Definition of the situation by W. I. Thomas: An individual\’s interpretation of the social setting; complex interpretations of the situation are not always interpreted accurately. If men define their situations as real, they are real in the consequences.
Social construction of reality: An individual\’s perceptions of one\’s social world as determined or influenced by social interactions.
Social attribution: an explanation of how others appear, behave, or are motivated.
Fundamental attribution error: the bias of attributing our behavior to our circumstances and others\’ behavior to their character.
Ethnomethodology: the study of people\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\’s methods as it relates to the formation of society.
Breaching: purposely violating social norms to examine an individual\\\’s reactions.
How we speak has more influence than what we say.
Dramaturgy was made by Goffman, and he also wrote about face work, the efforts exerted by both actors during an interaction to get through unanticipated events without casting an undesirable light or disrupting the relationship of the participants. Includes saving face, not letting it seem embarrassing, and losing face. Giving face is politeness in the US and serious respect in China.
Social exchange: a symbolic interaction theory by which social decisions are based on perceived costs and benefits. Made by George Homans. If the costs of a relationship are too high, the relationship will be terminated.
Rewards – cost = outcome, positive or negative. The comparison level is a standard of what the individual expects in the relationship based on the experiences with and observations of other relationships. A relationship is satisfying if outcomes are greater than the comparison level. CLAlt CL, but when comparing with previous or alternative relationships instead.
Status set: the collection of statuses held at one time.
Ascribed status: assigned social status based on sex, race, and age.
Master status: the social position central to your identity; may be student, parent, etc.
Conspicuous consumption: the public display of lavish and wasteful spending to enhance social status. Uses status symbols.
Conscious consumption is living more simply for the environment; the New Dream organization promotes it and helps people adjust.
Social roles: expected patterns of behaviors for specific statuses and positions. A role set is the complement of the role-relationships within a single status. Role strain is the incompatible demands and expectations within a single role. Role conflict is competing demands resulting from two or more statuses.
Role exit: the process of disengaging from significant roles. Role attachment is the emotional intensity associated with a role.
Social institutions link individuals to the larger society.
Primary social groups are small scale and long-lasting. Secondary social groups are large scale and task-focused, and may be time-limited.
Social networks: groups of individuals and organizations that are connected to one another.
Feeling rules: norms about which emotions are appropriate to display in a given situation; prescriptive is how you should be have and proscriptive is how you should not behave.
Emotion labor: when a worker regulates personal feelings to set an emotional tone for customers.
Street harassment: experience of individuals who receive unwanted attention from an individual or group in a public space.
Thomas Theorem: the idea that if we think something is real, it is real to us.