6 - Elements of Social Interaction

Question 1

Status

Answer 1

-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

Question 2

Ascribed Status

Answer 2

-involuntary

"His sister"
Your sex
your age
race
Born into royal family

Question 3

Achieved status

Answer 3

• gained from effort

ex) Doctor

Question 4

Master Status

Answer 4

• 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

Question 5

Role

Answer 5

• each status has a role - set of beliefs, values, norms - expected of those who hold that status
  ex) student- no cheating, studious, taking notes

Question 6

Role set

Answer 6

-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

Question 7

Role Performance

Answer 7

-what you’re expected to do in that role; behaviors

ex- doctor- heal ppl

Question 8

Role partners

Answer 8

• 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

Question 9

Role conflict vs Role Strain

Answer 9

• 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

Question 10

Groups

Answer 10

-2+ ppl sharing similar characteristics and a sense f unity

as a group gets bigger, you trade intimacy for stability

Question 11

Groups + Identity

Answer 11

-what group you’re in dictates the identity most important to you at that time

(Personality = everything, identity = situation based; hierarchy of salience)

Question 12

Peer group

Answer 12

-self selected EQUALS - similar ages, interests, statuses

Question 13

Family group

Answer 13

-born, married, adopted

Question 14

In groups vs Out groups

Answer 14

• in group: a group you’re a member of

- out group: a group you’re not a member of - can compete/oppose them

Question 15

Reference groups

Answer 15

-Group of people you compare yourself to and use to determine your self-worth and esteem

Question 16

Primary groups

Answer 16

• direct interaction
• bond w/ group members

ex) family, friends, close colleagues

Question 17

Secondary groups

Answer 17

-superficial; loose work env; no emotional bonds

ex) poor work culture env, we’re just coworkers
ex) ppl stuck in an elevator

Question 18

Interaction process analysis

Answer 18

counting behaviors that occur w/in a group
-quantify qualitative behavior

SYMLOG - System for Multiple Level Observation of Groups

Question 19

3 Fundamental Dimensions of Interaction

Answer 19

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

Question 20

Network

Answer 20

• 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

Question 21

Immediate networks

Answer 21

• groups of people that are dense/strong ties

- everybody in that group knows everybody else in that group

Question 22

Distant networks

Answer 22

-a bit looser

Question 23

Organizations

Answer 23

-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

Question 24

Characteristic institution

Answer 24

• organization that defines a society
  ex) tribe
  ex) family for lion pack

Question 25

Bureaucracy

Answer 25

• 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

Question 26

Community vs Society

Answer 26

Community = gemeinschaft = shared beliefs, ancestry
gesellschaft = society = mutual self-interest groups, less intimate - like companies, countries

Question 27

iron law of oligarchy

Answer 27

ppl set up bureaucracy, over time there’s a natural shift to power in the hands of a few / oligarchy

Question 28

McDonaldization

Answer 28

-efficiency, predictability, calculability, control