...interactionism is “sensitive to the self conscience”, and contrasts dramatically with earlier structural theories such as functionalism and Marxism. Unlike these theories, interactionists believe that individuals are socially self conscious, and construct their social world through meaningful interaction and interpretation, rather than being the passive recipients of external social structures. As such, interactionist theory provides a refreshing explanation of society which overcomes many of the problems of earlier theories. It has made a massive contribution to sociology both on a theoretical and methodological level, although it is important to remember that “interactionism” is not a unified perspective, and actually has many different intellectual strands. Phenomenology for example, is a branch of interactionism which proposes that “things” have no intrinsic meaning in themselves, and mean only what they are taken to mean by social actors. Extending on this, ethnomethodologists believe that social order is extremely fragile, and only exists because people share “commonsense assumptions” about social life. When these assumptions are challenged however, stability can be undermined, as demonstrated by Garfinkel’s “breaching experiments”, where he got students to behave like lodgers in their own homes, which resulted in responses of confusion and anger. Such theories have been heavily criticised however, as if they are taken to their logical conclusion, there is no such thing as objective...
Words: 1102 - Pages: 5
...12 Angry Men: An Illustration of Concepts of Organisational Behaviour Introduction In 1957 Sidney Lumet’s 12 Angry Men was published (Lumet, 1957). Now, 55 years later, the movie’s teachings still hold most of their truths. The events shown in the movie can be scientifically explained using concepts of organisational behaviour. Although some of these concepts did not even exist by the time the movie was made, the movie still is an excellent case to study and illustrate them. The reason for this is the isolation of the movie’s characters. All events in the movie are triggered by the characters only. There are no external influences nor is there the possibility for the characters to leave the scene. This essay will apply concepts of organizational behaviour to events of the movie. Particular attention will be paid to the concepts of perception, attribution biases, decision making, leadership and group dynamics. In order to do so, the essay will move along the plot of the movie and apply concepts where there are fit. None the less for the purpose of referencing a brief introduction to the movie and its characters is given here: The plot of 12 Angry Men describes the events that take place as a jury has come to a unanimous decision. The defendant is accused of homicide. If the jury decides upon a verdict of ‘guilty’ the judge will inevitably sentence the accused to death penalty. In the beginning all jurors but juror no. 8 are willing to verdict ‘guilty’ without debating. However...
Words: 2175 - Pages: 9
...essay looks at in detail at a number of classical studies on the subject of conformity as well as it analyzes a particular type of conformity, i.e. gender conformity. Examples and case studies given from both academic experiments and everyday life help this essay in arguing that conformity is a complex process happening to all of us most of the time even without our knowledge. Moreover, this essay provides information about why people actually conform. Every person is an individual. However, every person belongs to a group. The nationality of a person, their sex, their age, the colour of their skin, and even their hobbies are all different kinds of groups to which this person belongs to. Group membership helps building a type of social identity, while applying its norms and rules upon the individual (Brown 2000). Moreover, even in cases in which a clear hierarchy and roles are absent because of the instant development of the group, social influence remains existent. Social influence definition given by Allport (1968) is as it follows, ‘an attempt to understand and explain how the thought, feeling, and behavior of individuals are influenced by the actual, imagined, or implied presence of others’ (cited in Hogg and Abrams 158:1988). However, two types of social influence leading to conformity can be distinguished. Hogg and Abrams (1988) adopt the terminology from Deutsch and Gerard (1952) to make the distinction between two different kinds of conformity more clear. According...
Words: 2995 - Pages: 12
...Interactions[edit] Interactionism is micro-sociological and believes that meaning is produced through the interactions of individuals. The social interaction is a face-to-face process consisting of actions, reactions, and mutual adaptation between two or more individuals. It also includes animal interaction such as mating. The interaction includes all language (including body language) and mannerisms. The goal of the social interaction is to communicate with others. If the interaction is in danger of ending before one intends it to, it can be conserved by conforming to the others' expectations, by ignoring certain incidents or by solving apparent problems. Erving Goffman underlines the importance of control in the interaction. One must attempt to control the others' behaviour during the interaction, in order to attain the information one is seeking and in order to control the perception of one's own image. Important concepts in the field of interactionism include the "social role" and Goffman's "presentation of self." Interactionist methodology[edit] Interactionists want to understand each individual, and how they act within society. In extreme cases, they would deny class as an issue, and would say that we cannot generalize that everyone from one social class thinks in one way. Instead they believe everyone has different attitudes, values, culture and beliefs. Therefore, it is the duty of the sociologist to carry out the study within society. They set out to gather qualitative...
Words: 825 - Pages: 4
...achieved through negotiation with others” (Coover, G. & Murphy, S. (2000) The Communicated self: exploring the interaction between self and social context). On ITV’s “The Agenda”, Ed Miliband came under attack from Hearsay’s Myleene Klass over the controversial topic of mansion tax. It is fascinating to see how the two members of the conversation express their contrasting views throughout the duration of the discussion: Labour’s party leader, Miliband, expectedly is passionate about mansion tax and as is Klass. Yet, it must be taken into consideration the fact that the conversation between Miliband and Klass has external participants: the live audience, ITV viewers and other members of the panel; this therefore may affect one’s performance. Although their performances seem “sincere” they could potentially be “cynical” (Goffman, E. (1959) The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life. Garden City, NY: Doubleday). For example, as Miliband’s purpose of being on “The Agenda” is to promote the Labour party’s policies and therefore may portray a cynical performance in order to get votes in 2015’s general election. In this essay, I will be analysing the non-verbal communication: such as gestures and eye contact, as well as verbal language including such things as jargon in order to examine the interpersonal communication within this discussion. “Assertiveness is pertinent to interactions between different groups of professionals, especially where the...
Words: 1603 - Pages: 7
...‘action’ theories to our understanding of society today Social action theories are known as micro theories which take a bottom-up approach to studying society; they look at how individuals within society interact with each other. There are many forms of social action theories, the main ones being symbolic interactionism, phenomenology and ethnomethodology. They are all based on the work of Max Weber, a sociologist, who acknowledged that structural factors can shape our behaviour but individuals do have reasons for their actions. He used this to explain why people behave in the way in which they do within society. Weber saw four types of actions which are commonly committed within society; rational, this includes logical plans which are used to achieve goals, traditional-customary behaviour, this is behaviour which is traditional and has always been done; he also saw effectual actions, this includes an emotion associated with an action and value-rational actions, this is behaviour which is seen as logical by an individual. Weber’s discovery of these actions can therefore be seen as useful in the study of society. Weber discovered these actions by using his concept of verstehan, a deeper understanding. However, some sociologists have criticised him as they argue that verstehan cannot be accomplished as it is not possible to see thing in the way that others see them, leaving sociologists to question whether Weber’s social action theory is useful in the study of society. Max Weber...
Words: 2643 - Pages: 11
...Affiliation 1. Evolution 1. Proximity 1. Emotion 1. Attractiveness 1. Similarity 1. Theories of Attraction Evolution 1. It is adaptive – perpetuation of species 1. E.g. Men attractive due to wealth, power, social status – providers 1. Women attractive due to looks - fertility Need for Affiliation What is? • The motive to seek and maintain social relationships • Neurobiology Rowe (1996) – We’re born with it Personality affects the need • Schizoid persons • Dismissive avoidant styles • Dependent persons Situational Factors • Crisis situations increase the need for affiliation – natural disasters, reminders of mortality • Fear & affiliation – Strong correlation between fear & Need to Aff Why Crises/Fear Lead to Need for Aff • Social Comparison Theory Festinger (1954) – We seek out others – To interpret our reactions – To find support for these actions – Under stress – we seek others to explain situation Proximity What is? • Liking for persons increases the more we see and interact with them • Races Reason for Effect • Exposure Festinger, Schacter & Back (1950) • Experiment tracking friendships among couples in apartment buildings • Couples randomly assigned to apts • Couples strangers on entry • Couples asked to name 3 closest friends • 65% chose friends in same building • Pattern...
Words: 1208 - Pages: 5
...of Consumer Behaviour, J. Consumer Behav. 11: 467–476 (2012) Published online in Wiley Online Library (wileyonlinelibrary.com) DOI: 10.1002/cb.1396 If I want you to like me, should I be like you or unlike you? The effect of prior positive interaction with the group on conformity and distinctiveness in consumer decision making VERONIKA PAPYRINA* College of Business, San Francisco State University, San Francisco, CA, USA ABSTRACT The extant research points to conflicting results regarding social influence in consumer decision making. On the one hand, there is empirical evidence that suggests that people conform to other members of their groups. On the other hand, several studies demonstrated the opposite pattern, namely, that individuals seek distinctiveness from others in the group. The goal of the present research is to reconcile these contradictory findings. To this end, I propose that whether a person will conform to or seek distinctiveness from others in a particular consumption situation is contingent on the absence or presence of one’s prior positive interaction with the group. I also suggest that this effect will occur in a public context, that is, when an individual’s choice is visible to other group members. The results of experiment supported these propositions. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Suppose Alice wants to start figure skating and goes to watch a training session conducted by a local skate club before making the final decision. She likes what she sees...
Words: 9323 - Pages: 38
...Reviewer for Social Science 1 A. Introduction Behavior * manner of conducting one’s self * action and response to stimulation * response to the environment Behavioral Sciences * deals with human action and seeks to generalize human behavior in society Psychology * Science of mind and behavior * Behavior and mental process are interwoven Sociology * Science of the society, social institutions and social relationships * Study of human society and social interaction Anthropology * Study of human beings and their ancestors through time and space and in relation to physical character, society and culture. * Cultural anthropologist [culture] * Linguistic anthropologist [language] * Archeologist [material artifacts] * Biological anthropologist [origin and evolution] Science * System of knowledge covering general truths [scientific method] Scientific Method * Procedure for the systematic pursuit of knowledge Social Research * Done to gain a body of information which helps us understand behavior and society Quantitative Research * Numeric data and precise statistical analysis Qualitative Research * Nonnumeric information is used to describe * Done as they happen Experiments * Research situation designed to elicit some sort of behavior Field Research * Observe events as they occur * Non-participant observation [without interaction] * Participant observation [with interaction] Surveys ...
Words: 4372 - Pages: 18
...Introduction This thesis explores Social Networking sites as a medium of expression for sexual identity construction; more specifically the research question aimed to explore how gay and lesbian individuals use social networking websites as a means to construct and explore their sexual identities through self presentation on conventional social networking sites (SNS) available and used by everybody versus LGB SNS which are primarily used by Lesbian/Gay and Bisexual individuals and groups. Through the conduction of eight semi- structured interviews with an even number of four males and females and a content analysis of each participant’s social networking profiles, the research explored how sexual identities were presented and played out on these sites by the variation and degree of information that was disclosed by the sample study. Overall the aim was to explore the advantages and disadvantages social networking entails for the gay community through a comparison of both types of SNS, exploring how self presentation and sexual identities are negotiated and managed through the two while determining if these sites were in fact a safe location to play out sexual identities if they are a site of identity restrictions. From research up to this point it has struck me that there is limited research concerned with the disadvantages of social networking and identity experimentation for gays and lesbians. Thus this present study aims to acquire if gay individuals feel they can perform their...
Words: 11898 - Pages: 48
...Chapter 1 What is social psychology? LEARNING OUTCOMES When you have finished studying this chapter, you should be able to: 1 Outline the main differences between experimental and critical approaches to social psychology. 2 Describe the three main ‘metaphysical battles’ between them. 3 Trace the origins of social psychology through the work of William McDougall and William James, and the contributions made by Völkerpsychologie and crowd psychology. 4 Describe the two contrasting images of ‘the person’ in social psychology. 5 Identify the roots of and describe the historical development of both experimental and critical social psychology. 6 Describe the main elements of Modernism and Postmodernism, and how these relate to contemporary social psychology. 7 Explain how these two approaches are different, and why they cannot be integrated. Introduction On a March night in 1964, Kitty Genovese was attacked by a maniac as she came home from work at 3 A.M. Thirty-eight of her Kew Gardens neighbors came to their windows when she cried out in terror – but no one came to her assistance. Even though the attack, which resulted in her death, lasted more than half an hour, no one even so much as called the police. . . . The thirty-eight witnesses to Kitty 3 4 FOUNDATIONS AND PRINCIPLES Genovese’s murder did not merely look at the scene once and then ignore it. Instead they continued to stare out, fascinated, distressed, unwilling to act but unable...
Words: 14315 - Pages: 58
...Article Self-oriented Masculinity: Advertisements and the Changing Culture of the Male Market Journal of Macromarketing 33(2) 160-171 ª The Author(s) 2012 Reprints and permission: sagepub.com/journalsPermissions.nav DOI: 10.1177/0276146712463823 jmk.sagepub.com Blaine J. Branchik1 and Tilottama Ghosh Chowdhury1 Abstract This research chronicles the changes in the understudied and rapidly evolving male market segment using two related studies: (1) a content analysis of advertisements in fifty-one years of Sports Illustrated magazine and (2) an experiment involving age-based differences in consumer ad perceptions. Both investigate changing ad values and the ethnic diversity of ad models. Results indicate that the male market is becoming increasingly self-oriented in its values orientation as a result of broad societal changes and changing gender roles. Increasing use of black or African American models in key positions indicates a growing acceptance of minorities as representations of the ideal self among younger men, who express a preference for black or African American models. This finding speaks to the increasingly multicultural nature of society and the impact of minority celebrities on American culture. The results are indicative of the power of advertising in both reflecting and facilitating societal change. Keywords advertising, male market, societal change, ethnicity, gender, culture, macromarketing Introduction American men, as a cultural...
Words: 10179 - Pages: 41
...CHAPTER 7 DEVIANCE AND SOCIAL CONTROL Deviance 171 Social Policy and Social Control: Illicit Drug Use in Canada and Worldwide 193 What Is Deviance? 171 Explaining Deviance 175 Social Control 182 Conformity and Obedience 182 Informal and Formal Social Control Law and Society 186 Crime 185 187 Types of Crime 188 Crime Statistics 190 The Issue 193 The Setting 193 Sociological Insights 193 Policy Initiatives 193 Boxes RESEARCH IN ACTION: Street Kids 183 sOCIOLOGY IN THE GLOBAL COMMUNITY: Singapore: A Nation of Campaigns 186 TAKING SOCIOLOGY TO WORK: Holly Johnson, Chief of Research, Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics, Statistics Canada 192 Cigarette smoking has become stigmatized in Canada. This newspaper advertisement, sponsored by Health Canada, reverses the typical advertising strategy of equating smoking with sexiness. 169 H eidi Fleiss was in her late twenties when she was arrested for operating a call girl service. At the time, her pediatrician father had reacted flippantly, “I guess I didn’t do such a good job on Heidi after all.” Later, he would be convicted of conspiring to hide profits from his daughter’s call girl ring. Fleiss had dropped out of school when she was sixteen and established a liaison with a playboyfinancier who gave her a Rolls-Royce for her twenty-first birthday. In her early twenties, Fleiss interned in the world of prostitution by working for Madame Alex (Elizabeth Adams)...
Words: 18652 - Pages: 75
...bring to their groups: moods, emotions, sentiments, and emotional intelligence. These affective characteristics then combine to form a group’s affective composition. We discuss explicit and implicit processes through which this affective combination occurs by examining the research on emotional contagion, entrainment, modeling, and the manipulation of affect. We also explore how elements of the affective context, such as organizationwide emotion norms and the group’s particular emotional history, may serve to constrain or amplify group members’ emotions. The outcome, group emotion, results from the combination of the group’s affective composition and the affective context in which the group is behaving. Last, we focus on the important interaction between nonaffective factors and affective factors in group life and suggest a possible 2001 Academic Press agenda for future research. During the past century, a tremendous amount of research attention has been devoted to understanding the structure and performance of small groups The order of authorship was determined by coin toss. Both authors contributed equally to the manuscript. We thank Yochi Cohen-Charash, Donald Gibson, J. Richard Hackman and Howard Weiss for their comments on a previous draft of this article. Address correspondence and reprint requests to Sigal G. Barsade, School...
Words: 15106 - Pages: 61
...paper. It is intellectually interesting, and evocative. It provides us with a perspective on organizational issues that is typically glossed. It opens an arena for organizational analysis that is missed in most theoretical frameworks. Tempered radicals, Meyerson and Scully argue, are individuals who identify with and are committed to their organizations and also to a cause, community or ideology that is fundamentally different from, and possibly at odds with, the dominant culture of their organization. Their radicalism stimulates them to challenge the status quo. Their temperedness reflects the way they have been toughened by challenges, angered by what they see as injustices or ineffectiveness, and inclined to seek moderation in their interactions with members closer to the centre of organizational values and orientations. The paper is a scholarly treatment of a complex concept. It is radical in its charge to us to see new possibilities in the study of organization. It is tempered, even hopeful, in its prescriptions for harnessing participants who are often on the margins of organizational life and who have much to offer to enrich and sustain positive change in organizations. It is a very appropriate...
Words: 12768 - Pages: 52
