1. The self and interaction Chapter 5

2. Social Interaction http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kQMB5teKf7M &NR=1
Free hugs

3. How do we create reality in our face-to-face interactions?

4. SOCIAL INTERACTION http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q0BB gVCAxg0
String experiment

5. SOCIAL STRUCTURE: A GUIDE TO EVERYDAY LIVING
SOCIAL INTERACTION
Process by which people act and react in relation to others
STATUS
A social position
STATUS SET
All statuses a person holds

6. Ascribed and Achieved Status
Ascribed Status
Social position received at birth or taken involuntarily later in life
Achieved Status
Social position taken voluntarily
Ascribed statuses influence Achieved statuses

7. Ascribed Status—Born Rich

8. Ascribed Status--Gender

9. Ascribed Status--Gender

10. Achieved Status

11. Master Status
Special importance for social identity
Negative or positive
Gender
Athlete
Nerd
Criminal

12. Role Behavior expected of someone who holds a particular status
Person holds a status
Who we are
Person performs a role
What we do

13. Performing a Role

14. Role Set
Roles attached to a single status

15. Role Set: Student Status

16. Role Conflict and Role Strain
Conflict among roles connected to two or more statuses (student, job, athlete)
Role Strain
Tension among roles connected to single status (student)

17. Role Conflict Statuses Conflicts Student Athlete Job Time Importance
Enjoyment
Expectations

18. Role Strain: Student Status Tension among roles connected to a single status

19. Process by which people disengage from important social roles
Role Exit
Process by which people disengage from important social roles
Becoming an “ex”
Graduating
Retirement
Widow
Divorce

20. Status Set and Role Sets A status set includes all the statuses a person holds at a given time. The status set defines “who we are” in society. The many roles linked to each status define “what we do.”

21. Social Construction of Reality
The process by which people creatively shape reality through social interaction
Social interaction is:
Complex
Involves Negotiation
Builds reality
Perception of events based on interests and intentions

22. The Thomas Theorem
“Situations that are defined as real are real in their consequences.”

23. Defining Situations

24. Defining situations

25. Defining Situations

26. Defining Situations

27. Defining Situations

28. The way people make sense of everyday life
Ethnomethodology
Study of:
The way people make sense of everyday life
Behavior based on assumptions
“Breaching experiments”

29. Breaching Experiments
Taking items from others’ shopping carts Standing very, very close Tipping a person who opens a door for you Eating with fingers in fancy restaurant

30. Reality Building: Class and Culture
How we act & what we see depends
on:
Our interests
Social class
Gender
Race/ethnicity
Culture

31. Reality Building What do you see?

32. DRAMATURGICAL ANALYSIS: THE PRESENTATION OF SELF
Study of:
Social interaction as a theatrical performance
Erving Goffman ( )
People perform on a stage

33. Efforts to create specific impressions in others’ minds
Presentation of Self
Efforts to create specific impressions in others’ minds
Also called
Impression Management

34. Presentation of Self (Impression Management)

35. Performances Reveal information Consciously & Unconsciously:
Dress (costume)
Objects we carry (props)
Tone of voice and way we carry ourselves (demeanor)
Performances influenced by context (the set)

36. Nonverbal Communication “Body Language”
Communication using:
Body movements
Gestures
Facial expressions

37. Body Language

38. Body Language & Deception
Contradictions in verbal & nonverbal
meaning
Nonverbal communication hard to control
Clues to deception
Recognizing dishonest performances is difficult
Key to detecting lies
--View whole performance
--Look for inconsistencies

39. Learning body language--Funny
Video
=more_related
Learning body language--Funny

40. STARING, SMILING, AND TOUCHING
Women hold eye contact more than
men do
Men stare
Claiming social dominance
Smiling
Trying to please
Submission
Women smile more than men do

41. Eye Contact

42. Staring
Random Staring Tom Brady staring contest

43. 10/16 Smiling

44. Embarrassment and Tact
Embarrassment: Discomfort after a
spoiled performance
Embarrassment is an ever-present danger
One moment can shatter the intended impression
Audience often overlooks flaws in performance

45. Embarrassment

46. Tact Helping someone “save face”
“Tact is the ability to describe others the way they see themselves.” (Abraham Lincoln)
Embarrassment creates discomfort for the actor and everyone else
People are reminded of how fragile their own performances are

47. Process of Socialization
The process of learning the:
Values
Beliefs
Norms
of our social group
Begins in infancy
Lasts throughout lifetime
We know that culture is passed from one generation to the next through language and communication, and socialization happens in a similar way. We are often told how to act or behave, which is how language facilitates this process.

48. Development of the Self
The self is our personal identity
Separate and different from others
Who are you?
The self is created and modified
through social interaction
The socialization process
In other words, when we get a positive response from other people, we might like the feeling we get and we try to replicate that feeling. This might even help to shape our personality, or our sense of self. Our interactions with other people might shape our own sense of self.

49. Agents of Socialization
Major agents include:
Family
Schools
Peers
The mass media
Each of these agents of socialization (sometimes referred to as agencies of socialization) has a different impact on us depending on which point in our life we’re at. For instance, the family is very influential on young children, but older children and adults are heavily influences by peers. We’ll talk more about each of these agents of socialization.

50. Agents of Socialization
The family: Single most significant agent of socialization
Teaches:
Basic values
Norms that shape identity
The family has a significant influence on children until they go to school. Family is often considered a primary agent of socialization, and school is the secondary agent.

51. Agents of Socialization Schools
Hidden curriculum: Traits such as:
Punctuality
Neatness
Discipline
Hard work
Competition
Obedience
Schools are often considered the secondary agent of socialization. This agent sometimes replaces the family as the most important agent, as children are now experiencing socialization from adults and other children outside of the family.

52. Agents of Socialization Peers
Provide different social skills than the family
Often become more significant than the family
Especially during adolescence
Peers are often the most influential agent of socialization for older children and adults. The media is likely the most controversial agent of socialization. We know that children and individuals do learn from the media, but we don’t have a comparable society exactly like that in the U.S. that doesn’t have mass media, so it’s difficult to do a comparison or determine exactly how much impact the media has on us.

53. The media Has become an important agent of socialization
Often overriding the family and other institutions
In instilling values and norms

54. Reality Play: The Social Construction of Humor
Humor an important part of everyday life
By using humor, we “play with reality”

55. Humorous Quotes
“You can observe a lot by just watching”. -- Yogi Berra "He who laughs last probably didn't get the joke." ---Unknown "Not all chemicals are bad. Without hydrogen or oxygen, for example, there would be no way to make water, a vital ingredient in beer." ---Dave Berry

56. The Foundation of Humor
Create and contrast two different realities
1. Conventional
What people in a specific situation expect
2. Unconventional
An unexpected violation of cultural patterns
Humor arises from differing definitions of the same situation

57. The Dynamics of Humor: “Getting It”
To “get” humor, must understand the two realities enough to appreciate the difference
Enjoyment of a joke increased by pleasure of figuring out the pieces needed to “get it”
The joke makes you an “insider”
If a joke has to be explained, not very funny
You’re an “outsider”

58. The Topics of Humor Humor is a universal of human culture
However, humor rarely travels well

59. Controversy of humor: Fine line between what is funny and what is “sick”
Middle Ages – “humors” from the Latin “humidus” meaning “moist”
A balance of bodily fluids that regulated a person’s health
Researchers today document the power of humor to reduce stress and improve health
“Laughter is the best medicine”

60. At the extreme, people who always take
conventional reality lightly
Risk being defined deviant or mentally ill
Certain topics are “not funny”
Too sensitive for humorous treatment:
Religious beliefs
Tragic accidents
Appalling crimes

61. A joke about sociologists:
How many sociologists does it take to
change a light bulb?
Answer: None. There is nothing wrong with
The light bulb; it’s the system that needs to
be changed!
What sort of people are likely to get joke?
What kind of people probably won’t?
What makes this joke funny?
Why?

62. The Functions of Humor
Humor is found everywhere--As a safety valve for potentially disruptive emotions
Humor provides acceptable way to discuss sensitive topic
Without appearing to be serious or offensive
Humor used to relieve tension in uncomfortable situations

63. Humor also used to put down others
Humor and Conflict
Humor also used to put down others
“Put-down” jokes make one category of people feel good at expense of another
Real conflict can be masked by humor
jokes/45d62e5de7219b1af9da45d62e5de7219b1af9da ?q=the%20dozens%20jokes

64. Humor: More important than we think
Mental escape from world not entirely to our liking
Survival: Comedians from historically marginalized
groups
Sense of humor asserts freedom
We are never a prisoner of reality

65. Theory in Everyday Life
The Real World: An Introduction to Sociology, 2nd Edition
Copyright © W.W. Norton & Company