Social Interaction Flashcards
Statuses
- positions in society that are used to classify individuals
- three key types: ascribed, achieved, master
Ascribed Status
- given involuntarily
- based on race, ethnicity, gender, family background, etc
Achieved Status
- gained as a result of ones efforts or choices
- Ex. being a doctor
Master Status
- status by which one is most identified
- most important status an individual holds and affects all aspects of that persons life
Role
- each status has this
- set of beliefs, values, attitudes and norms that define expectations for those who hold the status
Role Performance
- the carrying out of behaviors associated with a given role
- can change depending on the social situation and context of the interaction
- Ex. all doctors must translate medical information into language their patients can understand, but some doctors perform better at this than others
Role Partner
- the person with whom one is interaction
- leads to a change in behaviors and expectations
- Ex. doctors have role partners including patients, other doctors, administration, nurses, etc and act different with each group
Role Set
the various roles associated with a status
Role Conflict
difficulty in satisfying the requirements or expectations of multiple roles
Role Strain
difficulty in satisfying multiple requirements of the same role
Role Exit
the dropping of one identity for another
Social Group
- consists of two or more people who share similar characteristics and a sense of unity
- common characteristics shared by members include: values, interests, ethnicity, social background, family ties, political representation
Peer Group
-defined by association of self-selected equals around similar interests, ages, and statuses
Family Group
-not self-selected but determined by birth, adoption, and marriage
In-Groups
groups to which an individual belongs
Out-Groups
groups to which an individual competes or is in opposition with
Reference Groups
groups that establish the terms by which individuals evaluate themselves: to determine how strong of a medical school applicant you are you may consider yourself in relation to the group of medical school applicants
Primary Groups
interactions are direct, with close bonds providing warm, personal, and intimate relationships to members
Secondary Groups
interactions are superficial with few emotional bonds
Gemeinschaft (Community)
group unified by feelings of togetherness due to shared beliefs, ancestry, or geography
Gesellschaft (Society)
group unified by mutual self-interests in achieving a goal
Network
observable pattern of social relationships between individuals or groups
Organizations
- bodies of people with a structure and culture designed to achieve specific goals
- exist outside of each individual’s membership within the organization, have expressed goals, and have enforcement procedures that seek to control the activities of their members
Bureaucracy
- rational system of political organization, administration, discipline, and control
- has 6 characteristics: paid, nonelected officials on a fixed salary; officials who are provided rights and privileges as a result of making their career out of holding office; regular salary increases, seniority rights, and promotions upon passing exams; officials must hold an advanced degree or training; meet demands of one’s position; work rigidly defined by organization
- slow to change and less efficient than other organizations
Iron Law of Oligarchy
states that democratic or bureaucratic systems naturally shift to being ruled by an elite group
McDonaldization
-commonly refers to a shift in focus toward efficiency, predictability, calculability, and control in societies
Self-Presentation
process of displaying oneself to society through culturally accepted behaviors
Basic Model of Emotional Expression
- established by Darwin
- emotional expression involves a number of components: facial expressions, behaviors, postures, vocal changes, and physiological changes
Appraisal Model
- closely related to basic model of emotional expression
- accepts that there are biologically predetermined expressions once an emotion is experienced but there is a cognitive antecedent to emotional expression
Social Construction Model
- assumes no biological basis for emotions
- emotions are based on experiences and the situational context alone
- certain emotions can only exist within social encounters and emotions are expressed differently across cultures
Display Rules
- cultural expectations of emotions
- govern which emotions can be expressed and to what degree
Cultural Syndrome
- shared set of beliefs, attitudes, norms, values, and behaviors among members of the same culture that are organized around a central theme
- influence the rules for expressing or suppressing emotions and can influence the ways emotions are experienced
Impression Management
- refers to our attempts to influence how others perceive us – done through regulation of information in social interactions
- used with self-presentation
- 5 different strategies used by individuals in the presence of others: self-disclosure, managing appearances, ingratiation, aligning actions, alter-casting
Self-Disclosure
- giving information about oneself to establish an identity
- Ex. disclosing that you are a premed student
Managing Appearances
- using props, appearance, emotional expression, or associations with others to create a positive image
- Ex. wearing a white coat, keeping calm under pressure, mentioning associations with important researchers during an interview
Ingratiation
- using flattery or conforming to expectations to win someone over
- Ex. blindly agreeing to someone else’s opinion, complimenting a friend before asking for a favor
Aligning Actions
- making questionable behavior acceptable through excuses
- Ex. justifications for missing deadlines, blaming a bad grade on too little sleep
Alter-Casting
- imposing an identity onto another person
- Ex. when Kaplan says “As a good MCAT student, you should….”
Dramaturgical Approach
- way of describing impression management using the metaphor of a theatrical performance to describe how individuals create images of themselves in various situations
- contains two selves: front stage and back stage
Front Stage
-the actor is in front of the audience and performs according to the setting, role, and script in order to conform to the image he wants others to see
Back Stage
-the actor is not being observed by an audience and is free to act in ways that may not be congruent with his desired public image without having to worry about ruining his performance
Verbal Communication
- spoken language
- written language
- sign languages
- tactile languages (Braille alphabet)
Nonverbal Communication
- facial expressions
- body language (posture)
- gestures
- tone of voice (prosody)
- eye contact
- amount of personal space
Animal Communication
- takes place not only between nonhuman animals but between humans and other animals as well
- use body language, rudimentary facial expressions, visual displays, scents, and vocalizations to communicate
