social differentiation

American  

noun

Sociology.

1. the distinction made between social groups and persons on the basis of biological, physiological, and sociocultural factors, as sex, age, or ethnicity, resulting in the assignment of roles and status within a society.

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Example Sentences

"But the fact that we do have different sizes it you know it begs the question if there is some social differentiation sitting behind that," he said.

From BBC • Jan. 1, 2026

Evidence from the few discovered burial sites dating to around 2000 BCE supports the suggestion that wealth contributed to social differentiation even then.

From Textbooks • Apr. 19, 2023

Increasing exchange between Neolithic cultures and the prominence of war may also have led to greater social differentiation.

From Textbooks • Apr. 19, 2023

Just so the communities of insects with the greatest degree of altruism and division of labor far exceed in numbers the small colonies of the social wasps with lower social differentiation.

From The Doctrine of Evolution Its Basis and Its Scope by Crampton, Henry Edward

On the contrary, with the advance of social differentiation it has acquired the axiomatic force due to ancient and unquestioned prescription.

From Theory of the Leisure Class by Veblen, Thorstein