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MCAT Socialization, Norms and Deviance Practice Questions

By StudyStore · Published 2026-11-05 · 8 original questions · about 12 min

Eight free MCAT-style practice questions on socialization, folkways and mores, sanctions, stigma, labeling, strain and differential association, with full explanations.

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Quick concept primer

Socialization is the lifelong process of learning the norms, values and roles of a society. Primary socialization happens in early childhood, mostly through the family. Secondary socialization continues through schools, peers, workplaces and media. Anticipatory socialization means rehearsing a role before entering it, and resocialization strips away old norms and installs new ones, often inside a total institution such as a prison or basic training camp.

Norms vary in strength. Folkways are everyday conventions whose violation draws mild disapproval, mores carry moral weight, taboos provoke disgust, and laws are norms written down and enforced by the state. Sanctions enforce norms: they can be positive or negative, and formal (issued by an organization) or informal (a frown, a compliment). Deviance is any norm violation, judged relative to the setting. Labeling theory says reactions help create deviance: secondary deviance follows when a person takes on a deviant label as an identity. Merton's strain theory points to a gap between valued goals and legitimate means, and differential association says deviance is learned from close others. Stigma is the discrediting of a person for a trait or label.

Traps: not every more is a law, secondary deviance is about identity rather than severity, and informal sanctions can be positive. The 7B Social Processes pack adds flashcards and a larger question set on group behavior, culture and deviance, and the free sampler lets you try sample cards first.

Free notes for this topic: Social Facilitation, Bystander Effect and Social Loafing: Group Behavior Compared · Conformity vs Obedience: Asch and Milgram Explained

8 practice questions

Try each question before opening the explanation. Click "Show answer and explanation" to check yourself. All questions are original and written for study practice.

Question 1

A researcher stages four hypothetical norm violations in a public park and records how onlookers respond, rating each from 1 (no reaction) to 5 (extreme outrage) and noting how often someone called the police.

ViolationMean onlooker reactionPolice called
Walking the park in pajamas1.40 percent
Cutting ahead in a food truck line2.60 percent
Loudly mocking a grieving family at a memorial bench4.50 percent
Stealing a phone from a picnic table3.985 percent

Which violation best fits a more that is not also a law?

  1. Walking the park in pajamas
  2. Cutting ahead in a food truck line
  3. Loudly mocking a grieving family at a memorial bench
  4. Stealing a phone from a picnic table
Show answer and explanation

Answer: C. Loudly mocking a grieving family at a memorial bench

Mocking mourners draws the strongest moral outrage yet no one calls the police, which matches a more enforced informally rather than by the state. Pajamas and line cutting draw mild reactions typical of folkways, and phone theft is a more that is also codified as a law.

Question 2

In a hypothetical follow-up of 250 adults after a first arrest, 150 came to describe themselves mainly as "criminals," and 60 of them were arrested again within three years. Of the 100 who did not adopt that self-description, 15 were arrested again. What was the rearrest rate among those who adopted the label, and which theory is this pattern most consistent with?

  1. 40 percent; labeling theory
  2. 60 percent; labeling theory
  3. 24 percent; strain theory
  4. 15 percent; differential association
Show answer and explanation

Answer: A. 40 percent; labeling theory

The rate is 60 divided by 150, which is 40 percent, compared with 15 percent in the other group. Higher reoffending among people who accepted a deviant identity fits labeling theory's secondary deviance. Twenty-four percent wrongly divides by all 250 people, and 60 is a count, not a rate.

Question 3

A college senior who has accepted a job at a corporate law firm starts reading legal news, buys tailored suits and practices the firm's formal email style months before her start date. This behavior is best described as

  1. primary socialization
  2. resocialization
  3. role strain
  4. anticipatory socialization
Show answer and explanation

Answer: D. anticipatory socialization

Rehearsing the norms, dress and habits of a role before actually occupying it is anticipatory socialization. Primary socialization happens in early childhood within the family, resocialization replaces old norms after entering a new setting, and role strain is tension among demands within a single role.

Question 4

On arrival at a military basic training camp, a recruit surrenders his own clothes, receives a uniform and an identical haircut, and follows a schedule set to the minute by drill instructors who reward and punish every behavior. The process the camp is designed to produce is

  1. anticipatory socialization
  2. resocialization
  3. primary socialization
  4. secondary deviance
Show answer and explanation

Answer: B. resocialization

A total institution that removes personal identity markers and controls daily life is designed to discard prior norms and instill new ones, which is resocialization. Anticipatory socialization happens before entering a role, primary socialization occurs in childhood, and secondary deviance concerns accepting a deviant label.

Question 5

An employee who keeps arriving late receives a written warning from human resources and a reduction in his bonus. His coworkers also stop inviting him to lunch. Which pair correctly classifies the human resources action and the coworkers' response?

  1. Formal negative sanction; informal negative sanction
  2. Informal negative sanction; formal negative sanction
  3. Formal positive sanction; informal negative sanction
  4. Formal negative sanction; formal negative sanction
Show answer and explanation

Answer: A. Formal negative sanction; informal negative sanction

The warning and bonus cut come from the organization through its written procedures, so they are a formal negative sanction. Exclusion from lunch is casual disapproval from peers, an informal negative sanction. Nothing in the scenario rewards the employee, so no positive sanction applies.

Question 6

A student who strongly values earning top grades but works long shifts and has little time to study buys stolen copies of upcoming exam answers. In Merton's strain theory, this response is classified as

  1. ritualism
  2. retreatism
  3. rebellion
  4. innovation
Show answer and explanation

Answer: D. innovation

Innovation means accepting the culturally valued goal, here high grades, while rejecting the legitimate means of reaching it. Ritualism keeps the means but abandons the goal, retreatism rejects both, and rebellion rejects both and substitutes new goals and means.

Question 7

Each of the following illustrates stigma EXCEPT:

  1. A job applicant with a visible facial scar is quietly passed over after interviews.
  2. A former psychiatric inpatient hides his hospital stay because friends began treating him as dangerous.
  3. A student is praised by classmates and teachers after winning a regional science award.
  4. Relatives of a man sent to prison stop attending neighborhood events to avoid whispers.
Show answer and explanation

Answer: C. A student is praised by classmates and teachers after winning a regional science award.

Stigma is the discrediting of a person because of a trait, condition or association. A visible scar, a psychiatric history and a jailed family member each lead others to devalue someone. Public praise for an achievement raises social standing rather than spoiling identity, so it is not stigma.

Question 8

A teenager whose closest friends regularly spray graffiti on rail cars picks up from them the techniques for avoiding security cameras and the belief that tagging is harmless art, and soon begins tagging himself. Which theory best explains how his deviance arose?

  1. Labeling theory
  2. Differential association
  3. Strain theory
  4. Social control theory
Show answer and explanation

Answer: B. Differential association

Differential association holds that deviance is learned through interaction with intimate others who pass on both techniques and favorable attitudes, exactly what happens here. Labeling theory centers on reactions and identity, strain theory on blocked means to goals, and social control theory on weak social bonds.

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Written by StudyStore from standard scientific facts as a study aid. These are not official exam questions and are not affiliated with or endorsed by any testing organization. Always check values against the reference provided with your exam or course.

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