Sociology Chapter 4 Social Interaction

Role set

A number of roles attached to a single status

Achieved status

A social position a person earns voluntarily that reflects a personal ability and effort

Ascribed status

A social position a person receives involuntarily at birth or takes on later in life

Status

A social position that is part of our social identity and that defines our relationships to others

Master status

A status that has special importance for social identity, often shaping a person's entire life

Status set

All the statuses a person holds at a given time

Ethnomethodology

Harold Garfinkel's term for the study of the way people make sense of their everyday surroundings

Embarrassment and Tact

Embarrassment is the loss of face in a performance and people use tact to help others save face

Presentation of self

Erving Goffman's term for a person's efforts to create specific impressions in the minds of others

Dramaturgical analysis

Erving Goffman's term for the study of social interaction in terms of theatrical performance

Gender differences in performances

include demeanor, use of space, staring, touching, and smiling

Culture and social class

shape the reality people construct

Performances

the way we present ourselves to others

Through social interaction

we construct the reality we experience

Idealization of performances

we try to convince others that our actions reflect ideal culture rather than selfish motives

Role

Behavior expected of someone who holds a particular status

Thomas theorem (W.I. Thomas)

Claim that situations defined as real are real in their consequences

Nonverbal communication

Communication using body movements, gestures, and facial expressions rather than speech

Role conflict

Conflict among the roles connected to two or more statuses

Social Structure

Refers to social patterns that guide our behavior in everyday life. To which the building blocks are status and role

Role strain

Tension among the roles connected to a single status

Social interaction

The process by which people act and react in relation to others

Social construction of reality

The process by which people creatively shape reality through social interaction

Emotions

The social construction of feelings

Language

The social construction of gender

Reality play

The social construction of humor

Personal space

The surrounding area over which a person makes some claim to privacy