FHHM1114 INTRODUCTION TO

SOCIOLOGY
TOPIC 4 SOCIAL STRUCTURE AND
SOCIAL INTERACTION
 This topic is
corresponding to:

• Chapter 5 and 6
[Part 2] in Schaefer’s
text; and

• Chapter 4 [Part 1]
and also Chapter 6
Main Reference 1:
Henslin, J. M. (2012). Sociology: A and 7 [Part 2] in
down-to-earth approach (11th Henslin’s text.
ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ:
Pearson.
Main Reference 2:
Schaefer, R. T. (2012). Sociology (13th
ed.). NY: McGraw-Hill.
 TOPIC 4 SOCIAL STRUCTURE AND
SOCIAL INTERACTION

4.1 MACROSOCIOLOGY AND

MICROSOCIOLOGY: INTRODUCTION
4.2 ELEMENTS OF SOCIAL STRUCTURE
4.3 ELEMENTS OF SOCIAL
INTERACTION
4.4 SUMMARY
 TOPIC 4 SOCIAL STRUCTURE AND
SOCIAL INTERACTION

4.1 MACROSOCIOLOGY AND

MICROSOCIOLOGY:
INTRODUCTION
4.1 MACROSOCIOLOGY AND
MICROSOCIOLOGY: INTRODUCTION

• Macrosociology and Microsociology are TWO level of

analysis that sociologists use in order to understand the
societies that we live in
• Each of these levels has a different focus and yield
distinctive perspectives
• Yet BOTH of these two levels are needed to gain a fuller
understanding of social life
MACROSOCIOLOGY
Concentrates on large-scale phenomena or entire
civilization
The study of large-scale groups, organizations or
social systems

MICROSOCIOLOGY
Stresses the study of small groups, often through
experimental means
The study of human behaviour in context of face-to-
face interaction
• Macrosociology focuses on social structure

SOCIAL STRUCTURE
The framework of society that surrounds us and consists
of the ways that people and groups are related to one
another
This framework gives direction and sets limits on our
behaviour
• Social structure is primarily the focus of conflict
theorists and functionalists
• Microsociology focuses on social interaction

SOCIAL INTERACTION
What people do when they are in one
another’s presence and includes
communication at a distance

• Social interaction is primarily the focus of symbolic

interactionists
 TOPIC 4 SOCIAL STRUCTURE AND
SOCIAL INTERACTION
4.2 ELEMENTS OF SOCIAL STRUCTURE
4.2.1 SOCIAL STATUSES
4.2.2 SOCIAL ROLES
4.2.3 SOCIAL GROUPS
4.2.4 FORMAL ORGANIZATIONS AND
BUREAUCRACIES
4.2.5 SOCIAL INSTITUTIONS
4.2.6 SOCIETIES
TOPIC 4 SOCIAL STRUCTURE AND
SOCIAL INTERACTION
SOCIETY
SOCIAL
INSTITUTIONS

INDIVIDUALS’
SOCIAL ROLES
AND SOCIAL
STATUSES
SOCIAL
GROUPS

ORGANIZATIONS &
BUREAUCRACIES
4.2 ELEMENTS OF SOCIAL STRUCTURE
4.2.1 SOCIAL STATUSES

SOCIAL STATUSES
Any of the full range of socially defined positions
within a large group or society, from the lowest to
the highest

STATUS SYMBOLS
Signs that identify a status or announce a status to
the others
ASCRIBED STATUS VERSUS
ACHIEVED STATUS

MASTER STATUS

STATUS SET
 ASCRIBED STATUS VERSUS
ACHIEVED STATUS
ASCRIBED STATUS
A position an individual either inherits at birth or
receives involuntarily later in life

ACHIEVED STATUS
Positions that are earned, accomplished or
involved at least some effort or activity on the
individual’s part voluntarily
 MASTER STATUS

MASTER STATUS
A status that dominates others and thereby
determines a person’s general position in
society, e.g. HIV+ patient, disabled and ex-
convict
 STATUS SET

STATUS SET
ALL the statuses or
positions that an
individual occupies
at the same time
some of us,well....
 Exercise 4.1
• What are the status
symbols on you, that
indicate your gender,
age and current status
as a student?
• What are your status
set?
4.2 ELEMENTS OF SOCIAL STRUCTURE
4.2.2 SOCIAL ROLES

SOCIAL ROLES
A set of expectations for people who occupy a
given social position or status

• Function: Allow people to anticipate the behaviour of

others and to pattern their actions accordingly
• Dysfunction: Restrict people’s interactions and
relationships
4.2 ELEMENTS OF SOCIAL STRUCTURE

Harold’s Social Roles

ROLE CONFLICT

ROLE STRAIN

ROLE EXIT
 ROLE CONFLICT

ROLE CONFLICT
Incompatible expectations arise from two or more
social positions held by the same person
Fulfillments of roles associated with one status may
directly violate the roles linked to a second status
 ROLE STRAIN

ROLE STRAIN
The difficulty that arises when the same social position
imposes conflicting demands and expectations

• Usually a social position has multiple roles to fulfill,

such as a parent is both a provider and a nurturer; it is
challenging to do both at the same time
 ROLE EXIT

ROLE EXIT
The process of disengagement from a role that
is central to one’s self-identity in order to
establish a new role and identity
• Helen Ebaugh developed a four-stage model of role
exit as in the following:
1. Doubt – frustration, burn out and unhappiness with a
current role

2. Search for Alternatives – it can be a leave of absence

or temporary separation

3. Action OR Departure – A clear turning point that drive

a person to leave his/her role

4. Creation of New Role – Takes on a new role

 Exercise 4.2
• Analyze how do role conflicts
occur when your mother OR father
is also your “friend”
• Describe the role strain
experiences by an employee
• Discuss how does role exit occur
to a husband OR wife who is
married
4.2 ELEMENTS OF SOCIAL STRUCTURE
4.2.3 SOCIAL GROUPS

SOCIAL GROUPS
A collection of people who regularly interact
with one another on the basis of shared
expectations, norms and values
concerning behaviour and who share a
sense of common identity
IN-GROUPS AND OUT-GROUPS

PRIMARY AND SECONDARY GROUPS

GROUP SIZE
 IN-GROUPS AND OUT-GROUPS

IN-GROUPS
Groups toward which one feels particular loyalty and
respect – the groups to which “we” belong

OUT-GROUPS
Groups toward which one feels antagonism and
contempt – “those people” or “others” who we do
NOT share a sense of belonging
• Diagrammatic representation of
differences between Chinese and
American in-groups, 
middle-groups and out-groups

AMERICANS CHINESE
 PRIMARY AND SECONDARY GROUPS

PRIMARY GROUPS
Groups that are characterized by intense emotional
ties, face-to-face interaction, intimacy and a
strong, enduring sense of commitment

SECONDARY GROUPS
Groups characterized by large size and by
impersonal, fleeting relationships
 SECONDARY
GROUP

YOU

PRIMARY GROUP
 GROUP SIZE

DYAD
A group consisting of TWO persons, which
involves both intimacy and conflict, is likely
to be simultaneously intense and unstable
TRIAD
A group consisting of THREE persons, which tend to
be MORE stable than dyad
• In a triad, the third person
may play:
 a unifying role to relieve
some pressures on the
other two members to
always get along and
energize the relationship
 a mediating role in times
of disagreements
• A member of a triad may also:
 divide and rule by making the other two members
as rivals
 form an alliance with another member in order to
gang up against the third member and thus
destabilize the triad, either the third member is a
weakest or strongest member
4.2 ELEMENTS OF SOCIAL STRUCTURE
4.2.4 FORMAL ORGANIZATIONS AND BUREAUCRACIES

FORMAL ORGANIZATION
A group rationally designed and structured
to achieve its objectives, often by means
of explicit rules, regulations and procedures
to maximize efficiency
• ALL large-scale organizations, according to Max
Weber, tend to be bureaucratic

BUREAUCRACY
A type of organization marked by a clear
hierarchy of authority and the existence of
written rules of procedures and staffed by
full-time, salaried officials
WEBER’S IDEAL TYPE OF BUREAUCRACY
DIVISION OF LABOUR

HIERARCHY OF AUTHORITY

WRITTEN RULES AND REGULATIONS

IMPERSONALITY

EMPLOYMENT BASED ON
TECHNICAL QUALIFICATIONS
 DIVISION OF LABOUR

DIVISION OF LABOUR
Specialized experts perform specific tasks
so that they are highly skilled and manage
to carry out a job with maximum efficiency

• Dysfunction: The downside of this is that the

fragmentation of work into smaller and smaller tasks
• Dysfunction: The fragmentation of work consequently
leads to alienation and trained incapacity
ALIENATION
A condition of estrangement or disassociation
from the surrounding society

TRAINED INCAPACITY
Worker become so specialized that they develop
blind spots and fail to notice obvious
problems
• Dysfunction:
Alienation are
experienced by
many employees
and workers who
work in an
environment that
overly stresses
productivity and
formal
relationship
 HIERARCHY OF AUTHORITY

HIERARCHY OF AUTHORITY
Each position is under the supervision of a
higher authority

• There are a chain of command stretching from top to

bottom
 WRITTEN RULES AND REGULATIONS

WRITTEN RULES AND REGULATIONS

A clear standards for an adequate (or
exceptional) performance

• Function: Procedures provide a valuable sense of

continuity in a bureaucracy
Dysfunction

GOAL DISPLACEMENT
Overzealous conformity to
official regulations
Rules are no longer serve as a
means to achieving an
objective, it is important in
their own right
https://www.bharian.com.my/berita/nasiona
l/2019/12/640868/kwsp-mohon-maaf-minta
-pesakit-kanser-datang-ke-pejabat
 IMPERSONALITY

IMPERSONALITY
Officials must perform their duties without
giving personal consideration to people
as individuals
• Function: Guarantees the equal treatment for each person
• Dysfunction: Contributes to the often cold and uncaring
feeling
 EMPLOYMENT BASED ON
TECHNICAL QUALIFICATIONS

EMPLOYMENT BASED ON TECHNICAL

QUALIFICATIONS
Hiring is based on technical qualifications and
NOT favouritism and performance is measured
against specific standards
• Functions: This protects bureaucrats against arbitrary
dismissal, provide a measure of security, and encourage
loyalty to the organization
Dysfunction

PETER PRINCIPLE
Every employee within a hierarchy tends to
rise to his or her level of incompetence

• Talented people receive promotion after promotion, until

sadly, some of them finally achieved positions that they
CANNOT handle with their usual competence
4.2 ELEMENTS OF SOCIAL STRUCTURE
4.2.5 SOCIAL INSTITUTIONS

SOCIAL INSTITUTIONS
Organized patterns of beliefs and
behaviour centered on basic social needs,
such as replacing personnel (family) and
preserving order (government)
 FAMILY

ECONOMY
MASS MEDIA
AND WORK

SOCIAL
GOVERN- INSTITUTIONS
MENT AND RELIGION
POLITICS

HEALTH AND
EDUCATION
MEDICINE
4.2 ELEMENTS OF SOCIAL STRUCTURE
4.2.6 SOCIETIES

SOCIETY
The largest and most complex group which
consisting of people who share a culture or
a territory
• We are all surrounded by
society, which sets the
stage for our life
experiences
• The TYPE of society we
live in is the fundamental
reason for why we
become who we are, the • Would you remain unchanged
ways we think and feel if you happened to be raised
as a Batek (one of the Orang
Asli ethnic group) child?
 TYPES OF SOCIETY / SOCIAL STRUCTURE

MECHANICAL AND ORGANIC SOLIDARITY

GEMEINSCHAFT AND GESELLSCHAFT

SOCIOCULTURAL EVOLUTION APPROACH

MECHANICAL AND ORGANIC SOLIDARITY

• Durkheim argued that social

structure depends on the
division of labor in a society
MECHANICAL SOLIDARITY
All individuals perform the same tasks and both
social interaction and negotiation are based on
close, intimate, face-to-face social contacts

ORGANIC SOLIDARITY
A collective consciousness resting on the need a
society’s members have for one another,
resulting in interdependence which is essential
for group’s survival
GEMEINSCHAFT AND GESELLSCHAFT

• Ferdinand Tönnies observed

the drastic societal changes
occurred in Germany during
the late 1800s due to
industrialization
GEMEINSCHAFT [COMMUNITY]
A small and close-knit community in which
people have similar backgrounds and life
experiences, typical as in rural life

GESELLSCHAFT [SOCIETY]
An ideal community in which most people are
strangers who feel little in common with
other residents, typical as in a modern, urban
life
SOCIOCULTURAL EVOLUTION APPROACH

• Gerhard Lenski sees society as

undergoing a process of change
characterized by a dominant
pattern known as sociocultural
evolution
• Society’s level of technology is
critical to the way it is organized
 TECHNOLOGY
Cultural transformation about the ways in
which the material resources of the
environment may be used to satisfy human
needs and desires
• As technology advances, a community evolves from a
pre-industrial to an industrial and finally a post-industrial
society
LENSKI’S SOCIOCULTURAL EVOLUTION OF SOCIETIES

HUNTING AND GATHERING SOCIETY

HORTICULTURAL AND PASTORAL SOCIETY

AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY

INDUSTRIAL SOCIETY

POST-INDUSTRIAL / INFORMATION SOCIETY

HUNTING AND GATHERING SOCIETY

• Depends on hunting animals and

gathering plants for its survival
• Minimal technology
• Minimal division of labor
• Minimal inequality
• A type of pre-industrial society
 HORTICULTURAL AND PASTORAL SOCIETY
• Depends on the pasturing or herding of animals OR
the cultivations of plants by the use of hand tools for
its survival and they are less nomadic
• Division of labor developed
• More inequality
• A type of pre-industrial society
AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY

• Depends on the invention of

plow and the use of animals
in the production of food in
large scale
• Rigid division of labor
• Severe inequality
• A type of pre-industrial society
INDUSTRIAL SOCIETY
• Depends on the
mechanization to produce
its goods and services and
relies on new inventions
and new sources of energy
• Specialization of tasks
increasing common
• Decreased inequality
 POST-INDUSTRIAL /
INFORMATION SOCIETY

• Depends on the processing

and control of information,
focuses on services rather
that the production of goods
• Technological sophisticated
• Inequality though decreases,
still persists
Exercise 4.3
1. Does Malaysian society
have mechanical or
organic solidarity?
2. Where can you find
gemeinschafts and
gesellschafts in
Malaysia?
3. Is Malaysia an industrial
society or post-industrial
society?
 TOPIC 4 SOCIAL STRUCTURE AND
SOCIAL INTERACTION

4.3 ELEMENTS OF SOCIAL INTERACTION

4.3.1 INTERACTION AS SYMBOLIC

COMMUNICATION
4.3.2 DRAMATURGY AND IMPRESSION
MANAGEMENT
4.3 ELEMENTS OF SOCIAL INTERACTION
4.3.1 INTERACTION AS SYMBOLIC COMMUNICATION
• Symbolic communication is the essence of human
interaction
The Nature of Human
Communication

Symbols are Human

arbitrary and communication is
socially constructed an open system
Symbols are arbitrary and socially constructed

• The meaning of a word is NOT

determined by any inherent
quality of the thing itself
• A word may mean whatever a
group of humans have agreed
it is supposed to mean
• Many different symbols are
used in various societies to
represent the same thing
Human communication is an open system

Animal Human
Communication Communication
System Closed System Open System
Nature of
Concrete Abstract & Concrete
Message
Message Limited; Infinite;
Communicated One signal at a time Many signals at a time
Easier and Innovative
Creation of (by combining existing
Difficult
New Message symbols or create new
symbols)
 Exercise 4.4
• What are the new meanings created by humans after
combining the following symbols into pairs?

0
 HUMAN
COMMUNICATION

VERBAL NONVERBAL
COMMUNICATION COMMUNICATION

KINESICS

PROXEMICS
 VERBAL COMMUNICATION

• In some culture people like to talk a lot, a listener's

silence is often assumed to indicate agreement
• But between equally talkative cultures, there are also
differences in conversational style
• In MOST of the cultures, we tend to believe that even
in casual conversation, only one person should
speak at a time
 NONVERBAL COMMUNICATION

• Involves BOTH kinesics and proxemics as means to

communicate ideas and desires with others

• Even without verbal communication, nonverbal

communication, though limitedly, manages to
facilitate communication between members in a
given culture
KINESICS
Refers to the body language, the ways in which
people use their bodies to give messages to
others, including facial expressions, gestures
and postures

PROXEMICS
The use of space as a means of communication
 KINESICS

• Only six emotions are

found to be universal
• However, individual and
cultural factors influence
what exact form facial
movements take and the
contexts in which they
are deemed appropriate
Exercise 4.5
1. Discuss how, why, when, at where do you smile?
2. What do the following kinesics mean?
a) rubbing both hands
b) eyes downcast
c) biting nails
d) sitting with hands behind the head and legs stretched
e) head tilted to one side
f) walking to and from with hands clasped behind
PROXEMICS

PERSONAL SPACE
The physical space individuals maintain
between themselves and others

• We all surround ourselves with a “personal bubble”

that we go to great length to protect
• Anthropologist Edward Hall distinguishes four zones
of personal space:
 FOUR ZONES OF PERSONAL SPACE
Purpose / Activity Nature of Relationship Relationship
For comforting, protecting, Intimate relationship
Intimate Lovers; parents
hugging, intimate touching with regular bodily
Distance and children
and lovemaking touching is permitted
Personal Some intimacy is Friends and
For ordinary conversations
Distance permitted acquaintances
Formal and Colleagues;
Social For job interviews, meeting,
impersonal customers and
Distance office space etc.
relationships service providers

Dignitaries /
To separate two groups of
public speakers
Public people who have different More or very formal
and the general
Distance social status; relationships
public; performers
For safety reason
and audience
4.3 ELEMENTS OF SOCIAL INTERACTION
4.3.2 DRAMATURGY AND IMPRESSION MANAGEMENT

DRAMATURGY
A method, introduced by Erving
Goffman, of analyzing social
interaction as if the participants
were performing on a stage
• According to Erving Goffman, social life is a
drama or a stage play

• Shakespeare captured the essence of social

interaction as a staged drama with his famous line
"All the world's a stage, and all the men and
women merely players"
 ELEMENTS OF DRAMATURGY

BEHAVING LIKE ACTORS

PRESENTING THE SELF

PERFORMING INTERACTION RITUALS

 BEHAVING LIKE ACTORS
• When we interact, we behave like actors by following
scripts that we have learned from our parents,
teachers, friends and others
• These scripts essentially tell us how to behave in
accordance with our statuses and roles
• However, these scripts are far MORE general and
ambiguous, unlike actual stage play
• As such, as we gain new experiences every day, we
constantly revise our scripts

ROLE PERFORMANCE
The ways in which someone performs a role, usually by
showing a particular “style” or “personality”

• Mutual cooperation among actors makes it possible

for the role performance to go on
 PRESENTING THE SELF

• In presenting ourselves to
others, we are the actors and
they the audience
• They also do the same, with
themselves as actors and us the
audience
 IMPRESSION MANAGEMENT
People’s efforts to control the impression that
others receive of them

• Generally, we try to display the positive aspects of

ourselves and conceal the negative ones
 Exercise 4.6
• Analyze which actor(s) is/are doing impression
management and which is/are not:
• The playing of the roles of actors and audience ensure
that when each performs poorly, the audience will
 empathize,
 ignore the flaw; and
 form the impression desired by the actor
• Therefore, we may avoid embarrassment with the
help of others with the expectations that we will return
the favour
ROLE DISTANCE
The separation of our role-playing as
outward performance (onstage) from our
inner self (backstage)
• In self-presentation, it is divided into:
 front-region (frontstage) – people present their
selves in ways expected by others, the audience
 back region (backstage) – people reveal their true
selves, with no concern for the audience
• Often, the backstage behaviour contradicts the
frontstage performance
• Often, we do NOT present who we really are
Outward Performance Inner Self

God, I’m having

backache and
I need to
scratch my legs.
Wait, just 4
more hours to go,
then I can relax.
Now, I need to keep
smiling = ]
 PERFORMING INTERACTION RITUALS

• People perform certain acts to show reverence to

each other
• Some of them show reverence to others to
manipulating them
• The essence of interaction rituals is the appearance
or display of reverence rather than actual reverence
• Violation of rituals do occur due to:
 Loss of poise – falling
 Incorrect identification – Wrongly say someone’s
name
 Situational impropriety – farting, inappropriate
attire
• Violation of rituals may later involved “remedial work
of various kind”, from apology, excuse to disclaimer
 Exercise 4.7
1. Identify how do your culture
prescribe rituals to show
reverence to others and later
on explain what would happen
if we violate those rituals?
2. How often do we simply do it
without really respecting the
person we greet?
 TOPIC 4 SOCIAL STRUCTURE AND
SOCIAL INTERACTION

4.4 SUMMARY
• At macro level, the social structure becomes
increasingly complex and new social institutions
emerge to assume some functions that once were
performed by the family
• At micro level, the nature of social interactions changes,
when each individual takes on multiple social roles and
rely more on social networks and less on kinship ties
SUMMARY
TOPIC 4 SOCIAL STRUCTURE
AND SOCIAL INTERACTION
 CORE CONCEPT 1

Ascribed status is a position that

inherits at birth or receives involuntarily
later in life while achieved status is a
position that is earned, accomplished
or involved at least some effort or
activity on the individual’s part
voluntarily; Master status is the most
dominant status
 CORE CONCEPT 2

Social roles is a set of expectations for

people who occupy a given social position
or status; Role strain occurs when the
same social position imposes conflicting
demands and expectations while role
conflict occurs when two or more social
positions impose conflicting demands and
expectations; Role exit is the process of
disengagement from an important role
 CORE CONCEPT 3

Social group is a collection of people who

regularly interact with one another and
share a sense of common identity; We
show loyalty and respect towards in-group
members but antagonism and contempt
towards out-group members; We share
intense emotional ties, face-to-face
interaction, intimacy and strong commit-
ment towards primary group members,
but not secondary group members
 CORE CONCEPT 4

All large-scale organizations tend to be

bureaucracies; Bureaucracy is a type
of formal organization marked by
division of labour, hierarchy of
authority, written rules and regulations,
impersonality, and employment of its
staffs based on technical qualifications;
Bureaucratic features may sometimes
be dysfunctional
 CORE CONCEPT 5
In society with mechanical solidarity, all individuals
perform the same tasks and share close, face-to-
face contacts while in society with organic
solidarity, all individuals perform different tasks and
are highly relying on one another; Gemeinschaft is
a small and close-knit community while
gesellschaft is a larger community consisted of
strangers who have little in common; As technology
advances, a community evolves from a hunting and
gathering society, to horticultural or pastoral
society, to agricultural society, to industrial society,
and lastly to post-industrial or information society
 CORE CONCEPT 6

Kinesics refers to the body language, the

ways in which people use their bodies to
give messages to others, including facial
expressions, gestures and postures;
Proxemics refers to the use of space as a
means of communication; Four zones of
personal space are intimate distance,
personal distance, social distance, and
public distance
 CORE CONCEPT 7

Dramaturgy is a method of analyzing

social interaction as if the participants
were performing on a stage; The
elements of dramaturgy include
behaving like actors, presenting the
self, and performing interaction rituals;
Impression management refers to the
people’s efforts to control the
impression that others receive of them