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Chapter 4
 Social Perspectives on Social Interaction
 Social interaction- the process by which individuals act
toward and react to others
 Interactions can be classified into 3 types
 Oppositional Interactions- treating other as competitors
or enemies
 Supportive interactions-treating others as supporters
or friends
 These interactions are also symbolic interactions-which
people actively interpret each other’s actions and
reactions and behave in accordance with their
interpretation.
 The three perspectives look at different patterns of social
interaction.
 Functionalism focuses on the supportive nature of
interactions
 Conflict perspective focuses on the oppositional nature
 Symbolic interactionism focuses on the symbolic or
interpretive nature
 Functionalist Perspective: supportive interactions
 2 types of supportive interactions- exchange and cooperation
 Exchange- an interaction in which two individuals offer each
other something in order to obtain a reward in return
 Governed by the norm of reciprocity, requires that
people help those who have helped them.
 Cooperation- an interaction in which two or more individuals
work together to achieve a common goal.
 An individual needs another person’s help to do a job or
to do it more effectively.
 4 types of cooperation
 Spontaneous cooperation- unpredictable
 Traditional cooperation- brings added stability to the
social structure
 Directed cooperation- based on the directions of
someone in authority
 Contractual cooperation- voluntary action, planning,
individuals freely decide
 Conflict Perspective
 Oppositional interaction can consist of competition or conflict
 Competition- interaction in which two individuals follow
mutually accepted rules, each trying to achieve the same goal
before the other.
 Hampers achievement because its stressful
 Conflict- interaction in which two individuals disregard any
rules, achieving a goal by defeating the other.
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 Can harm and help social structure.
 Symbolic Interactionist Perspective: Interpreting Interactions
 Functionalist and conflict perspectives enable us to see the
different forms of interaction.
 Symbolic interaction allows us to learn much about interaction
by analyzing people’s interpretations of actions.
 Supportive Interactions
 “Supportive Interchanges”, “mutual dealings, or “ acts of
identifactory sympathy”
 People involved pay more attention to the hidden,
intended meanings behind the words or actions.
 Oppositional Interactions
 Involve people of different statuses
 Higher-statuses perceive lower-status people as less
worthy of respect
Functionalist- supportive interactions: Exchange and cooperation
Conflict- Oppositional Interaction: Competition and conflict
Symbolic Interactionist- Interpreting interactions
Myth- men and women are equally disinclined to stare at others because they have
been taught not to do so since childhood
Reality- since men are generally given higher status than women in a sexist society,
men tend to stare at women more than vice versa.
 Interaction as Symbolic Communication
 Without symbolic communication, humans would have to
interact like other animals.
 The essence of human interaction
 The Nature of Human Communication
 The meaning of a word is not determined by any inherent
quality of the thing itself, it means whatever a human has
agreed it to mean.
 The meaning of a words is socially constructed because it is
determined by people through their social experiences as
members o a specific society.
 Animal communication is a closed system, while human
communication is an open system.
 Animals can only use one signal at a time, but we combine
words as they come to our mind
 Human communication is both verbal and nonverbal
 Kinesics- body language
 Proxemics- the use of space as a mean of communication,
 A Global Analysis of Communication
 Verbal communication
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 A listener’s silence is often assumed to indicate
agreement.
 Between equally talkative cultures, there are also
differences in conversational style.
Myth: it is natural for only one person to speak at a time when engaged in a
conversation.
Reality: that may be so in the Us, but in many other countries, it is normal for a
listener to chime in when someone is talking in order to sow enthusiastic
participation or involvement with others.
 In America, we tend to believe that only one person
should speak at a time.
Myth: to avoid misunderstanding, especially in conversation with foreigners, it is
always wise to say directly what’s on our mind, such as saying, “yes” to mean “yes”.
Reality: Directness in speech may be good for transmitting information, but
indirectness is common in many other countries. The Japanese, for example, may
say “yes” to mean “no” when asked. “Would you agree to do business with us?” This
is their way of trying to save others from disappointment of embarrassment.
 When Americans talk they express what is one their
mind
 Nonverbal Communication
 Body language varies from one culture to another.
 In Proxemics, the amount of space we take up around us
also varies from one society to another.
 US Diversity in Communication
 Verbal Communication
 Various groups of Americans speak English with
different accents.
 Most interestingly there are variations in English usage
and conversational style.
 Nonverbal Communication
 When talking with members of the same sex, men are
less likely than women to look at others. Men may avoid
friendly connection or intimacy, which women tend
more to seek and express.
 Communication Between Women and Men
 The world of women, connection and intimacy are the primary
goals of life, and individuals cultivate friendship, minimize
differences, seek consensus, and avoid the appearance of
superiority.
 Status and independence are the primary goals of life in men’s
world.
 When to two sexes communicate with each other, women use
the language of connection and intimacy and men the language
of status and independence.
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Both speak and hear in their own dialects called genderlectslinguistic styles that reflect the different worlds of women and
men.
 Speaking Different Genderlects
 Failure to understand each other’s genderlect can spell trouble
for intergender communication.
Myth: because they speak the same language, men and women can easily
understand each other.
Reality: men and women speak the same language but use it in different ways: men,
for the purpose of giving information; women, for expressing feelings. Thus, men
tend to misunderstand women by taking literally what women say, and women tend
to misunderstand stand men by reading emotional meanings into what men say.
 Men tend to misunderstand women by taking literally what
women say.
 Women tend to misunderstand men by reading emotional
meanings into what men say.
 Genderlects are not confined to communication between
intimates, they influence communication in public
 Playing the Gendered Game of Proxemics
 A direct way for men to dominate women in proxemics
involves invading their personal space.
 even in the most intimate moments between moments
between a man and a woman, male domination reigns.
 Man appears as the protective one while the woman appears as
the weak and protected one.

 Dramaturgy: Interaction as Drama
 Dramaturgy- a method of analyzing social interaction as if the
participants were performing on a stage.
 Behaving Like Actors
 Behave like actors by following a script we have learned, they
tell us how to behave in accordance with our statuses and
roles.
 Our scripts don’t tell us how to act or how someone if going to
react.
 The performance is the heart of social interaction and as such
involves presenting the self to the other.
 Presenting the Self
 In presenting our selves, we are the actors and they the
audience.
 The playing of thee two opposite roles by each participant in
social interaction ensures that when each performs poorly in
presenting the self, the audience will empathize, ignore the
flaw, and form the impression desired by the actor.
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We try to display the positive aspects of ourselves and conceal
the negative ones.
 The appearance of mutual cooperation between performer and
audience is an important characteristic of interaction rituals.
 Performing Interaction Rituals
 In interaction rituals, the participants perform certain acts to
show reverence to each other.
 People show reverence with the intention of manipulating
others.
 People can said to be engaged in an interaction ritual because
the essence of interaction rituals is the appearance or display
of reverence rather than actual reverence.
 Interaction rituals are performed everyday.
 In order to participate in interaction rituals one must believe
the other’s self is sacred.
 Interaction-ritual violation- loss of poise- spilling a drink at a
friends home, incorrect identification- asking how a wife is
when she is actually dead, situation impropriety- dressing
inappropriately.
 The Social Construction of Reality
 While interacting with others, people are also simultaneously
interacting with themselves, somewhat like talking to
themselves.
 They create within themselves images of the other people and
then interact.
 Social construction of reality- process by which people create
through social interactions certain ideas, feelings, and beliefs
about their environment.
 Thomas Theorem: Creating Reality with Definition
 Thomas Theorem- “If people define situation as real, they are
real in their consequences.” – People can turn their socially
constructed inner realities (ideas, beliefs, attitudes, or feelings)
into socially observable outer realities.
 EX: if someone believe that they will become successful in the
future, they will do something to make it real, like working
hard.
 Ethnomethodolgy: Exposing Hidden Reality
 Ethnomethodolgy- the analysis of how people define the world
in which they live. Means “folk method”
 Humorology: Subverting Established Reality
 Humorology- the study or practice of humor, takes this
practice a step further by subverting them.
 Humor is said to be for fun and games, but it is also serious
business serving as the main function of attacking.

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Myth: Humor is only fun and games
Reality: humor may appear on the surface to be merely for laughs, but at its core, it
is also serious business. It subverts our popular assumptions and beliefs about
aspects of human life.


The humorologist subverts our conventional assumption that
shared understanding exists between others and us.
All jokes contain an incongruity between two realities, usually
an established, conventional one and a subversive,
unconventional one.
Questions
1. How does Communication differ globally?
2. How do the three perspectives differ in dealing with social interaction?
3. Why does society teach us to worry about the wrong things? What does
society teach us to construct?