CHAPTER 5

Social Interaction and Structure

WHAT IS SOCIAL INTERACTION?
 Refers to the process by which people act and react in
relation to others. In this process, language, gestures and
symbols are used

 Schaefer cited Herbert Blumer who noted that the

distinctive characteristics of social interaction among
people is that “Human beings interpret or define each
other’s actions.

 Also refers to the process whereby people accomplish

some aim and is always directed toward specific other
people.
WHAT FRAMEWORKS ARE USED IN
INTERACTION?
 Defining the situation – To a large extend, our
behaviour is determined not only by our status and roles
but by the definition of the situation.

 Presentation of the self – All of us have an image of

how we want to be seen by others (Sociologist Erving
Goffman).

 Negotiated Order – People can reconstruct social reality

through a process of internal change as they take a
different view of everyday behavior.
TYPES OF SOCIAL INTERACTION

Cooperation – This refers to collaborative efforts between

people to achieve a common goal.
Conflict – is significant in social life. It involves direct
struggle between individual or groups over commonly
valued resources or goals.
Competition – It is a form of conflict in which there is an
agreement on the means that can be used to pursue and
end.
Negotiation – At times, people may negotiate the term
under which they agree to social exchange, cooperation,
or competition.
Coercion – At a glance, coercion appears to be one-sided,
one imposing an action or behavior on another.
ELEMENTS OF SOCIAL INTERACTION

 Statuses – Ordinarily, the term “status” means

“prestige”. However, in sociology status refers
particularly to a position in social structure; any position
that determines where a persons “fits” within the society.
 Ascribe status and achieved status. These are the two
basic types of statuses
 Ascribe – Assigned to people without effort on their part.

 Achieved – Social position that is assumed voluntarily

and that reflects a significant measure of personal ability
and efforts.
 Roles – Every status carries with it socially prescribe
roles, that is expected behavior, obligations and
privileges.

 Role Strain, role conflicts, and role exit. These are the 3
types of roles.

 Role Strain – Refers to incompatibility among the roles

corresponding to a single status.
 Role Conflict – Occurs when the carrying out of one
role automatically results in the violation of another and
it is one common source of role strain.

 Role Exit – is the process by which people disengage

from social roles that have been central to their lives.
WHAT INFLUENCES SOCIAL
INTERACTION?
 Tischler identified four major components of social
interaction:

1. The ends or goals it is intended to achieve.

2. The motivation why it is undertaken.
3. The situation or context within which it takes place.
4. The norms or rules that govern or regulate it.
 Goals and motivations – Social interaction is a central
concept to understanding the nature of social life, it
involves goal and motivation.
 Situation or context – The situation where the social
and interaction takes place makes a difference in what it
means. The context refers to the conditions under which
an action takes place
 Norms or Rules – Norms are specific rules of behavior
that are agreed upon and shared and prescribe limits of
acceptable behavior. However, norms of behavior can
differ from one culture to another, or simply within the
same culture.
TYPES OF SOCIAL INTERACTION
 Non-verval behavior – People may communicate with
one another through non-verbal behavior by using body
language, the study of which is known as kinesics.
 Unfocused and focused interactions – At times,
interactions happen simply because people are in each
other’s presence.
 Group – Group refers to any number of people with
similar norms, values, and expectations who regularly
and consciously interact.