Social structure is expressed through social interaction * stable pattern of relationships * in place before we come along * creates boundaries -- defines which groups are insiders / outsiders Serves some better than others… social marginality and stigma

Socialization and Social interaction reinforce social structure * e.g., established patterns of relationships between men & women * e.g., teachers and students, parents and children

Social Status recognized social position with privileges and obligations Includes wealth power and prestige but more to it than that.

Master status (establishes social identity) overriding ingredient in determining a person’s general social position (e.g., millionaire, white, black, old, young)

Achieved (earned) e.g., lawyer, mother versus Ascribed (born with) race, gender Status Sets (all positions occupied at a given time)

Status Symbols (material indicators of status)

Status Symbols say more about us than we realize…. Help define self Bumper stickers as status symbols?

Badges – another symbol about our “self”

Roles: obligations and privileges attached to our statuses We learn through socialization how we ought to play our roles

Expectations (society’s demands) may sometimes sharply contrast with our…… Performance (how we actually play out our roles)

Role ambiguity An unclear sense of what and how to perform Examples??

Role conflict (incompatible role demands of two or more statuses) e.g. Professor – teaching or research

Role Embracement (foster the impression that our core social identity is attached to this status)

versus Role Distancing (foster impression that we are not attached to the role)

Statuses and Roles are social structure in action We Occupy a Status and Perform a Role

The everyday components of Social Structure – Micro- perspective Social interaction what we do in the presence of others has somewhat of an order to it. e.g., Goffman’s “civil inattention” Interaction order – ways that we maintain and reinforce social structure

Dramaturgy: Life is like a drama Front stage "it will be convenient to label as 'front' that part of the individual's performance which regularly functions in a general and fixed fashion to define the situation for those who observe the performance" (Goffman, 1959, p.32) Back stage “Where we let down our defenses and relax our roles “

Oops…. A little back stage behavior.

Ethnomethodology - H. Garfinkel the study of the taken-for-granted assumptions that guide behaviors. e.g., burping at the table, letting a door fly shut behind you, wearing shoes on the wrong feet

To understand the underlying structure……. break a rule… Stand backwards in the elevator, barter for the price of a candy bar, when someone asks, “how are you?” respond with a very long reply

breaching experiments reveal the subconscious social world Breaching experiment Sociology Experiment And what do we learn from these?

Our definitions of situations are very much determined by our frame of reference (e.g., race, gender, social class, ethnicity – our social location or status) But - those with power may have the ability to establish definitions of reality. Gatekeepers and moral entrepreneurs

Impression management - our efforts to present ourselves in a favorable way

face-saving -- fixing a poor performance or ignoring it. Team performance -- two or more people work to present a particular impression

impression management is especially important if the person has a devalued status or fears being devalued -- e.g., being elderly, homeless, physical handicap, an x-convict, AIDs patient, registered sex offender

We learn from the micro perspective that we are not totally free from the rules that regulate social interaction.

Nonverbal communication facial expressions, body positions,

Personal space How does status impact these? American Office Japanese Office Eye contact Eye contact

Invading Your Personal Space Sociology experiment Sociology Another fun one for you to check out

Touch, Emotions, Culture, and Gender Who is more likely to touch who and why?