Chapter 6

SOCIAL INTERACTION:
UNDERSTANDING EVERYDAY
LIFE
Sociology, 15th Edition, Global Edition, Pearson Education © 2015
Social Interaction: Understanding Everyday
Life

Learning Objectives
• LO 6.1 Explain how social structure helps us to make
sense of everyday situations.
• LO 6.2 State the importance of status to social
organization.
• LO 6.3 State the importance of role to social organization.
• LO 6.4 Describe how we socially construct reality.
• LO 6.5 Apply Goffman's analysis to several familiar
situations.
• LO 6.6 Construct a sociological analysis of three aspects
of everyday life: emotions, language, and humor.

Sociology, 15th Edition, Global Edition, Pearson Education © 2015

The Power of Society

Is our use of social

networking sites as
much of a personal
choice as we may
think?

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Social Interaction

What is social
interaction? Social interaction is the process by
which people act and react in relation
to others.

Humans rely on social structure to

make sense out of everyday
situations.

LO 6.1 Explain how social structure helps us to make sense of

everyday situations.
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Social Structure: Status

Harley
Friend club
member

Sports
Boss
participant

Social
positions a
Dance Business
person
partner manager
holds at a
given time

LO 6.2 State the importance of status to social organization.

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Status
Members of our society
celebrate the achievements of
super-stars such as Jennifer
Lopez (J.Lo) not only because
of her success as a musician
designer, but also because she
grew up in a poor neighborhood
of the Bronx, New York, and
had “make it” mostly on her
own.

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Type of Status: What Is…?

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Social Structure: Type of Status

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 Social Structure: Role

• Role: Behavior
expected of someone
who holds a particular
status

• Role set: Roles

attached to a single
status

LO 6.3 State the importance of role to

social organization.

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Physical Disability as a Master Status

• Physical disability
works in much the
same ways as
class, gender, or
race in defining
people in the eyes
of others.
How do you think the loss of an
arm or a leg affects a person's
social identity and sense of self?

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Housework in Global Perspective

Sociology, 15th Edition, Global Edition, Pearson Education © 2015

Social Role Conflict and Role Strain

Role conflict Example

• Involves roles • A police officer

connected to two who catches her
or more statuses own son using
drugs at home
• Roles: Mother
and police officer

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Role Conflict and Role Strain

Role strain Example

• Involves roles • Manager who tries

connected to a to balance concern
single status for workers with
task requirements
• Roles: Office
manager and
fellow worker

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Role Exit

Involves disengaging from social

Role exit roles

Can be very traumatic without

proper preparation

Process of becoming an Can contribute to doubts about

“ex” ability to continue with a certain role

Involves examination of new roles

that lead to a turning point

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The Social Construction of Reality

Construction

Involves the process by which people

creatively shape reality through social
interaction

Presents self in terms that suit the setting

and personal purposes

Involves social interaction that is a complex

negotiation used that builds reality

LO 6.4 Describe how we socially construct reality.

Sociology, 15th Edition, Global Edition, Pearson Education © 2015
The Social Construction of Reality

• “Street smarts”
– Form of constructing
reality

• Thomas theorem
– Situations that are
defined as real are
real in their Flirting is an everyday
consequences experience in reality
construction
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The Social Construction of Reality

Ethnomethodology

Study of the way people

make sense of their
everyday surroundings

Exploration of the
process of making sense
of social encounters

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Reality Building: Class and Culture

• How we act or what we

see in our surroundings
depends on our
interests.

• Social background also

affects what we see.
Cultural systems are marked by diversity
• People build reality and even outright conflict, reality
from the surrounding construction always involves tensions and
choices.
culture.
Here women confront starkly different
definitions of what is “feminine.”
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The Increasing Importance of Social Media

Agree or disagree?

Some sociologists have argued that the rise of

social media has connected people in new ways
but weakened social ties among people who share
physical space.

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Goffman's Dramaturgical Analysis: “The
Presentation of Self”

Study of social
interaction in
terms of theatrical Presentation of self is
performance used to create
specific impressions
in the minds of others

LO 6.5 Apply Goffman's analysis to several

familiar situations.

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Goffman's Dramaturgical Analysis

Role performance Example

• Includes stage • Going to the

setting doctor and
• Involves use of playing the
props: costume, expected patient
tone of voice, role
gesture

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Nonverbal Communication

Words

Voice

Body language

Facial expressions

Demeanor

Personal space

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Body Language and Deception

Hand gestures vary widely from one culture to

another. Yet people everywhere chuckle, grin, or
smirk to indicate that they do not take another
person's performance seriously. Therefore, the
world over, people who cannot restrain their mirth
tactfully cover their faces.
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Body Language and Deception

Nonverbal communication is hard to control

and offers clues to deception.

No single bodily gesture tells us for sure that

someone is lying.

Key to detecting lies is to view the whole

performance with an eye for inconsistencies.

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Gender and Performances: Key Elements

Use of space

Staring, smiling,
Demeanor touching

Gender is a
central
element in
personal
performances.

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Gender and Performances: Idealization

Performances constructed to idealize our

intentions.

Professionals typically idealize their

motives for entering their chosen careers.

We all use idealization to some degree.

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Gender and Performances: What Is…?

Sociology, 15th Edition, Global Edition, Pearson Education © 2015

 Goffman's research shows that although
behavior is spontaneous in some respects, it
is more patterned than we like to think.

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Interaction in Everyday Life: Three
Applications
• Emotions: The social construction of feeling
• Language: The social construction of gender
• Reality play: The social construction of
humor

Let's consider each of these.

LO 6.6 Construct a sociological analysis of three aspects of everyday life:

emotions, language, and humor.

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Emotions: The Social Construction of
Feeling

Biological side Cultural side Emotions on

of emotions of emotions the job
• Some emotion • Ekman: Culture • Hochschild:
response are defines what Typical company
“wired” into triggers emotion. tries to regulate
humans. not only
employees'
behavior, but
emotions.

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Managing Feelings: Women's Abortion
Experiences
• Emotional scripts or
“feeling rules” guide
how women feel about
ending a pregnancy
(Keys, 2002).

• Scripts arise from the

political controversy
surrounding abortion.
The words that doctors and nurses
use influence whether a woman
having an abortion defines the
experience in positive or negative
terms.

Sociology, 15th Edition, Global Edition, Pearson Education © 2015

Language: The Social Construction of
Gender

Power and Value

Men use female pronouns to convey
control and ownership.

Women often adopt the husband's

surname.

Feminine terms are more likely to change

to negative meanings than masculine
terms.

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Reality Play: The Social Construction of
Humor

Humor is unconventional
• Violation of cultural norms
• Tied to a common culture and
does not translate easily

“Not getting it”

• Inability to understand a joke's
conventional/unconventional
realities

Sociology, 15th Edition, Global Edition, Pearson Education © 2015

Functions of Humor

Humor aids in stress reduction and

improved health.

Humor acts as a safety valve by expressing

opinions on a sensitive topic.

Humor can foster conflict.

Sociology, 15th Edition, Global Edition, Pearson Education © 2015