Lecture on Social Interaction and Reality

Introduction

• Social interaction: process of acting and reacting in relation to others
  • Includes conversations, arguments, sports, etc.
• Social structure: relationships among people and groups
  • Sets expectations and limits on behavior in social settings

Social Status

• Status: a position a person occupies in society
  • Defines relationships and identity
  • Examples: teacher, student, father, child, citizen
• Status Set: all statuses held by a person
  • Hierarchical nature: some statuses valued more
  • Example: White, middle-aged male CEO
• Ascribed Statuses: assigned at birth or involuntarily later (e.g., race, gender)
• Achieved Statuses: earned or accomplished (e.g., CEO, student)
• Master Status: primary status used to identify a person
  • Can be achieved or ascribed
  • May not be positive or important to the person
• Status Inconsistency: mismatch between statuses
  • Example: PhD student working as a barista

Social Roles

• Role: behaviors, obligations, and privileges attached to a status
  • Example: teacher's role in classroom vs. faculty lounge
• Role Set: all roles attached to a single status
• Role Conflict: clashing demands from different statuses
  • Example: work vs. family demands
• Role Strain: contradiction within roles of a single status
  • Example: student balancing class, sports, and committees
• Role Exit: disengagement from a role
  • Voluntary or involuntary
  • Can be traumatic

Social Construction of Reality

• Thomas Theorem: "If people define situations as real, they are real in their consequences"
• Reality is socially constructed through interaction and shared assumptions
• Importance of maintaining roles due to societal expectations
• Socialization: learning norms and roles through interaction

Dramaturgical Analysis

• Dramaturgical Analysis: understanding social interaction as theatrical performance
  • Developed by Erving Goffman
• Impression Management: controlling information others receive
  • Use of props and nonverbal communication
• Frontstage and Backstage
  • Frontstage: where performance happens
  • Backstage: preparation and dropping of performance
• Team Performance: group working together for collective performance
  • Example: classmates helping each other

Conclusion

• Social interactions are performances shaped by statuses, roles, and societal expectations
• These performances contribute to the construction of social reality

• Production Credits
  • Filmed in Dr. Cheryl C. Kinney Studio, Missoula, MT
  • Animation by Thought Cafe
  • Produced with Adobe Creative Cloud
• Support
  • Funded by Patreon contributions
  • Thanks to patrons for support