Rohall 3e ppt ch02

Social PsychologySociological Perspectives

THIRD EDITIONRohall, Milkie, Lucas

Chapter Two

Perspectives in Sociological Social

Psychology

Perspectives in Review

• Symbolic interactionism (SI) is the study of how people negotiate the meaning of social life during their interactions with others

• The social structure and personality (SSP) perspective focuses on the connections between social structures (i.e., persistent patterns of behavior) and the individual

• Group processes (GP) studies how basic social processes operate in group contexts

SI: Society and Agency

• From the SI perspective, society exists as a network of interactions between people

• Society imposes restrictions on us but we also have agency, the ability to act and think independently from those constraints

• Society exists in a complex series of relationships; we negotiate these relationships internally and externally

SI: Society and Agency

• There are central three principles of SI – Meanings arise through social interaction

among individuals.– People use the meanings they derive from

interaction to guide their own behavior.– People employ an interpretive process

regarding these interactions.

SI: Principle #1

• The first principle of SI is that meanings arise through social interaction among individuals

• George Herbert Mead believed that the study of human gestures is at the center of social psychology

• To have meaning, individuals need an exchange of symbols and language (which is a serious of auditory symbols)

• The process by which we use symbols and language to give meaning and value to objects and people is known as the social construction of reality

SI: Principle #2

• The second principle of SI is that people use the meanings they derive from interaction to guide their own behavior

• The information tells us how to think, feel, or act

• We are motivated to change our behavior when we must do so to maintain order or, sometimes, to get what we want out of a situation.

• When we develop a new meaning though an interaction it may change how they behavior act or feel

SI: Principle #3

• The last principle of SI states that people may come away from an interaction with different interpretations of it; and that we act on our interpretations

• This principle is the basis for the Thomas theorem: when people define situations as real, those situations become real in their consequences

• Frame analysis emphasizes the social scripts people employ to interpret different social situations

SI: The Chicago School of SI

• The birthplace of symbolic interactionism is the University of Chicago, where both George Herbert Mead and Herbert Blumer worked in the early to mid-20th century

• Chicago school of symbolic interactionism focuses on the study of the social processes involved in a given situation; the goal is not to quantify those processes or try to predict future behavior

SI: Indiana and Iowa Schools of SI

• The second school of symbolic interactionism is associated with scholars from Indiana University (such as Sheldon Stryker) and the University of Iowa (such as Manford Kuhn)

• These schools started after WWII

• The Iowa and Indiana schools of symbolic interactionism emphasize the stable nature of social reality, hence, it is predictable and can be studied using quantitative techniques – This is a contrast to the ideas produced by the

Chicago school scholars such as Mead and Blumer

SSP: Social Structure and Personality

• The social structure and personality perspective focuses on the connections between larger societal conditions and the individual

• Social conditions (or structures) are patterns that function as regular rules of behavior—that is, how people are expected to act in different social contexts.

• Changes can include both attitude and behavior but also relationships with other people

SSP: Social Structure and Personality

Principles of this perspective: Components principle: We must be able to identify

the elements or components of society most likely to affect a given attitude or behavior.

Proximity principle: We need to understand the aspects or contexts of social structure that most affect us.

Psychology principle: We need to understand how individuals internalize proximal experiences.

SSP: Principle #1: Components Principle

• The components principle states that we must be able to identify the elements or components of society most likely to affect a given attitude or behavior

• SSP scholars study the impact of social structure (persisting patterns of behavior and interaction between people or social positions) on important life outcomes like our health and well-being

• Social structure is studied in terms of our statuses, roles, and social networks

SSP: How Social Networks Link People and Groups Together

Insert Figure 2.1

Figure 2.1 Social Networks Connect Individuals and Groups in Society.

SSP: Principle #2: Proximity Principle

• The proximity principle states that we often feel the effects of society through interpersonal interaction and communication with people around us

• Most of society’s impact on us comes through institutions like work and family

• People “feel” the effects of an economic downturn, for instance, through the loss of a job or if someone close to us loses a job

SSP: Principle #3: Psychology Principle

• The psychology principle focuses on how individuals internalize proximal experiences

• Social forces include any way in which society compels individuals to act in accordance with an external norm, rule, or demand

• This principle emphasizes the processes that lead people to follow the rules (or not)

GP: The Group Processes Perspective

• Group processes refers to the study of how basic social processes operate in group contexts

• Groups are any interaction involving more than one person

• Group processes scholars study basic processes and the impact of group structures on members

• They try to understand how these processes develop in groups and/or how they impact relationships in those groups

GP: Basic Group Processes

• Some of the processes studied by group processes scholars include:– Power: The ability to obtain what we desire in a

group despite resistance– Status: A position in a group based on esteem or

respect– Justice: Perceptions that a social arrangement or

distribution is fair– Legitimacy: The sense that a social arrangement

or position is the way that things should be

GP: Group Processes and Group Structures

• Group structure is impacted in the form of its size and function

• Small groups are defined as groups of two or more individuals—typically between 2 and 20 people—whose members are able to engage in direct, face-to-face interactions

GP: Dyads and Triads

• Georg Simmel argued that group size can have a strong impact on relationships within groups

• Dyads are two-person groups and triads are three-person groups

• Moving from a dyad to a triad exponentially increases the number of relationships in the group while simultaneously decreasing intimacy levels

GP: Model of the Relationship Changesin Dyads and Triads

Figure 2.2 Relationships in Dyads and Triads.

GP: Types of Groups

Social psychologists distinguish between three broad types of groups:•Primary groups: Family members and close friends—the people we are close to and interact with regularly.•Secondary groups: People we affiliate with to achieve similar goals or needs—for example, coworkers or teammates.•Reference groups: People we do not necessarily know personally but look to as a source of standards and identity.

The type of group we are in can affect how we think, feel, and behave.

GP: Relationships among Groups

• Social psychologists are also interested in inter-group dynamics, the relationships between two or more groups

• They are also interested in individual behaviors in large-group settings

• Collective behavior refers to the action or behavior of people in groups or crowds, a major subfield of sociological social psychology

Chapter 2: Bringing It All Together

• Sociological social psychology includes scholars from three perspectives:– Symbolic interactionists emphasize the social

construction of reality– Social structure and personality scholars emphasize

the direct impact of social structure on the individual– Group processes scholars study important group

interactions related to power, status, justice, and legitimacy

• These perspectives are not exclusive but emphasize different theories and processes

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