Microsociology

Read Chapter 5: Social Interaction in Everyday Life

Role concept revisited

The term Social Role originated in a theatrical setting.

Social Positions are the structural equivalents of social roles.

Social Identities are the individual equivalents of social roles.

Social roles, positions and identities are defined by normative expectations.

Example:

Position: This university hierarchy provides you with the position of a student. (Organization chart)

Role: In this given position you can play the role of a student.

Question: What is typical for a student role?

Identity: You choose the identity of a student in this classroom setting, rather than being a lover, sports buff... in this moment.

Normative expectations define a student identity or a sports buff identity.

Questions:

Do rules determine behavior, or does behavior create rules?

Does the university structure determine your behavior?

Or does your performance determine university structure?

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Symbolic Interactionist (SI) Perspective

The three premises of Symbolic Interactionism

#1. People act on the basis of their meaning.

Symbolic: In interaction we use language and facial or bodily expressions as symbols to express meaning.

#2. Meaning arises from social interaction.

#3. Meanings are modified through interpretation by the person.

Nonverbal Communication

Sociology of Emotions

For the interest student: Paul Ekman's www site: http://www.paulekman.com/

What does Paul Ekman see as being a cultural universal?

There are basic or primary emotions that are culturally universal and therefore widely seen as being innate.

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Table: The literature on primary and secondary emotions

Erving Goffman

For the interested student: Erving Goffman on the net

Impression management

People are sensitive to how they are seen by others. To maintain the role identity they want to play they engage in impression management.

Here they try to manipulate the other's impression of their role identities.  We do that primarily though information control:

Techniques of information control that can be used to pass as a “normal” person

1. We can control social information

2. We can manipulate the visibility of the stigma

3. We can manipulate our personal identity and our biography

4. We might engage in teamwork

Disclosure of oneself implies a radical shift

• from a discreditable person into a discredited one
• from information management to the management of uneasy situations.

Coping mechanisms

1. We create front and back regions

Sometimes we get tired of playing our official roles and retire off stage for a while.

Official role played by a waitress in the restaurant's front region.

Informal roles played by her in the back region of the kitchen.

Question: What are your front or back regions?

2. We retreat in subcultures

3. We engage in role distancing

We can either embrace a role or keep distance.

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To what extend involves the retreat into a back region

a) tension management ?  

b) information control?  

To what extend involves the retreat into a subculture

a) tension management?  

b) information control?  

Is role distancing a technique of

a) tension management or

b) information control?

 In summary overhead

Techniques of Impression Management

Information control

·      Prestige symbols

·      We can manipulate the visibility

·      Personal identity and biography

·      Teamwork

Information control and tension management

·      Front and back regions

·      Retreat into subculture

Tension management

·      Role distancing

Assignments:

Book: Chapter 5

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Disclaimer: The documents linked to other sources on the WWW, others than http://www2.tltc.ttu.edu/Schneider2/ and its subdirectories, do not necessarily express the views of Texas Tech University or Dr. Andreas Schneider. @Copyright 2006 Andreas Schneider