The Microlevel Perspective SOCIAL INTERACTION The Microlevel Perspective

Social Interaction defined: “the process by which people act toward or respond to other people and is the foundation for all relationships and groups in society”

Social Interaction and Meaning Social interaction within a given society is based on shared meanings, common expectations, of behaviors across situations. Civil inattention: that we show awareness that others are near us but we do not make them an object of special attention (p. 140) Interaction order: interaction does have a pattern which regulates the form and processes but not the content (p. 140)

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Social Construction of Reality Defined: the process by which our perception of reality is shaped largely by the subjective meaning that we give to an experience (p.141) Theory: we act on the reality as we see it and not necessarily as it is—the definition of the situation

Social Construction of Reality Self-fulfilling prophecy: a false belief or prediction that produces behaviour that makes the originally false belief come true Example: If a person is told repeatedly that he or she is not a good student, they might eventually believe it to be true and stop studying for tests and completing assignments

ETHNOMETHODOLOGY One may ask the question of how are we to act in a specific situation? Garfinkel’s concept, ethnomethodology, provides an answer. Defined: the study of the commonsense knowledge that people use to understand the situations in which they find themselves

ETHNOMETHODOLOGY: Questions to think about… What are “background expectancies”? Why are they important? Can you think of any? What does this contribute to our knowledge of interaction?