Rejecting both the social norms and the typical ways they are achieved, but also trying to form a new social structure, is an example of what?

• A. Rebellion
• B. Ritualism
• C. Retreatism
• D. Innovation

Answer: (A)

This item tests understanding of how people adapt to social strain in Merton’s typology, focusing on the mode where norms and the way they’re pursued are both rejected, with a new social order being sought. Rebellion fits this description because it involves rejecting the existing cultural goals and the legitimate means to achieve them, and actively trying to establish a new set of goals and a new way of achieving them—essentially forming a new social structure.

This differs from retreatism (withdrawal from society), ritualism (rigidly following the means without pursuing the goals), and innovation (accepting the goals but using new/illegitimate means to reach them).