Chapter 4: Social Interaction in Everyday Life

Interpersonal Interaction

Interaction between two or more people that is influenced by culture, social status, closeness, and the social setting.

Social Interaction

The process by which people act and react to those around them.

Exchange of Symbols

Communication through words, gestures, expressions, or other symbols that require interpretation.

Social Setting

The environment or situation in which social interaction takes place.

Status

Social honor, prestige, or a socially recognized position.

Erving Goffman

A sociologist who studied everyday social interaction and how people present themselves to others.

The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life

A famous work by Erving Goffman that explains how people manage how they appear to others during social interaction.

Dramaturgical Approach

Erving Goffman's theory that social interaction is similar to a theatrical performance in which people play roles.

Impression Management

The attempt to control how other people perceive you.

Dramaturgy

The idea that everyday social life can be understood as a performance with actors, roles, audiences, and settings.

Civil Inattention

The brief acknowledgment of another person's presence while also respecting their privacy.

Unfocused Interaction

Interaction in which people are aware of each other's presence but are not directly engaged with one another.

Focused Interaction

Interaction between people who are directly engaged in a shared activity or conversation.

Agency

A person's ability to make choices and act independently.

Structure

The social rules, institutions, norms, and patterns that influence or limit people's behavior.

Harold Garfinkel

A sociologist known for developing ethnomethodology and studying the unwritten rules of everyday social interaction.

Ethnomethodology

The study of the everyday methods people use to understand social situations and create social order.

Interaction Rituals

Repeated patterns of behavior people follow during social interaction.