Social Interaction and Everyday Life

1. Social Interaction and Everyday Life • Social construction of everyday life • Studying social interaction and everyday life • Linking micro with macro

2. Social action (Weber): behavior that involves thought and is directed toward others; meaningful, intentional behavior Social interaction: the process of acting and reacting in relation to others Social construction of everyday life

3. Social structure • underlying regularities and patterns in behavior and relationships • Social status (position): social identity an individual has in a given society; position in relation to others • Social role: socially defined expectations of an individual in a given status or position

4. Social construction of everyday life: definition of the situation • “Preliminary to any self-determined act of behavior there is always a stage of examination and deliberation which we may call the definition of the situation.” Thomas

5. Social construction of everyday life: definition of the situation • Social interaction involves active negotiation of the definition of the situation • Therefore, social structure is a product of social construction

6. Studying social interaction and everyday life Ethnomethodology

7. Ethnomethodology • Theoretical approach developed by Garfinkel • Study of the folk or lay methods we use to make sense of what others are saying and doing • Background rules and knowledge are taken for granted • Use of demonstration (or breeching) experiment to reveal them • Conversation analysis

8. Nonverbal communication • Basic facial expressions are innate, universal • Gestures are culturally specific • Body position also conveys meaning • Civil inattention: avoiding eye contact to convey absence of aggression

9. Interaction in context • Compulsion of proximity: need to interact with others in “copresence”, face-to-face • Social context shapes interaction • Is internet interaction the same? • “Interactional vandalism”; if Mudrick is saying nice things why is it harassment? (89-92)

10. Studying social interaction and everyday life Dramaturgical analysis

11. Dramaturgical analysis • Theoretical approach developed by Erving Goffman • “all the world’s a stage, and we are all actors upon it.”

12. Unfocused interaction • Mutual awareness of others in group or crowd • No direct verbal communication • Nonverbal communication through body and gestures • Involves civil inattention

13. Focused interaction • Direct attention to others in the group • An encounter is a case of focused interaction • Encounters require openings to signal end of civil inattention: e.g., “ ’sup?” • Encounters separated by markers, also known as brackets

14. Presentation of self in everyday life • Impression management • Roles: socially defined expectations of a person in a • Status: social position • Status set • Ascribed status • Achieved status • Master status • Front regions: formal roles • Back regions: relaxed, preparation for front • Face work • Facebook?

15. Linking micro with macro • Micro level of social structure: roles & statuses, groups • Middle or meso level: organizations, subcultures, institutions • Macro level: society, culture, world system

16. Linking micro with macro society institutions Self: roles & statuses