Table of Contents
Definition of Tendency
(noun) An inclination; propensity.
Example of Tendency
- Individuals have a tendency to be left-handed or right-handed.
Tendency Pronunciation
Syllabification: ten·den·cy
Audio Pronunciation
Phonetic Spelling
- American English – /tEn-duhn-see/
- British English – /tEn-duhn-see/
International Phonetic Alphabet
- American English – /ˈtɛndənsi/
- British English – /ˈtɛndənsi/
Usage Notes
- Plural: tendencies
- A sociologist (adverb) tendentiously or (adverb) tendenciously or (adverb) tendentially or (adverb) tendencially views the world through the sociological lens to create (adjective) tendential (adjective) tendentious or (adjective) tendencious research that has sociological (noun) tendentiousness or (noun) tendenciousness.
Related Quotation
- “Ethnocentrism is one of sociology’s distinctive concepts. Comprehension of this concept is a major step in the acquisition of a sociological outlook. Students of introductory sociology are often left, at the end of the course, with a feeling that the term “ethnocentrism” denotes a flaw in human nature. Some of them may also be persuaded that their exposure to academic sociology has helped to immunize them against this natural but supposedly lamentable tendency to react ethnocentrically to people in other societies” (Catton 1960:201).
Additional Information
Related Terms
Reference
Catton, William R. 1960. “The Functions and Dysfunctions of Ethnocentrism: A Theory.” Social Problems 8(3):201–11. doi:10.2307/798910.
Cite the Definition of Tendency
ASA – American Sociological Association (5th edition)
Bell, Kenton, ed. 2015. “tendency.” In Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Retrieved September 14, 2024 (https://sociologydictionary.org/tendency/).
APA – American Psychological Association (6th edition)
tendency. (2015). In K. Bell (Ed.), Open education sociology dictionary. Retrieved from https://sociologydictionary.org/tendency/
Chicago/Turabian: Author-Date – Chicago Manual of Style (16th edition)
Bell, Kenton, ed. 2015. “tendency.” In Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Accessed September 14, 2024. https://sociologydictionary.org/tendency/.
MLA – Modern Language Association (7th edition)
“tendency.” Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Ed. Kenton Bell. 2015. Web. 14 Sep. 2024. <https://sociologydictionary.org/tendency/>.