6 - Elements of Social Interaction Flashcards
Status
-position held in society that others use to classify you
ex) occupation- CEO, police officer, doctor
- in relation to other statuses
Ascribed, Achieved, Master Status
Ascribed Status
-involuntary
"His sister" Your sex your age race Born into royal family
Achieved status
- gained from effort
ex) Doctor
Master Status
- status by which they are most identified (how you view yourself + how others view you)
- historical figures and what they’re most known for
ex) Barack Obama is President; Parent; Doctor
Role
- each status has a role - set of beliefs, values, norms - expected of those who hold that status
ex) student- no cheating, studious, taking notes
Role set
-group of people you relate to in your roll (a list of all the people you relate to and interact with in your roll)
as a doctor, your role set includes hospital staff, nurses, patients
Role Performance
-what you’re expected to do in that role; behaviors
ex- doctor- heal ppl
Role partners
- an INDIVIDUAL you interact w/
- one member in your role set who you’re interacting w/ at that moment- defines behaviors for you that are appropriate
Role conflict vs Role Strain
- 2 expectations of same or different roles which are different
ex) as a friend you should keep her secret, but you should tell someone that she is suicidal
Role conflict- multiple roles - ex) working single mom
Role strain- w/in a role
Role exit- drop one identity for another
Groups
-2+ ppl sharing similar characteristics and a sense f unity
as a group gets bigger, you trade intimacy for stability
Groups + Identity
-what group you’re in dictates the identity most important to you at that time
(Personality = everything, identity = situation based; hierarchy of salience)
Peer group
-self selected EQUALS - similar ages, interests, statuses
Family group
-born, married, adopted
In groups vs Out groups
- in group: a group you’re a member of
- out group: a group you’re not a member of - can compete/oppose them
Reference groups
-Group of people you compare yourself to and use to determine your self-worth and esteem
Primary groups
- direct interaction
- bond w/ group members
ex) family, friends, close colleagues
Secondary groups
-superficial; loose work env; no emotional bonds
ex) poor work culture env, we’re just coworkers
ex) ppl stuck in an elevator
Interaction process analysis
counting behaviors that occur w/in a group
-quantify qualitative behavior
SYMLOG - System for Multiple Level Observation of Groups
3 Fundamental Dimensions of Interaction
Dominance vs Submission
Friendliness vs Unfriendliness
Instrumentally controlled vs Emotionally expressive
***SYMLOG beliefs about these interaction dimensions^
for 3rd one, trait model- PEN
Instrumentally controlled- rigid in ideas, stick to task
Emotionally expressive- if something bothers them, they will speak out, reject group conventions
-how tightly controlled your actions are based on what’s normally expected as a group
Group conformity, Groupthink
Network
- Pattern of social relationships among individuals or groups
- everyone you know is part of your network
- some loose associations in network, some tightly night/close ones
You can link any 2 people in the world by looking at 6 different links in the chain
Network redundancy = overlapping connections w/ same person
Immediate networks
- groups of people that are dense/strong ties
- everybody in that group knows everybody else in that group
Distant networks
-a bit looser
Organizations
-groups, not necessarily people
-entities set up to achieve goals
-have structure and culture and goal
Enforcement procedures present
ex) business, gov’ts, NPO
individual ppl in organization might change roes but the organization remains (formal organizations)
in social groups, your leaving does affect them
McDonalds is still McDonalds even if someone is fired and replaced
Characteristic institution
- organization that defines a society
ex) tribe
ex) family for lion pack
Bureaucracy
- rational- political organization and administration
- assembly line almost- do your role
- makes it harder to go to each person to get something done
-in Western societies, the characteristic institution is bureaucracy- gov’t etc
Community vs Society
Community = gemeinschaft = shared beliefs, ancestry gesellschaft = society = mutual self-interest groups, less intimate - like companies, countries
iron law of oligarchy
ppl set up bureaucracy, over time there’s a natural shift to power in the hands of a few / oligarchy
McDonaldization
-efficiency, predictability, calculability, control
