Social Relationships and the Human Experience Social relationships give us a way to conceive social context we predict meaning of others’ actions while mutually adjusting our behaviour relative to those others Social relationships help us to explain how behaviour and thought is informed by the broader social context LO 3

Social Relationships and the Human Experience larger social relationships remain unchanged longer than smaller relationships the larger a social relationship the less important one person’s actions are for the stability of the relationship size of relationship shapes the human experience LO 3

Social Relationships and the Human Experience Different social relationships (formal & informal) are more likely to emerge as relationships get larger and more complex large relationships more likely to form organizations to address challenges than smaller relationships people are motivated to act and think by the size of the social relationship LO 3

Social Relationships and the Human Experience Subjective Meaning, Motivation, and the Human Experience We can understand the human experience if we keep in mind that we are motivated by subjective meaning Verstehen–“walking a mile in another’s shoes” understanding and explaining social action requires an “interpretive grasp” of “complex meaning” LO 3

Social Relationships and the Human Experience Complex meaning – meanings shared through social relationships An interpretive grasp of complex meaning (Verstehen) is more challenging when trying to understand novel behaviour yet it is critical for a sociological understanding of human experience LO 3

Social Relationships and the Human Experience inability to interpretively grasp subjective meaning reduces behaviour to a personal rather than a social issue not necessary to agree with others’ motivations and meanings without a grasp of subjective meaning we have only a partial understanding of human experience LO 3