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Chapter 4
Social Interaction
Chapter Outline
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What is Social Interaction?
The Sociology of Emotions
Modes of Social Interaction
Micro, Meso, Macro and Global
Structures
Elements of Social
Interaction
• Status means recognized positions
occupied by interacting people.
• Social interaction requires roles or sets
of expected behaviors.
• Social interaction requires norms or
generally accepted ways of doing
things.
Role Set and Status Set
Polling Question
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Most of the time you can be sure that other
people want the best for you.
A. Strongly agree
B. Agree somewhat
C. Unsure
D. Disagree somewhat
E. Strongly disagree
Role Conflict
Role Strain
Emotions and Social
Interaction
• Emotions are less spontaneous and
uncontrollable than we commonly believe.
• Your status in an interaction and in larger
society affects how much you laugh and what
you laugh at.
• People manage their emotions in personal life
and at work according to “feeling rules” that
reflect cultural standards and the demands of
organizations.
Laughter and Humor
• When people of different statuses
interact, people with higher status get
more laughs.
• People with lower status laugh more.
• Laughter in everyday life is often a
signal of dominance or subservience.
How We Get Emotional
Emotion Management
• We have expectations about:
– What we should feel.
– How much we should feel.
– How long we should feel it.
– With whom we should share our
feelings.
Grief in Historical Perspective
• In Europe as late as 1600, life
expectancy was only 35 years.
• Many infants died at birth.
• People invested less emotionally in their
children than we do.
• As health conditions and the infant
mortality rate improved, emotional
investment in children increased.
Modes of Social Interaction
• Exchange theory - involves trade in
attention and other resources.
• Rational choice theory - try to maximize
benefits and minimize costs.
• Dramaturgical analysis- social
interaction is role-playing.
Polling Question
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People who are better off should help
friends who are less well off.
A. Strongly agree
B. Agree somewhat
C. Unsure
D. Disagree somewhat
E. Strongly disagree
Ethnomethodology
• The study of how people make sense of
what others do and say by adhering to
preexisting norms.
• Everyday interactions could not take
place without pre-existing shared norms
and understandings.
Nonverbal
Communication
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Facial expressions
Gestures
Body language
Status cues
Power and Social
Interaction: 4 points
1. Competitive exchange of valued resources:
– People communicate to get something out
of the interaction.
– If they prevent others from getting much
out of the interaction, communication will
break down.
– This is exchange and rational choice
theory.
Power and Social
Interaction: 4 points
2. We mold values, norms, roles, and
statuses to suit us as we interact with
others.
– We engage in impression
management so others see us in the
best possible light.
– This is a major argument of
dramaturgical analysis.
Power and Social
Interaction: 4 points
3. Norms exist before interaction takes
place.
– Sustained interaction would be
impossible without shared
understandings.
– This is the core argument of
ethnomethodology.
Power and Social
Interaction: 4 points
4. Nonverbal communication greatly
facilitates social interaction.
– These include: facial expressions,
hand gestures, body language, and
status cues.
Theories of Social
Interaction
Theory
Focus of Attention
Exchange
theory
Exchange of valued
resources
Rational
Maximization of gains and
choice theory
minimization of losses
Theories of Social
Interaction
Theory
Symbolic
interactionism
Dramaturgical
analysis
Focus of Attention
Interpretation,
negotiation, and
modification of norms,
rules, and statuses
Impression
management
Theories of Social
Interaction
Theory
Focus of
Attention
Ethnomethodology
Influence of
preexisting norms
Conflict theory
Influence of status
hierarchies
Big Structures, Small
Processes
Modes of Interaction
Mode of Interaction
Level of
Inequality
Emotion
Domination
High
Fear
Competition
Medium
Envy
Low
Trust
Cooperation
Quick Quiz
1. Role strain occurs when:
a. people communicate face-to-face, acting
and reacting in relation to other people
b. a cluster of roles are attached to a single
status
c. a single individual occupies an entire
ensemble of statuses
d. incompatible role demands are placed on
a person in a single status
e. none of these choices
Answer: d
• Role strain occurs when incompatible
role demands are placed on a person
in a single status.
2. According to sociologists, the reason women
laugh more than men do in everyday
conversation is:
a. when dealing with men, women have
more to laugh at
b. people with lower status laugh more
c. speakers laugh more than listeners
d. all of these choices
e. none of these choices
Answer: b
• According to sociologists, the reason
women laugh more than men do in
everyday conversation is people with
lower status laugh more.
3. Rational choice theory focuses on:
a. the resources that are exchanged in the
course of social interaction
b. the way interacting parties weigh the
costs and benefits of interaction
c. impression management
d. the way pre-existing norms shape social
interaction
e. the influence of status hierarchies on
social interaction
Answer: b
• Rational choice theory focuses on the
way interacting parties weigh the
costs and benefits of interaction.
4. Dramaturgical analysis focuses on:
a. the resources that are exchanged in the
course of social interaction
b. the way interacting parties weigh the
costs and benefits of interaction
c. impression management
d. the way pre-existing norms shape social
interaction
e. the influence of status hierarchies on
social interaction
Answer: c
• Dramaturgical analysis focuses on
impression management.
5. Ethnomethodologists stress that
everyday interactions could not take
place if people were not willing to
deviate from shared norms and
understandings.
a. True
b. False
Answer: b
• Ethnomethodologists do not stress that
everyday interactions could not take
place if people were not willing to
deviate from shared norms and
understandings.