Social Interaction

• Social interaction

  • process by w/c people act and react in relation to others
• Social interaction

  • exchange bt. 2 or more individuals
  • building block of society
• Social interaction can be studied bt. groups of:

  two (dyads), three (triads), or larger social groups
• symbols

  • used to communicate expectations of a given society to those new to it.
• the empirical study of social interaction is one of the subjects of microsociology
• methods in empirical study of social interaction:

  1. symbolic interactionism
  2. ethnomethodology
  3. academic subdivisions & studies ( e.g., psychosocial studies, conversational analysis, human-computer interaction)
• in every society, people build their everyday lives using the idea of status:

  a social position that a person holds
• a social position that person holds

  status
• in everyday use, word status generally means

  prestige
• status is part of our social identity and helps define our relationship to others
• a social position a person receives at birth or takes on involuntary later in life

  ascribed status
• a social position a person takes on voluntary that reflects personal ability and effort

  achieved status
• types of status

  1. ascribed status
  2. achieved status
• all the statuses a person holds at a given time

  status set
• a status that has special importance for social identity

  master status
• behavior expected of someone who holds a particular status

  role
• person holds a status and performs a role (Linton, 1937b)
• number of roles attached to a single status

  role set
• because we hold many statuses at once -- a status set-- everyday life is a mix of many roles (Robert Merton, 1968)
• conflict among roles connected to two or more statuses

  role conflict
• people in modern, high-income nations juggle many responsibilities demanded by their various statuses and roles
• as most mothers (and more and more fathers) can testify, the combination of parenting and working outside the home is physically and emotionally daunting.
• process by w/c people disengage from important social roles

  role exit
• according to Helen Fuchs Ebaugh (1988), role exit process begins as ppl come to doubt their ability to continue in a certain role. As they imagine alternative roles, they ultimately reach a tipping point when they decide to pursue a new life. Even as they are moving on, however, a past role can continue to influence their lives
• Exes carry with them a self-image shaped by an earlier role, which can interfere with building a new sense of self
• process by which people creatively shape reality through social interaction

  social construction of reality
• the idea of social construction of reality is the foundation of the symbolic-interaction approach
• quite a bit of "reality" remains unclear in everyone's mind, esp. in unfamiliar situations. so we present ourselves in terms that suit the setting and our purposes. We try to guide what happens next, and as others do the same, reality takes shape (Baldovino).
• social interaction is a complex negotiation that builds reality

  most everyday situations involve at least one agreement abt. what's going on. But how ppl see events depends on their diff. backgrounds, interests, & intentions.
• complex negotiation that builds reality

  social interaction
• situations that are defined as real has real consequences


  Thomas theorem
• thomas theorem is named after:

  W.I. Thomas & Dorothy Thomas
• study of the way ppl make sense of their everyday surroundings (Harold Garfinkel, 1967)


  ethnomethodology
• when you are asking the simple question "how are you" you usually want to know how the person is doing in general, but you might rlly be wondering how the person is dealing w/ a specific physical, mental, spiritual, or financial challenge.
• the results are predictable because we all have some idea of the "rules" of everyday interaction. the person will most likely be confused or irritated by unexpected behavior-- a rxn that helps us see not only what the rules are but also how important they are to everyday reality.
• the approach of ethnomethodology begins by pointing out that everyday behavior rests on a number of assumptions
• in part, how we act or what we see in our surroundings depends on our interests. social background also affects what we see.
• the point is that people build reality from the surrounding culture. it explains how ppl all over the world find different meanings in specific gestures
• explains that people live their lives much like actors performing on a stage

  Dramaturgy (Erving Goffman, 1922-1982)
• the study of social interaction in terms of theatrical performance 


  Erving Goffman's Dramaturgy