Sociology Chapter 4

Presentation of the self

AKA impression management Person's efforts to create a specific impression Begins with idea of personal performance

Tact

Ability to describe someone the way they see themselves Sensitivity in dealing with others Helping someone save face

Dramaturgy

Acting as society expects us to Front stage Back stage

Status set

All the statuses a person holds Change over the course of time

Six basic emotions

Happiness Anger Sadness Disgust Fear Surprise

Functions of humor

Discuss sensitive topic Relieve tension Mental escape

Endomethodology

Don't always have to explain what we're talking about, other people already know

Three dimensions/interactions of everyday life

Emotion Language Humor

How men use language

Establish control over their surroundings Words that have more value, more power, or significance

Creates the reality that we live in

Face-to-face interaction

How cultural guides emotion

What triggers an emotion Rules for the display of emotion How we value emotion

Front Stage

What you expect to see

Erving Goffman

Analyzed social interaction Like actors on a stage

Personal space

Area a person makes a claim of privacy

Performances

As we present ourselves in everyday situations, we reveal information (consciously and unconsciously)

Role

Behavior expected of someone with a particular status Varies with cultures

Facial reactions to emotions

Biologically programmed into us Serves a social purpose

Nonverbal communication

Body movements, gestures, facial expressions (most important), eye contact, hand gestures Offers clues of deception

Smiling

Can show pleasure Can show submission, or trying to please someone

Key to humor

Collision of the two realities

Role conflict

Conflict among the roles of two or more statuses "something has to go" or separating parts of our lives

Idealization

Construct performances to idealize our intentions Convince others that what we do is for cultural standards, not selfishness Little lies help us get through everyday

Humor arises from

Contradictions Ambiguities Double meanings

Conventional reality

Culture leads people to expect in a specific situation

Embarrassment

Discomfort following a spoiled performance Ever-present danger

Social interaction

How people act and react in relation to others

Social construct of reality

How people shape reality through social interaction (reality is not as fixed as we think) Present ourselves in terms that suit our settings (try to guide what happens next)

Back stage

Laid back, normal self, without society looking in

Social media

More powerful, connects more people Weakened social ties with people in your physical space (90% of US adults feel ignored by household members on electronics)

Women tend to be this toward nonverbal communication

More sensitive

Social structure

Patterns of relationships Rely on this to make sense of everyday situations

Role exit

People disengage from important social roles Doubt their abilities, tipping point, and continues to affect them

Ascribed status

Received at birth, or takes involuntarily Influences the statuses they achieve

Role set

Roles attached to a single status Use to define their lives, differ from society to society

Thomas Theorem

Situations that are defined as real are real in its consequences Reality is "soft" as it is being shaped Reality is "hard" in its effects

Foundation of symbolic-interaction approach

Social construct of reality

Humor was produced by

Social construct of reality Arises as people create and contrast the two different realities

Dramaturgical analysis

Social interaction in terms of theatrical performance Status = part in the play Role = script

Status

Social position that a person holds Part of social identity Helps define our relationship to others

Emotion management

Socially construct our emotions as a part of everyday reality

Reality depends on our interests

Starry night: may see romance, hydrogen atoms fusing into helium, etc. Build reality from surrounding culture Films have effect on reality

Ways to produce humor

Statements of contradiction Repeating statements Mixing up words Switching syllables Expecting an unconventional answer, and giving a conventional one

Two building blocks of social structure

Status Role

Achieved status

Takes voluntarily Reflects personal ability and effort

Role strain

Tension among the roles of a single status

Master status

The one status that holds special importance for social identity Shapes a person's entire life Can be negative

Language

Thread that weaves members into web of culture Surface reality and deeper meaning Defines the sexes in terms of power and value Mirrors social attitudes

Unconventional reality

Unexpected violation of cultural patterns

Role performance

Varies with personality Sometimes society permit more individual expression than others

Demeanor

Way we act and carry ourselves Clue to social power (more power you have, more space you take up)