Sociological Perspectives on Social Interaction: Key Concepts and Theories

Building blocks of social interaction

The five dimensions for a successful navigation of life: Height, Width, Depth, Time, Social.

Personality

A unique individual's distinctiveness captured in their personality.

Social environment

Composed of real or imagined others to whom a person is connected.

Organizations

Collectivities characterized by structure that encourages patterns in individual action.

Social interaction

Involves communication among people acting and reacting to one another, either face to face or via computer.

Medium of communication

Influences how we interact and the consequences of our interaction.

Status

A culturally defined position or social location.

Norms

Generally accepted ways of doing things.

Ascribed status

A social position imposed on a person at birth; related to a characteristic that is impossible or extremely difficult to change.

Achieved status

A social position that a person acquires through their efforts and choices.

Roles

Clusters of expectations about thoughts, feelings, and actions appropriate for occupants of a particular status.

Master status

A social position that a person considers central to their social identity.

Role-playing

Behaviour that involves conforming to existing performance expectations.

Role-making

The creative process by which individuals generate role expectations and performances.

Social Interaction (process)

The process by which role performers act in relation to others.

Mediated interaction

Communication that uses technologies to send and receive messages.

Instrumental communication

Involves sending messages that are a means to an end.

Expressive communication

Involves sending messages that are ends in themselves.

Technological determinism

Asserts that the adoption of technologies leads to inevitable and sometimes undesirable effects.

Displacement Hypothesis

Suggests that media use weakens in-person connections.

Emotion management

Involves people obeying 'feeling rules' and responding appropriately to the situations in which they find themselves.

Emotion labour

Emotion management that many people do as part of their job and for which they are paid.

Competitive interaction

Involves people seeking to gain the most—socially, emotionally, and economically—while paying the least.

Power

The capacity to carry out one's own will despite resistance.

Role Conflict

A situation where an individual faces competing demands from different roles.

Role Strain

The stress experienced when the demands of a single role exceed an individual's capacity.

Gendered interaction patterns

Gender often structures interactions, with men more likely to engage in long monologues or interrupt others.

Social media effect on empathy

Research shows that social media affect empathy, with the direction of the effect depending on how people choose to use social media.

Routine social media use

Social media can positively affect mental health if it is routine and not disruptive of daily life.

Emotional connection to social media

Social media can positively affect mental health if there is no strong emotional connection to it.

Status hierarchy in interaction

When people interact, their statuses are often arranged in a hierarchy, with those on top enjoying more power.

Laughter in conversation

'Laughter' in a conversation often indicates who has higher or lower status.

Autonomous emotion management

Emotion management that allows actors to control their displays of emotion, fostering liberation.

Regulated emotion management

Emotion management that fosters alienation because others shape it.

Charles Derber's theory

Suggests that the typical conversation is a covert competition for attention.

Social media and offline socialization

National survey found that teens who report being online a lot are as likely to socialize with friends offline as teens who are online less often.

Social statuses

Typically ranked in terms of access to valuable financial, physical, social, or cultural resources.

Cultural scaffolding

The set of cultural values and beliefs that legitimate existing power arrangements, making them seem reasonable and giving them a natural, taken-for-granted quality.

Dramaturgical analysis

Views social interaction as a sort of play in which people present themselves so that they appear in the best possible light.

Role distancing

Involves giving the impression that we are just 'going through the motions' but actually lack serious commitment to a role.

Impression management

The effort to place oneself in the best possible light during social interactions.

Ethnomethodology

The study of how people make sense of what others do and say by adhering to pre-existing norms.

Breaching experiments

Illustrate the importance of everyday, ritualistic interactions by disrupting interaction patterns.

Status cues

Visual indicators of other people's social position.

Stereotypes

Rigid views of how members of various groups act, regardless of whether individual group members really behave that way.

Intimate zone

The physical space that separates individuals in close personal interactions.

Personal zone

The physical space that separates individuals in casual interactions.

Social zone

The physical space that separates individuals in social gatherings.

Public zone

The physical space that separates individuals in public speaking or large group interactions.

Statuses

Social positions that individuals occupy within a social structure.

Microstructures

The small-scale social interactions that form the basis of social life.