CHAPTER 5:

1. CHAPTER 5: SOCIAL INTERACTION IN EVERYDAY LIFE

2. SOCIAL STRUCTURE 1 An organized pattern of behavior that governs people's relationships Makes life orderly and predictable Includes statuses, roles, groups, organizations, and institutions

3. Status 2 • Status—a social position • Examples: student, professor, son, mother, employee • Statuses can be ranked but do not always imply differing amounts of prestige.

4. Status Set 2 Status set—a collection of social statuses that an individual occupies Changes throughout the life course Statuses are always relational.

5. Application List the statuses in your status set.

6. Types of Status 2 • An ascribed status is a position that we are born into • Male; Latino; Female; Chinese • An achieved status is a position that we have through choice • Employee; Student; Dentist

7. Application • Identify whether it is ascribed or achieved: • Twenty years of age • African American • Politician • Mother • Criminal

8. Status Inconsistency 2 • Status inconsistency refers to occupying social positions that create conflict because they are ranked differently. • A person who is both a student and an instructor may experience status inconsistency.

9. Roles 3 • A role is the behavior expected of a person in a particular status. • A student is expected to read, take notes, write papers, and attend class. • Roles are based on mutual obligations. • A professor must grade the papers written by the students.

10. Application 1 • Describe the role for each of these statuses: • Nurse • Friend • Father • Baseball pitcher

11. 3 The actual behavior of a person who occupies a status is their role performance. Individuals enact roles differently.

12. Role Set 3 • A role set refers to the different roles attached to a single status. • A student may interact differently with a professor and a fellow student. • A nurse will interact differently with a doctor, another nurse, and a patient.

13. Role Set

14. 3 • Role conflict refers to the frustration and uncertainties a person experiences when confronted with the requirements of two or more statuses. • Someone who is both a supervisor and a friend may experience role conflict.

15. 3 Role strain involves incompatible demands among roles within a single status. For example, an employee may experience role strain if he or she has more than one boss.

16. Application • Is it role conflict or strain? • A woman is stressed because she is a student, a mom, and an employee. • A student is stressed because he has 3 tests in 1 day. • A nurse finds it difficult to be gentle and comforting but also give shots.

17. EXPLAINING SOCIAL INTERACTION 4 Symbolic interaction theory examines how people communicate knowledge, ideas, beliefs and attitudes and how they interpret situations.

18. Social Construction of Reality 4 • The social construction of reality occurs as people perceive and understand through social interaction. • Monday is Monday because people have agreed that it is. • Race is constructed differently in different societies.

19. Ethnos—nation, people, tribe, or race • Methodology—mode of study 4 Ethnomethodology studies how people construct and learn to share definitions of reality that make interaction possible.

20. Ethnomethodology 4 • Ethnomethodologists study interaction by analyzing conversations and violating rules. • Examples include trying to pay more for an item than the price or answering a phone with "goodbye."

21. Application • How might ethnomethodologists question the assumptions of …? • A restaurant • A supermarket • A family dinner

22. Dramaturgical Analysis 4 Dramaturgical analysis examines social interaction as if it were a stage where people act out different scenes. The front stage is where the actual performance takes place. The back stage is a place, concealed from the audience, where people can relax.

23. Social Exchange Theory 4 Social exchange theory assumes that social interaction is based on maximizing rewards and minimizing costs. Interactions are most satisfying when there is a balance.

24. Application • What are the potential costs and benefits of these interactions? • A student and professor • A first date • A friendship

25. Feminist Theories 4 • Feminist perspectives study interaction according to gender roles. • Many feminist scholars maintain that interaction often involves a dominant-subordinate relationship in which men are usually dominant.

26. Emotional Labor 4 • Emotional labor is the management of feeling to create a publicly observable facial and bodily display. • Women are more likely than men to have jobs where they are required to perform emotional labor.

27. Interaction and Gender Roles 4 • Interaction and Gender Roles • Women and men are equally talkative. • Women are more likely to do conversation "maintenance work." • Men's speech reflects conversational dominance.

28. NONVERBAL COMMUNICATION 5 An important part of interaction Includes silence, gestures, facial expressions, eye contact, touch, and personal space.

29. Opinion 5 Are we more likely to believe nonverbal than verbal communication? If so, why?

30. Application • How might you communicate each of the following nonverbally? • "I don't know." • "I'm not interested." • "Help!" • "We are together as a couple." • "I like you."

31. ONLINE COMMUNICATION 6 Over 75% of adult Americans use the Internet. We communicate through e-mail, instant messaging, and text messaging. The biggest digital divide is among social classes.

32. Opinion 6 In what ways is online communication beneficial? In what ways is online communication harmful?

33. Social Structure 6 • Social structure is built and maintained through social interaction.

34. Internet Connection • The Smithsonian National Museum of African Art offers an interesting look into some African cultures’ unique imagery, body decorations, and other forms of nonverbal communication. For more information, visit: http://www.nmafa.si.edu