups of people and individuals in those groups can be a significant motivator or deterrent for certain actions. As noted above, racism influenced the formation of the civil rights movement in the late twentieth century as well as the Black Lives Matter Movement.
- Crime: This is an example of behavioral social phenomena. The criminal actions of others can cause one to take actions to protect themselves. Alternatively, people can take evasive actions and attempt to leave society or ameliorate the elements that are perceived to cause crime.
- Weddings: The institution of marriage combines multiple individuals into one family. In Western society, and indeed in most cultures throughout the world, marriage is celebrated in a wedding ceremony and other common practices and events. There is no requirement or necessary element of a marriage that establishes the necessity of a wedding. At the same time, however, one would not usually be married in Western society without having a wedding.
- Language: The way in which people speak to each other, from the tone of voice to conversational context to grammar to one's alphabet, is strongly influenced by behavioral and historical social phenomena. Local groups have a desire to preserve their own culture, which can cause them to create dialects of a broader language. This enables them to preserve national communication methods while developing an integral part of their local identity.
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Other examples of social phenomena include poverty and the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Social phenomena are major aspects of a society that are seen to produce significant impacts on individuals' actions. In other words, they are the behaviors or actions of other people that have a significant amount of influence on one's own actions. The three main types of social phenomena are behavioral, historical, and political. The main characteristics of social phenomena are:
- Actions of others
- Societal effects
- Actions of an individual that were affected by the preceding actions as well as the effects of those actions
Examples of social phenomena of all types include the existence and power of parties in governments, such as the Republicans and Democrats in the United States, and the commission of violent crimes or acts of war, which are both behavioral social phenomena. Other examples of social phenomena include racism, crime, and weddings. Each of these accepted societal realities has had a profound impact on shaping individual behaviors as well as cultural behavioral norms. An example of a historical social phenomenon is the civil rights activism that took place from the 1940s to the 1970s.
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Video Transcript
What is Social Phenomena?
If you think about all of the knowledge and experiences that we gain over the course of our lives, the amount that helped shape our worldview are probably too numerous to count. For example, when we are young, our parents' perspectives directly inform our own opinions on things like politics or religion, while later experiences, like romantic relationships, shape our perception of love and the levels of emotional risk that we find acceptable.
In sociology, such knowledge and experiences are referred to as social phenomena, which are the individual, external, social constructions that influence our lives and development, and are constantly evolving as we age. If this definition sounds vague or confusing, it's probably because the category of social phenomena is incredibly broad and complicated, but the fundamental principle of social phenomena is that it is created by society, as opposed to something that occurs naturally in the world, like earthquakes, viruses, or acts of weather.
One of the most important aspects of social phenomena is that it involves one person's observable behavior influencing another person. For example, racism is a social phenomenon because it is an ideology that people have constructed that directly affects another group, forcing them to change their behaviors. On the other end of the spectrum, marriage is also a social phenomenon because it is an observable act for which people have created and applied meaning, which alters the concept of love and relationships as that meaning evolves.
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There are many different types of social phenomena and it would be impossible to explain them all within this single lesson. The following examples, however, should give you some insight into how social phenomenon works and why it influences our lives so significantly.
Behavioral Social Phenomena
There are many different ways that other people can influence or change our lives, but among them, behavioral phenomena are probably one of the most significant. For example, imagine if you were walking down a city street and were suddenly mugged by a stranger. Once the initial shock of the experience had worn off, think of the ways that it could alter your own behavior from that point forward. You would probably become much more cautious in similar situations, perhaps more fearful of strangers, and so on.
In the context of social phenomena, crime and other acts of violence are incredibly influential when it comes to shaping our behavior or opinions on certain subjects. In the example we just used, one person's behavior, a criminal act towards you, has affected your sense of physical and emotional safety, and changed the way that they will behave and think from that point forward.
Similarly, wars have an equally important influence as a social phenomenon. Take, for example, the ongoing conflict in Israel between Palestinians and Israelis. In this case, the actions and rhetoric of each side is constantly influencing the individuals within those groups, and subsequently changing the way that they behave and the ways that they perceive the other side.
Historical Social Phenomena
Unlike other types of social phenomena, historical social phenomena tend to be a little more complicated and less easy to identify. In the simplest sense, a historical social phenomenon refers to the ways in which previous actions or events influence the lives of and behaviors of a particular person or group.
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For example, over the last year, the Black Lives Matter movement in the United States has been actively protesting the modern abuse and oppression of African Americans, but they are also addressing the historic abuse of African Americans in general. In this case, the long history of slavery, oppression, and civil rights activism is directly influencing the present day behaviors and opinions of individuals who are trying to initiate change for future generations.
Political Social Phenomena
Another important example is political social phenomena, which refers to the development and evolution of certain political ideologies or movements. Consider the ways that communism or fascism have developed and changed people's lives. In Nazi Germany, for example, the behaviors and ideology of a fascist dictatorship contributed significantly to the escalation of WWII and the Jewish holocaust of the same period.
To a lesser extent, in the United States today there is what many consider to be partisan gridlock in Congress, which is both the result and an example of political social phenomena. In this modern example, Democrats and Republicans are influenced by their constituents, which in turn, changes the way that they behave collectively and affects their ability to function politically.
Lesson Summary
Let's review. In sociology, the term social phenomena refers to the individual, external influences that shape our evolving behaviors and opinions. Because this concept is very broad, it can be very complicated and confusing, but it basically refers to things that are created by society and often changes individual or collective behaviors.
In the case of behavioral social phenomena, actions such as violent crime or war are profoundly influential and life changing. Historical social phenomena, on the other hand, focus on the ways that the events of the past have influenced or changed people's behavior in the present. Although there are many examples of social phenomena that everyone has experienced, political social phenomena is something that most Americans witness on a regular basis through the behavior and evolution of political parties and government function.
A Few Notes
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- Social phenomena are the constantly evolving individual and external influences that significantly affect our behaviors and opinions
- Social phenomena can be caused by politics, historical events, and behaviors of others
- Examples of social phenomena include marriage, WWII, racism, or a violent crime
Learning Outcomes
When you are done, you should be able to:
- State the definition of 'social phenomena'
- Recall some examples of social phenomena
- Describe behavioral, historical, and political social phenomena
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Social Phenomena | Definition, Types & Examples
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