Social Interaction in Microsociology

Social Interaction (Microsociology)

• Social interaction is the foundation of daily life, shaping how individuals perceive and experience their surroundings.
• Studying interaction reveals how people creatively shape social reality moment by moment.
• Daily interaction patterns align with social structures and, consequently, help to reproduce and develop them.
• Interaction is characterized by creativity within a ritualized framework.
• Sociology examines ordinary actors' subjective and structural interactions.

Types of Interaction

• Phenomenology: The study of lived experience, taken-for-granted perceptions, and reproduced interaction patterns.
• Unfocused interaction: Mutual awareness of presence, typically in public spaces, characterized by non-verbal cues like posture and facial expressions.
• Civil inattention: An unconscious form of avoidance, involving recognition without intrusion.

Types of Interaction (Continued)

• Interaction: Face-to-face encounters with mutual influence, operating within a physical context.
• Focused interaction: Direct attention to others' actions and statements.
• Defensive and protective behavior: Protecting oneself and others from potential embarrassment during encounters.
• Safe interaction: People assess others' behavior to determine if interaction is deemed safe.
• Kings' peace: Interaction trumps content, implying prioritizing safe interactions over the specifics of the content exchanged.

Identity

• Identity: Distinguishes what is common and different among people (collectives).
• Collective identities: Shared characteristics like class or ethnicity.
• Personal identities: Unique attributes like given names, defining one from others.
• Multiple Roles and Identities: Individuals often have multiple roles (daughter, student, etc.).
• Primary identity: Typically developed during early socialization, such as ethnicity or gender.
• Secondary identity: Associated with achieved social roles like occupation and character traits.

The Self

• The Self: An individual's construction of who they want to be, shaped by interactions and roles played.
• Dramaturgy: Social roles are like roles in a play, following expected behaviors based on social status.
• Impression management: Creating a desired impression of oneself through a carefully crafted performance.

Impression Management

• Expressions: Words and actions used to create impressions on others.
• Verbal and Nonverbal Cues: Communicating sincerity and fulfilling social expectations through nonverbal signals, including facial expressions, gestures, and posture.
• Identity Validation: Identity needs verification through interaction before being accepted.
• Front regions (frontstage): Public interactions with predetermined roles and behaviors.
• Back regions (backstage): Where one prepares for interactions or when norms are relaxed.

Impression Management and Identity

• Identities are recognized through careful impression management, roles, props, and behaviors.
• Societal contexts shape identity through interactions with others.
• Contextual Support: Surroundings, associates, and social contexts influence how identities are perceived and presented.

Audience Segregation and Activity Systems

• Audience Segregation: A crucial tool for keeping social expectations and identities clear.
• Identity issues: Complexities arise when contexts change (identities collide).
• Situated Activity Systems: When identities are unclear, joint physical activity creates a sense of belonging and limits risks in uncertain situations.

A Situated Activity System (Example)

• Specific social environments and behavioral norms (e.g., 'Hot Tub Culture') dictate interactions to prevent misinterpretations and promote shared understandings in a de-sexualized setting.

The Encounter

• Definition of the situation: Individuals' shared understanding of the situation, providing the context for appropriate or cooperative activity.
• Shared Understanding and Safe Encounters: A shared understanding enables safe interactions.
• Perceived risk and avoidance: Uncommon understandings of a situation can lead to risk and avoidance.

Encounters and Nonverbal Communication

• Nonverbal communication: Includes gestures, facial expressions, and body language to convey meaning and context.
• Signalling and opening encounters: Civil inattention might be suspended to show a level of interaction.
• Risk associated with nonverbal interactions: Opening/closing interactions can involve risks.

The Face and Encounters

• Facial expressions can contradict feelings, leading to uncertainty.
• Facial expressions provide crucial feedback and are significant in creating the impressions that others receive.
• Facial Emotion Coding System (FACS): Identifies universal facial expressions of emotions through comparative research and observed similarities in infants.

Breaching the Order

• Ethnomethodology: A study of interaction practices in social contexts.
• Breaching Order: Planned disruption of social norms to reveal implicitly understood but generally unspoken rules underpinning social interaction.
• Search Procedure: Researchers' insistence on specificity when general questions are asked.
• Feigned Ignorance: Responding generally to questions that require specificity.
• Deliberate Misreads: Conveying a message that has nothing to do with the subject of social interaction.

Explore the intricate dynamics of social interaction as a foundation of daily life. This quiz delves into various types of interactions, including phenomenology and unfocused interaction, revealing how individuals shape their social reality. Learn how these patterns both reflect and influence social structures.