Chapter 5 - Social Interaction

Question 1

Person (2)

Answer 1

• an individual whose uniqueness is captured in his or her personality, which comprises the constellation of traits that reliably define an individual’s singularity
• in sociology, referred to as a character

Question 2

Social Environments (2)

Answer 2

• composed of real or imagined others to whom the person is connected.
• typically organized - the persons in the environment act in an orderly, patterned way

Question 3

Organizations

Answer 3

collectives characterized by structure that encourages patterns in individual action

Question 4

Statuses

Answer 4

culturally defined positions in organizations

Question 5

Norms (2)

Answer 5

• generally accepted ways of doing things

- expectations for occupants of a particular status

Question 6

Ascribed Status (definition and examples)

Answer 6

• a social position imposed on a person at birth

- examples = race, sex, age, country of origin

Question 7

Achieved Status (definition and examples)

Answer 7

• a social position that a person acquires through his or her effort, results from the choices a person makes
• examples = marital status, educational attainment, and occupation

Question 8

Prescriptive Norms

Answer 8

what you should do

Question 9

Proscriptive Norms

Answer 9

what you shouldn’t do

Question 10

Master Status

Answer 10

• a social position that a person considers central to his or her social identity
• the person identifies strong with the status. the closer the identification, the more central the status and its associated roles and norms are to understanding a person’s thoughts, feelings, and actions

Question 11

Role-Playing

Answer 11

conforming to specific performance expectations. if someone performs a role in exactly the way social convention prescribes, it is an act of conformity

Question 12

Role-Making

Answer 12

the creative process by which people generate and perform roles. through role-making, people display their individuality and autonomy

Question 13

Social Interaction

Answer 13

• the process by which people act and react in relation to one another
• involves people communicating face to face or via virtual reality
• it is structures around statuses, roles, and norms

Question 14

Emotion Management (definition and who)

Answer 14

• people obeying “feeling rules” and responding appropriately to the situations in which they find themselves
• Arlie Russel Hochschild

Question 15

Power

Answer 15

the capacity to carry out one’s own will despite resistance

Question 16

Cultural Scaffolding

Answer 16

the set of cultural values and beliefs that legitimate existing power arrangements, making them seem reasonable and giving them a natural, taken-for-granted quality

Question 17

Dramaturgical Analysis (definition and who)

Answer 17

• one of the most popular variants of symbolic interactionism
• based on the idea that people play roles in their daily lives in much the same way actors on stage play roles.
• implies that there is no single self, just the ensemble of roles we play in different social contexts
• Erving Goffman

Question 18

Role Distancing

Answer 18

giving the impression of just “going through the motions” without making a serious commitment to a role

Question 19

Ethnomethodology (2)

Answer 19

• the methods people use, often unconsciously, to make sense of what others do and say
• insists on importance of pre-existing shared norms and understandings in making everyday interaction possible

Question 20

Enthomethodologists

Answer 20

stress that everyday interactions could not take place without pre-existing shared norms and understandings

Question 21

Breaching Experiments (definition and who)

Answer 21

• illustrate the importance of everyday, ritualistic interactions by disrupting interaction patterns
• Harold Garfinkel

Question 22

Status Cues

Answer 22

visual indicators of a person’s social position. focusing on these cues assists status identification

Question 23

Stereotypes

Answer 23

inflexible views of how members of various groups act, regardless of whether individual group members actually behave that way. they create social barriers that impair interaction or prevent it altogether

Question 24

Instrumental Communication (definition and example)

Answer 24

• sending messages that are means to an end

- example: asking a question in class

Question 25

Expressive Communication (definition and example)

Answer 25

• involves sending message that are ends in themselves

- example: if you win a game and say “yes!” in excitement

Question 26

Mediated Interaction

Answer 26

communication that uses technologies to send and receive messages

Question 27

Technological Determinism

Answer 27

asserts that the adoption of technologies leads to inevitable and sometimes undesirable effects

Question 28

Digital Divide

Answer 28

an inequality in access to and use of mediated interaction technologies

Question 29

Mesostructures

Answer 29

high level structures such as networks, groups, and organizations

Question 30

Institutions

Answer 30

macrolevel structures

Question 31

Role Conflict

Answer 31

when two or more statuses held at the same time place contradictory role demands on a person

Question 32

Role Strain

Answer 32

when incompatible role demands are placed on a person in a single status

Question 33

Feminist Theory of Social Interaction

Answer 33

status differences between men and women structure social interaction

Question 34

Conflict Theory of Social Interaction

Answer 34

the competitive exchange of valued resources structures social interaction

Question 35

Symbolic Interactionist Theory of Social Interaction

Answer 35

social interaction involves interpretation, negotiation, and modification of norms, roles, and statuses

Question 36

3 types of roles of power

Answer 36

1. Dominance = high level of inequality, fear, low efficiency
2. Competition = medium level of inequality, envy, medium efficiency
3. Cooperation = low level of inequality, trust, high efficiency

Question 37

4 aspects of social interaction that sociological theories focus on

Answer 37

1. the way status hierarchies influence social interaction
2. the way norms, roles, and statuses are interpreted, negotiated, and modified
3. the way individuals manage the impressions they give to others
4. the way preexisting norms influence social interaction