Social Interactions Flashcards
Social Status
A person’s social position in society - used to classify individuals.
In short - Friends are your equal but if you are interacting with a professor, they are superior to you
Ascribed Status
Status that you can’t change, given from birth.
Ex: Prince of royal family but also, a person born into a wealthy family has a high ascribed status due to social networks and economic advantages
Caste System is an example of this
Achieved Status
Status that you earn yourself after working for it
Master Status
The status by which an individual is primarily identified
For example, if a woman feels that her role as a mother is more important than her role as a woman, a daughter, etc., she is more likely to identify herself as a mother and to identify with other women who label themselves as such.
Role Strain
Difficulty managing JUST ONE role - can’t carry obligations of a status.
For example, a student has to write two papers, five reading assignments, give a speech, two lab reports in one week.
Role Conflict
Difficulty managing MULTIPLE roles
“Defined as the stress that people feel when they are confronted with incompatible role expectations across different social statuses they occupy.”
Ex: as a husband, he has an anniversary and a friend is calling for their monthly get-together (conflicts in the status of a friend and husband)
Role Exit
Also called social role exit. When an individual stops engaging in a role previously central to their identity and the process of establishing a new identity.
Primary Groups
Closest members of the group to you - share a sense of belonging and shared identity
Ex: Parents, close friends from childhood. Long-term relationships formed which have a great social impact on the individual.
In-group
The group you are affiliated with based on identification - can be ethnicity, nationality, gender, religion, etc.
Secondary Group
Formal, impersonal, temporary, and business-like relationships based on a limited purpose/goal. Usually short-term.
Examples:
- You do things like attending a lunch meeting to talk business. You are only part of the group to accomplish a task or for example, earn money (mean to an end) “formal impersonal groups.”
- parents work friends, distant family, acquaintances (guests there to keep strong relationships in the future. Distant family there to avoid family drama/avoid people’s feelings)
Dramaturgical Approach/ Theory
Concepts of front stage self and back stage self: people create images of themselves in the same way that actors perform a role in front of an audience.
People do these things through the process of dramaturgy
Front Stage
When people are in a social setting (“in front of an audience”)
Ex: someone watches baseball with friends even if he doesn’t like baseball. Manipulating how he’s seen to gain/make friends.
Back Stage
More private areas of our lives - when you don’t have an audience you are more inclined to act like yourself.
Ex:
- Guy who said he loved baseball might come home and like watching cooking shows, cooking
- Putting on makeup!
Impression Management
Our attempt to control how others see us on the front stage - we do this because we want to be seen n a positive way
Accomplished through various strategies: flattery, boasting, managing appearances, ingratiation, aligning actions, and alter casting
Organizations
Institutions designed for a specific purpose, collective goals, and to try to achieve maximum efficiency
Ex. Postal Service (purpose: deliver mail), McDonalds (food), Time Warner Cable (TV/Internet access) etc.
