CHAPTER 5 SOCIAL INTERACTION

Social Interaction Involves people communicating face-to-face and acting and reacting in relation to other people Structured around norms, roles, and statuses

Social Interaction Status Recognized positions occupied by interacting people

Social Interaction Status Set The entire ensemble of statuses occupied by an individual

Social Interaction Achieved Status A status that depends on the capabilities nd efforts of the individual

Social Interaction Ascribed Status A status that does NOT depend on the capabilities and efforts of the individual

Social Interaction Master Status A status that is most influential in shaping one’s life at a given time – it matters more to your identity at that time than other statuses

Social Interaction Role Set Role Sets of expected behaviors A cluster of roles attached to a single status

Social Interaction Role Set Status Set Professor Wife Mother Evaluator Intimate Companion Professor Lecturer Wife Home Owner Emotional Support Giver Mother Medical Caregiver

Social Interaction Role definitions do change Role Sets do change

Social Interaction Role Conflict Occurs when two or more statuses held at the same time place contradictory role demands on a person

Social Interaction Role Strain Occurs when incompatible role demands are placed on a person in a single status

Social Interaction Teacher Wife Mother Professor Professor Role Strain Role Conflict Evaluator

Social Interaction Norms, roles and statuses are the building blocks of all face-to-face communications Emotion Grief

Modes of Social Interaction Exchange Theory Rational Choice Theory Symbolic Interactionism Dramaturgical Analysis Theory Ethnomethodology Theory Conflict Theory

Modes of Social Interaction Exchange Theory All social relationships involve a literal give and take Exchange attention, pleasure, approval, prestige, information, and money With payoff relationships endure and without payoffs relationships end

Modes of Social Interaction Rational Choice Theory Focuses on the way interacting people weigh the benefits and costs of interaction People always try to maximize benefits and minimize costs. From business to marriage

Modes of Social Interaction Symbolic Interactionism People create meanings and desires in the course of social interaction Humans act toward things based on the meaning these things have for them The meaning emerges from social interaction The use of meanings occurs through process of interpretation

Modes of Social Interaction Dramaturgical analysis A play in which we present ourselves in the best possible light Impression Management

Modes of Social Interaction Ethnomethodology The study of how people make sense of what others do and say by adhering to preexisting norms

Modes of Social Interaction Conflict Theory When people interact, their statuses are often arranged in a hierarchy Those on top enjoy more power than those on the bottom The degree of inequality strongly affects the character of social interaction between the interacting parties

Modes of Social Interaction Verbal and Nonverbal Communication Social context of language Body language Personal Space Status cues

Modes of Social Interaction Verbal and Nonverbal Communication Social context of language We learn language not because we understand words – computers can do that - but because we can learn the social and cultural contexts that give words meaning

Modes of Social Interaction Verbal and Nonverbal Communication Body language Facial Expressions Gestures Body

Modes of Social Interaction Verbal and Nonverbal Communication Personal Space Intimate zone (18”) Personal Zone (18”-4’) Social Zone (4-12’) Public Zone (12’ and beyond)

Modes of Social Interaction Verbal and Nonverbal Communication Status cues Visual indicators of other people’s social position