Anticipatory socialization
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Anticipatory socialization is the process, facilitated by social interactions, in which non-group members learn to take on the values and standards of groups that they aspire to join, so as to ease their entry into the group and help them interact competently once they have been accepted by it.[1][2] It involves changing one's attitudes and behaviours in preparation for a shift in one's role. Words commonly associated with anticipatory socialization include grooming, play-acting, training, and rehearsing.[3] Examples of anticipatory socialization include law school students learning how to behave like lawyers, older people preparing for retirement, and Mormon adolescents getting ready to become missionaries.[4]
The concept of anticipatory socialization, first defined by sociologist Robert K. Merton, has its origins in a 1949 study of the United States military which found that privates who modelled their attitudes and behaviours on those of officers were more likely to be promoted than those who didn't.[5][6]
