Chapter Four
Social Interaction
in Everyday Life
Social Structure:
A Guide to Everyday Living
Social interaction – the process by which
people act and react in relation to others.
Status
• Status – a social position that an
individual occupies.
• Every status is part of our social
identity.
• It defines who
and what we
are in relation
to others.
Status
A status set – all of
the statuses a
person holds at a
given time.
Status
Ascribed status – a
social position a
person receives at
birth or assumes
involuntarily.
Status
Achieved status – a
social position a
person assumes
voluntarily that
reflects personal
ability.
A Master Status
• Some statuses matter more than
others, often shaping a person’s entire
life.
• A master status – a status that has
special importance for social identity.
Role
• Role – behavior expected of someone
who holds a particular status.
• Role performance varies according to
personality.
• Role set – a number of roles attached
to a single status.
Status & Role
• "Role" is what the doctor does (or, at
least, is expected to do), while status is
what the doctor is. In other words,
"status" is the position an actor
occupies, while "role" is the expected
behavior attached to that position.
• People occupy status. People perform
roles.
Status Set and Role Set
Figure 4-1
Role Conflict and Role Strain
• Role conflict –
conflict between
roles corresponding
to two or more
statuses.
• When we
experience being
pulled in several
different directions.
Role Conflict and Role Strain
Role strain – tension
among roles
connected to a
single status.
Performing various
roles attached to
one status feels like
a “balancing act.”
Role Exit
• Role exit – the
process by which
people disengage
from important
roles
• “Exes” must rebuild
relationships with
people who knew
them in their
earlier life.
“Ex-nun”
Role Exit
No Coined Terms
Coined Terms
• Ex-doctor
• Ex-convict
• Ex-baseball
player
• Ex-president
•
•
•
•
Retiree
Divorcee
Widow
Alumnus
Roles and Values
“Petty Neighbors”
“The Role of the Neighborhood Association”
The Social Construction of
Reality
• Social construction of reality – the
process by which people creatively
shape reality through social
interaction.
• Interaction is a complex negotiation.
• “Reality” remains unclear in
everyone’s minds
The Thomas Theorem
The Thomas Theorem –
situations that are
defined as real as in
their consequences.
W.I. Thomas
The Thomas Theorem
•A prisoner attacked people mumbling
absent-mindedly to themselves.
•To the deranged
inmate, these lip
movements were curses
or insults.
•No matter that they
weren't; the results
were the same.
W.I. Thomas
Ethnomethodology
Harold Garfinkel
• Harold Garfinkel states
people create reality in
everyday encounters.
• Ethnomethodology – the
study of the way people
make sense of their
everyday surroundings.
• Realities are influenced by
culture.
Reality Building:
Class and Culture
Our social
background affects
what we see.
People build reality
from the surrounding
culture.
Dramaturgical Analysis:
“The Presentation of Self”
• Dramaturgical analysis – the
study of social interaction in
terms of theatrical performance
(“actors on a stage”)
Erving Goffman
• Each performance involves the
presentation of self, one’s efforts to
create specific impressions in the
minds of others.
• aka “impression management”
Nonverbal Communication
• Nonverbal
communication – using
body movements,
gestures, and facial
expressions rather
than speech.
• This conveys
information.
Nonverbal Communication
Eye contact is used to
invite and encourage
interaction.
Hand gestures may
convey an insult.
Gestures also supplement spoken words.
Nonverbal Communication
Words, voice, and facial expressions
are often ways to spot people telling
lies.
Paul Ekman
Gender and Performances
• Women are
socialized to be
less assertive
than men.
• Women tend to
be more sensitive
to nonverbal
communication.
Gender and Performances
Men typically
command more
space than
women.
Women craft
their personal
performances
more carefully
than men.
Idealization, Embarrassment, and
Tact
• We construct performances to idealize
our intentions (Erving Goffman).
• We try to convince others we do not
have selfish motives.
Idealization, Embarrassment, and
Tact
Embarrassment – discomfort resulting
from a spoiled performance.
Embarrassing Performance
Idealization, Embarrassment, and
Tact
“Tact is the ability to
describe others as they
see themselves.”
Abraham Lincoln
-a keen sense of what to do or say
in order to maintain good relations
with others or avoid offense
Tact – helping someone “save face.”
Interaction in Everyday Life:
Emotions
Humor
Language
Interaction in Everyday Life:
Emotions
Emotions, more commonly
called feelings, are an
important dimension of
everyday life.
All human beings
experience the same basic
emotions and display them
to others in the same basic
ways.
Interaction in Everyday Life:
Language
Language conveys deep levels of
meaning.
Language defines men and women
differently in several ways:
(1) The power function of language.
(2) The value function of language.
(3) The attention function of language.
Interaction in Everyday Life:
Humor
• Humor is a product of reality
construction.
• It stems from the contrast between
two different realities.
Interaction in Everyday Life:
Humor
Conventional – what
people expect in some
situation
Unconventional – an
unexpected violation of
cultural patterns
One must understand the two realities
involved well enough to appreciate their
difference.
Interaction in Everyday Life:
Humor
Humor arises
from
contradiction,
ambiguity, and
double meanings
found in differing
definitions of the
same situation.
The idea of “getting it.”
Interaction in Everyday Life:
Humor
Humor provides
a way to express
an opinion
without being
serious.
Humor often is a sign
of real conflict.