Social Interaction PDF

This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-NC Social Interaction Microsociology  Why study interaction?  Daily routine is full of interactions, which frame and give meaning to our lives.  The study of daily life r...

This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-NC Social Interaction Microsociology  Why study interaction?  Daily routine is full of interactions, which frame and give meaning to our lives.  The study of daily life reveals how we act creatively to shape social Social reality, as something we construct moment by moment. Interaction  Daily interaction reveals how patterns support/align with structures – interactions reproduce and produce. o Creativity in a highly ritualized order.  Sociology of ordinary actors – subjective and structural. Types of  Erving Goffman (1922-1982)- Interaction Chicago School.  Phenomenology – the study of lived experience, or the taken for granted and reproduced attitudes and patterns of behaviour through interaction.  Unfocused interaction – mutual awareness of presence, usually in public space. Involves continual non-verbal communication through posture, facial, and other physical expressions. o Civil Inattention – unconscious form of avoidance involving the practice of recognition without conveying intrusion, which may be perceived as hostile. Types of  Interaction refers to face-to-face encounters and mutual influence in Interaction the context of physical presence.  Focused interaction – when we attend directly to what others say or do. An instance of focused interaction is an encounter.  We bring a defensive and protective disposition to encounters. We work to save ourselves and others from embarrassment.  We seek out and attempt to portray ourselves as safe interactants.  Kings’ peace – we grant credit to others if they behave safely. Safe interaction trumps content.   Identity marks out what is similar to and different from others (collectives).  Identities are discovered rather than invented. Identity  Collective identities display similarity, e.g., class, ethnic group.  Personal identity is associated with uniqueness (e.g., the unusual given name, vs family name).   Can I have more than one role or identity? Yes…  Daughter, student, artist, athlete, courageous, etc.  Primary identity – usually formed Identity through primary socialization, during early life, e.g., ethnicity, gender. More fixed.  Secondary identity – associated with social roles and achieved status, e.g., occupation, character. More fluid.   The Self – who we would like to be, Identity defined through interaction and the roles we play – through these, we know each other and ourselves.  Dramaturgy – roles in a play like the social role, or the defined expectations within a given status or social position.  Impression management – the fostered ideal impression of reality through performance.   We give expressions:  words and expressions used to produce impressions on others  We also give off expressions: Impression  the clues that others may spot Management to check your sincerity, e.g., are you who you claim to be?  Whatever your identity, it needs to pass inspection before credit is given and your identity is validated as ‘real’.   Front regions (frontstage) – occasions or encounters where we act out a formal role, or on-stage. This sometimes requires teamwork.  Back regions (backstage) – where Impression preparations are made and often concealed from the audience. Management  Relaxation and discrediting behaviour – profanity, sexual behaviour, griping, informal dress, and general sloppiness.  Concealed embarrassment (if behaviour were exposed). Identity We recognize identities through:  Careful impression management.  Roles define clothing, props, and behaviour – with an assumed link to underlying character.  Supported by context and associates – theatre, restaurant, home, office, friends, work colleagues, family, etc. Identity What if the contexts change and/or identities collide?  Audience segregation – the isolation of an audience that permits the singular presentation of a self.  Protects the fostered impression  Failure to segregate risks discrediting the fostered self. What if identities are unclear?  Situated Activity System – single jointly performed physical activity in a closed and self- terminating system. A Situated Activity System Aquatic rituals – ‘Hot Tub Culture’ and identity management (Jónsson, 2010):  Unique disciplinary regimes, e.g., eye discipline, distance regulation, etc.  Creating a de-sexualized arena in ‘near naked’ space = high risk of misreadings.  Minimal/incidental touching, nodding only, general/impersonal conversation (safe supplies) or silence.   Definition of the situation – the understanding which people formulate that a particular state- of-affairs exists – providing an opportunity for cooperative activity.  In the presence of others, we bring and collect information (markers) The to the encounter Encounter that enables… a shared a definition of the situation – we know what to expect = translating to safe (neutralized) encounters. If unshared – perceived risk and avoidance work begins. Encounters and the Non-verbal  Non-verbal Communication – the exchange of information and meaning through facial expression, gesture, and movement (body language).  Gesture and expression (given off) are added to what is verbal (given) as a check on sincerity or meaning, safety, etc.  E.g., encounters need openings to signal that civil inattention is suspended. This involves risk, but usually includes:  Tentative eye contact, which can be disavowed if rejected (emotional labour)  Polite smile to acknowledge the message The Face and ▪ The ‘face’ can contradict feeling Encounters or other signals, raising questions. E.g., zoning out, half-smiling, fidgeting, ▪ Norbert Elias (1897-1990) – facial expression as highly flexible and primary means of emotive expression. Biological – social. ▪ Ekman and Friesen (1978) – Facial Action Coding System (FACS) – identified 6 emotions based on universal facial expressions based on comparative research. Similar findings in infants.   Harold Garfinkel (1917-2011) – used ethno-methods to makes sense of what people do and say in context.  Simple experiments were designed to disrupt the sacred ritual order:  To reveal the ritual of interaction and rules of social interaction – ordinarily unsaid and Breaching subconsciously present.  To reveal the seriousness and the Order necessity of the ritual order or rules of interaction. Such as:  Search procedure – insisting on specificity in response to the general.  Feigned ignorance – general responses to specific questions.  Deliberate Misreads – conveying a foreign message, unrelated to the encounter. Breaching the Order  Disrupting the conventions of talk:  Flow of talk – smooth running requires taken for granted behaviour, or shared background expectancies.  Distance – Edward Hall (1969,73) measured personal/intimate space, social and public distancing.  Props may be used to create artificial distance or barriers (e.g., stacking, holding up, claiming, regretful touching).  Involvement (Frames) – the reciprocal obligation to attend to the communication. Mis-allocation of attention = discourtesy.  Over-involvement (engulfed)  Side or subordinate involvements (distracted)  Flooding – when a subordinate involvement capsizes the primary involvement during an encounter (e.g., emotional outburst, may trigger strong defense/protection like shields).  Body Idiom – physical discipline/appearance that conveys information about the actor’s involvement.