SOCIAL

INTERACTION
CHAPTER 6
 THE LEVELS OF
SOCIOLOGICAL ANALYSIS
• Macrosociology
Focus on the broad features of society for example social
class, society.
• Microsociology
Focus on social interaction between people, individual
behavior for example relationships with friends, family,
and neighbors; where they spend their time.

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 MACROSOCIOLOGY

• Social Structure
• Social structure refers to the typical patterns of a
group, such as its usual relationships between men and
women or students and teachers.
• The framework (or typical patterns) that surrounds us,
consisting of the relationships of people and groups to
one another, which gives direction to and sets limits on
behavior for example social class
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 SOCIAL INSTITUTIONS

• The organized means that each society develops to meet

its basic needs, the standard or usual ways that a society
meets its basic needs—vitally affect your life. They not
only shape your behavior but even color your thoughts.

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 SOCIAL INSTITUTIONS
• Family(socialize and • Education (Transmit
protect children) knowledge and skills
across generations)
• Religion
• Science (research)
• Law(Maintain social
order) • Medicine(Heal the sick
and injured, care for the
• Economy(Produce and dying )
distribute goods and
services) • Mass media (emerging
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 FUNCTIONALIST PERSPECTIVES
• Social institutions exist because they perform vital
functions for society
• Replacing Members
If a society does not replace its members, it cannot continue to exist.
• Socializing New Members
Each baby must be taught what it means to be a member of the group
into which it is born
• Producing and Distributing Goods and Services
Every society must produce and distribute basic resources, from
food and clothing to shelter and education
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 FUNCTIONALIST PERSPECTIVES
• Preserving Order
i. internal threats
ii. external threats
• Providing a Sense of Purpose
To convince people to sacrifice personal gains, societies
instill a sense of purpose.

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 CONFLICT PERSPECTIVE

• Institutions are influenced (both directly and indirectly) by

influential minority for example changing law, changing
taxes.
• conflict theorists stress that powerful groups control our
society’s institutions, manipulating them in order to
maintain their own privileged position of wealth and power

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 WHAT HOLDS SOCIETY
TOGETHER?
• Social Cohesion--the degree to which members of a
society feel united by shared values and other social
bonds
• Durkheim
• Mechanical Solidarity
• Performing similar tasks develops a shared values
• Organic Solidarity
• interdependence that results from the division of
labor; people depending on others to fulfill their
jobs. For example division of work in organizations

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 WHAT HOLDS SOCIETY
TOGETHER?
• Ferdinand Tönnies (1887-1988)
• Gemeinschaft (Guh-MINE-shoft)
• Traditional communities, in which everyone knows
everyone else for example village life.
• Gesellschaft (Guh-ZELL-shoft)
• Emphasis on short-term relationships, individual
accomplishments, and self-interests for example
business, contracts.
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 CULTURE

• Language
• Beliefs
• Values
• Behaviours
• Gestures

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 SOCIAL STATUS
• Status: the position a person occupies
• Status Set: all the statuses or positions a person
occupies
For example, if you graduate from college and take a full-
time job, get married, buy a home, have children, and so
on, your status set changes to include the positions of
worker, spouse, homeowner, and parent.
• Ascribed Status
• Status that is involuntary (e.g., race)
• Achieved Status
• Status that is voluntary and, possibly, earned (e.g.,
scholar, doctor)
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 SOCIAL STATUS (CONT.)
• Status Symbols
• Signs that identify status (e.g., wedding rings announce
marital status)
• Master Status
• Status that transcends all other statuses (e.g., female or
male)

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 ROLES

• The behaviours, obligations, and privileges attached to a

status
• Each status carries expectations

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 GROUP

• People who have something in common and who believe

that what they have in common is significant; also called a
social group.
• A group consists of people who interact with one another
and who feel that the values, interests and norms they
have in common are important. The groups to which we
belong— just like social class, statuses, and roles—are
powerful forces in our lives
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 GROUP SIZE

• Dyad
• Two people
• Unique features
• Triad
• Three people
• Unique features

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 THE INCREMENTAL EFFECTS OF
GROUP SIZE ON RELATIONSHIPS

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 LEADERSHIP
• Leader
• A person who influences the behaviours,
opinions, or attitudes of others
• Types of Leadership
• Instrumental Leader
• Expressive Leader

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 • Instrumental Leader
Focuses on achieving goals. Leaders who are
dominantly instrumental work to maintain
productivity and ensure that tasks are completed.
They make good managers because they get the job
done. However, they are often so focused on the task
that they can alienate other members of the group.

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 • Expressive Leader
Leaders who are dominantly expressive work to
maintain warm, friendly relationships and ensure the
collective well-being of the group. They make good
bosses because they truly care for their employees.
However, they are sometimes lacking efficiency and
organizational skills.

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 MICROSOCIOLOGICAL
PERSPECTIVE
• Focus on face-to-face interaction
direct meetings

• Symbolic Interaction
use symbols for interaction

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 SYMBOLIC INTERACTION
• Personal Space
We all surround ourselves with a “personal space” that we go to
great lengths to protect. We open that personal place to
intimates—to our friends, children, and parents— but we’re
careful to keep most people out of this space
• Eye Contact

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 • Smiling
• Applied Body Language
People use their bodies to give messages to others This
skill in interpreting facial expressions, posture, and
gestures is essential for getting us through everyday life.

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 DRAMATURGY: THE
PRESENTATION OF SELF IN
EVERYDAY LIFE

• Erving Goffman (1922-1982)

• Social life as a drama or “the stage”

• “Front Stages” ( Roles)

• “Back Stages” ( Thoughts)

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 ROLES
• Role Performance
• The particular emphasis or interpretation that an individual gives a
role

• Communicate using
• Social Setting (the place where the action performed)
• Appearance (how we look when we play our roles)
• Manner (the attitudes we show as we play our roles)

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 ROLES (CONT.)

• Teamwork
• two or more people working together to help a performance
come off as planned

• Face-Saving Behavior
• techniques used to salvage a performance (interaction) that is
going sour

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 SOCIAL CONSTRUCTION OF
REALITY
• Our behaviour depends on how we define reality – our
“definition of the situation”
• Thomas Theorem
“If people define situations as real, they are real in their
consequences.”

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