Final answer:
Social stratification is the ranking of people into socioeconomic tiers within a society, based on factors like wealth, power, and prestige. It results in unequal access to resources and opportunities, and is influenced by a society's cultural beliefs and values.
Step-by-step explanation:
The concept of “social stratification” refers to society's categorization of its people into rankings of socioeconomic tiers based on factors such as wealth, income, race, education, and power. This hierarchical structure determines the distribution of resources, privileges, and opportunities among different groups within the society. There are various systems of stratification, including class systems which are relatively open and allow for mobility, and caste systems which are closed and restrict social movement to ascribed statuses.
Social stratification reflects an unequal distribution of resources, where certain individuals or groups hold more wealth and power than others. This inequality can manifest in various ways, from the prestige associated with one's social position to the authority over others within the societal hierarchy. Societies may exhibit this stratification through economic disparities, as well as through social factors like race, ethnicity, age, and gender. Stratification is present in different forms around the world and can also be understood from various sociological perspectives including functionalism, conflict theory, and symbolic interactionism.