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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


Sets of expected behaviors
Role Set

A cluster of roles attached to a
single status
Social Interaction
Status
Set
Role
Set
Evaluator
Professor
Intimate
Companion
Lecturer
Wife
Emotional
Support Giver
Mother
Medical
Caregiver
Home Owner
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
Wife
Mother
Teacher
Professor
Professor
Role Conflict
Role Strain
Evaluator
Social Interaction

Norms, roles and statuses are
the building blocks of all faceto-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
