Chapter Four Social Interaction in Everyday Life

1
Chapter FourSocial Interaction in Everyday Life
Society, The Basics 10th Edition John J. Macionis
2
Social StructureA Guide to Everyday Living

• Social interaction the process by which people
  act and react in relation to others.

3
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.

4
Status

• A status set all of the statuses a person holds
  at a given time.

5
Status

• Ascribed status a social position a person
  receives at birth or assumes involuntarily.

6
Status

• Achieved status a social position a person
  assumes voluntarily that reflects personal
  ability.

7
A Master Status

• Some statuses matter more than others, often
  shaping a persons entire life.
• A master status a status that has special
  importance for social identity.

8
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.

9
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.

10
Status Set and Role Set
Figure 4-1
11
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.

12
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.

13
(No Transcript)
14
(No Transcript)
15
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
16
Role Exit

• No Coined Terms
• Ex-doctor
• Ex-convict
• Ex-baseball player
• Ex-president

• Coined Terms
• Retiree
• Divorcee
• Widow
• Alumnus

17
Housework in Global Perspective
Global Map 4-1 (p. 102)
18
Roles and Values
Petty Neighbors The Role of the
Neighborhood Association
19
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 everyones minds

20
The Thomas Theorem

• The Thomas Theorem situations that are defined
  as real are real in their consequences.

W.I. Thomas
21
A prisoner attacked people mumbling
absent-mindedly to themselves.
The Thomas Theorem

• 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
22
Ethnomethodology

• 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.

Harold Garfinkel
23
Reality BuildingClass and Culture

• Our social background affects what we see.

People build reality from the surrounding culture.
24
Dramaturgical AnalysisThe 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, ones efforts to create specific
  impressions in the minds of others.
• aka impression management

25
Nonverbal Communication

• Nonverbal communication using body movements,
  gestures, and facial expressions rather than
  speech.
• This conveys information.

26
Nonverbal Communication

• Eye contact is used to invite and encourage
  interaction.

Hand gestures may convey an insult.
Gestures also supplement spoken words.
27
Nonverbal Communication

• Words, voice, and facial expressions are often
  ways to spot people telling lies.

Paul Ekman
28
Gender and Performances

• Women are socialized to be less assertive than
  men.
• Women tend to be more sensitive to nonverbal
  communication.

29
Gender and Performances

• Men typically command more space than women.

• Women craft their personal performances more
  carefully than men.

30
Idealization, Embarrassment, and Tact

• We construct performances to idealize our
  intentions (Erving Goffman).
• We try to convince others we do not have selfish
  motives.

31
Idealization, Embarrassment, and Tact

• Embarrassment discomfort resulting from a
  spoiled performance.

Embarrassing Performance
32
Idealization, Embarrassment, and Tact
Tact is the ability to describe others as they
see themselves. Abraham Lincoln

• Tact helping someone save face.

33
Interaction in Everyday Life
Emotions

• Humor

Language
34
Interaction in Everyday LifeEmotions

• 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.

35
Interaction in Everyday LifeEmotions
Arlie Russell Hochschild the typical company
does indeed try to control not only behavior but
also the emotions of its employees.
36
Interaction in Everyday LifeLanguage

• 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.

37
Interaction in Everyday LifeHumor

• Humor is a product of reality construction.
• It stems from the contrast between two different
  realities.

38
Interaction in Everyday LifeHumor
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.

39
Interaction in Everyday LifeHumor
Humor arises from contradiction, ambiguity, and
double meanings found in differing definitions of
the same situation.
The idea of getting it.
40
Interaction in Everyday LifeHumor

• Humor provides a way to express an opinion
  without being serious.

Humor often is a sign of real conflict.
41
End of Chapter 4