Chapter 4: Society, Social
Structure, and Social
Interaction
Objectives (slide 1 of 2)
4.1 Levels of Sociological Analysis
• Illustrate the three levels of sociological analysis.
4.2 Social Interaction at the Macrosociological
Level
• Identify the components of the social structure and
their impact on the beliefs, behaviors, and values of
individuals.
• Define and discuss status characteristics.
• Distinguish between primary and secondary
groups.
• Examine leadership styles.
Objectives (slide 2 of 2)
4.3 Societies, Technology, and Change
• Identify the types of societies as identified by means
of subsistence and the major characteristics of each.
4.4 What Holds Societies Together
• Compare and contrast the various macrosociological
theories of social order and the theorists associated
with each.
4.5 Social Interaction from a Microsociological
Perspective
• Recognize the principles of microsociological analysis
and its impact on the beliefs, values, and behaviors of
individuals.
Levels of Sociological Analysis
• Macrosociology: Analysis of social life that
focuses on broad features of society, such as
social institutions
• Microsociology: Analysis of social life that
focuses on the specific aspects of interactions
• Mesosociology: Analysis of social life that falls
between the microsociological and
macrosociological levels
Social Interaction at the
Macrosociological Level
• Social structure: Patterns or regularities in
how people behave and interact with one
another
• Social class: A broad measure of the location
that a person occupies in the social structure
• Status: The position that a person holds in a
group
– Prestige: The esteem or reputation that
accompanies a status
Status Characteristics
(slide 1 of 3)
• Ascribed status: A status that a person takes
on involuntarily, either through birth or
through other circumstances
• Achieved status: A status that is earned
through some effort or activity
• Status symbols: Signs that identify a
particular status
• Shaming: Using status symbols to identify
those who have violated societal
expectations
Status Characteristics
(slide 2 of 3)
• Salient characteristics: Characteristics that
distinguish between members of a group
• Diffuse characteristics: Status characteristics
that are presumed to always matter in
determining a person’s relative position in
the group. These include:
–
–
–
–
–
–
Sex
Race
Age
Educational attainment
Occupational prestige
Physical attractiveness
Status Characteristics
(slide 3 of 3)
• Specific characteristics: Status
characteristics that matter in determining a
person’s relative position in the group only if
they are shown to be relevant to the
circumstance of the group
• Master status characteristic: A status
characteristic that is so important that it
overshadows all other status characteristics
• Status inconsistencies: Statuses that
contradict one another
Roles
• Role: Expected behaviors that accompany a
status
• Role set: More than one role associated with
a single status
• Role strain: Tension between roles
connected to a single status
• Role conflict: Tension between roles
connected to two or more statuses
• Role exit: Disengaging from a status and the
social roles attached to it
Groups
• Group: Individuals who share common beliefs
and values and who regularly interact with one
another
• Aggregate: People who occupy the same space
and time but who have no common goals or
purpose
• Primary group: A group characterized by small,
intimate relationships that have a strong
influence over an individual’s socialization
• Secondary group: A large and impersonal group
whose members share a specific goal or activity
Leadership in Groups
• Instrumental leadership: Leadership that
focuses on the completion of tasks
• Expressive leadership: Leadership that
focuses on the well-being and morale of
group members
Social Institutions
• Social institutions: The ways in which a
society meets it basic needs
Societies, Technology, and Change
• Nonmaterial culture: Symbols and ideologies
that define a culture (sometimes called
symbolic culture)
• Material culture: Physical items that reflect the
ideologies of a culture
Hunting and Gathering Societies
• Hunting and gathering: Societies in which the
dominant means of subsistence is hunting
animals and gathering food
• Network: A web of weak
social ties
• Optimum foraging strategy:
A pattern of foraging that
leaves enough flora and
fauna in a foraged area for
the land to recover in a
reasonable amount of time
Horticultural and Pastoral Societies
Horticultural Societies
• Horticulture: Farming
using simple hand tools
to raise crops.
Pastoral Societies
• Pastoralism: A means of
subsistence that relies
on the domestication of
animals as the primary
food supply
Agrarian Societies
• Agriculture: Farming using machinery
powered by engines
Industrial and Postindustrial
Societies
Industrial Societies
• Industry: A means of
subsistence that relies
on the production of
goods using machinery
driven by advanced
sources of energy
Postindustrial Societies
• Postindustrialism: A
means of subsistence
that relies on the
production of services
and information
Society and Conflict
• Capitalists: Marx’s term for the owners of the
means of production
• Bourgeoisie: Marx’s term for white-collar
professions and management who work for the
capitalists
• Proletariat: Marx’s term for the working class
who provide labor for the capitalists
• Lumpenproletariat: Marx’s term for the
dispossessed, criminals, mentally ill, and disabled
in society
• Alienation: Marx’s term for the limitations in life
choices that accompany low social status
Society and Rationalization
(slide 1 of 2)
• Bureaucracy: An organizational model
designed to perform tasks rationally and
efficiently
• Characteristics of bureaucracies:
–
–
–
–
–
Rely on specialization
Are organized hierarchically
Guide operations using rules and regulations
Rely on officials with technical competence
Place value on organizational rules rather than
on the individual
– Track movementsby formal processes
Society and Rationalization
(slide 2 of 2)
• Rationalization of society: The historical
process by which rationality replaced
tradition as the main mode of human
thought
• Organizational environment: Factors
external to an organization that affect its
operation
• Emotion regulation: The idea that
businesses try to regulate the emotions of
their workers
Issues with Bureaucracy
• Iron cage of bureaucracy: Limitations on creativity
and flexibility that are placed on workers by the
bureaucratic process, causing alienation
• Bureaucratic ritualism: Rigid focusing on rules and
regulations that undermine an organization’s goals
• Bureaucratic inertia: The tendency of a bureaucracy
to perpetuate itself over time
• Mission drift: The tendency of formal organizations
to shift their goals for their own survival
• Iron Law of Oligarchy: An idea, developed by Robert
Michels, that suggests that bureaucracy always
means the rule of the many by the few
Society from a Functionalist
Perspective: Ferdinand Tönnies
• Gemeinschaft: Tönnies’s term for
societies based on a strong sense of
community developed around strong
traditions about how members of the
village should interact
• Gesellschaft: Tönnies’s term for a society
based on individual self-interest
Society from a Functionalist
Perspective: Emile Durkheim
• Mechanical solidarity: Durkheim’s term for
societies based on strong moral values and a
deep sense of community among members
• Organic solidarity: Durkheim’s term for
societies based on individualism,
specialization, and interdependence
• Anomie: A feeling of normlessness caused
by a disconnect from the dominant norms of
society
Social Interaction from a
Microsociological Perspective
• Stereotype: A general assumption that a
person holds about a particular group of
people
• Personal space: Space surrounding a
person that, when violated, causes
discomfort
Facial Expressions and
Body Language
• Studies show that between 60 and 90% of
the meaning taken from face-to-face
interactions is communicated
nonverbally.
Dramaturgy (slide 1 of 2)
• Dramaturgy: A microsociological approach
that analyzes social life in terms of the stage
• Jargon: Specialized language that indicates
the authenticity of the person in the role
• “Front stage” behavior: Behaviors that are
part of the role being played
• “Back stage: behavior: Behaviors that are
not part of the role being played
• Role performance: The way in which a
person plays a particular role within a given
framework
Dramaturgy (slide 2 of 2)
• Sign vehicles: Elements that communicate the
message of a performance, composed of the
social setting, scenery, and appearance
• Teamwork: Two or more people working together
to make a performance more realistic or
appropriate
• Face-saving behavior: Actions that seek to
salvage a performance that is going wrong
• Impression management: The ways in which an
individual playing a role will try to control the
performance such that others are convinced by
the performance
The Social Construction of Reality
• Through interaction, individuals in groups
develop background assumptions that
influence how they see the world around
them.
• The Thomas theorem states that
situations that are defined as real are real
in their consequences.
Ethnomethodology
• Ethnomethodology: A type of symbolic
interactionism that seeks to understand
how individuals make sense of their
everyday surroundings
• Background assumptions:
Understandings of the way the world
works that are deeply embedded in our
social understanding