Explain Theories about Analyzing Social Interaction Groups, statuses, and roles form a web
Explain Theories about Analyzing Social Interaction Groups, statuses, and roles form a web
The sociological theories on social integration, groups, status, and roles are explained through symbolic interaction and dramaturgy in sociology. Max Weber and Georg Simmel, the classical sociologists, laid the founding works for symbolic interaction.
Weber focused on the interpretive understanding of social action, and Simmel called the society a web of social interactions.
Dramaturgical perspective explains social interaction as dependent on the social setting and the kind of audience. Dramaturgy suggests that the interacting individual plays the role of an actor attempting to please the audience. Therefore social interaction is compared to play, where every aspect of the interaction is scripted. Symbolic interaction believes that interaction involves a process of symbolic exchange among individuals. Simmel shares his view on social interaction among groups. He stated that as the number of members in a group increases, the group's complexity also increases. Therefore, Simmel believed that socially interacting groups transform into society.
Status is defined by Max Weber as a social situation where the estimation of honor determines individuals' social class. Karl Marx, a classical critical theorist, believed that status was determined by the individual's position in the production process. Therefore, as per Marx, the economic position informs the social position and social status of the individual in society.
Simmel argued that social interaction forms the web of society. George Herbert Mead highlighted the significance of roles and role taking in social interaction and development of self. Mead suggested that role-taking is how the self develops. By taking on others' roles, the child understands the ways of society and how it works. In the case of social interaction, roles are relevant. In a social situation, the individuals take on others' role to analyze and understand the situation to generate a respective response to the situation. Dramaturgy suggests that role-playing is how individuals interact in a social setting. In this case, roles mean acting out the roles that would appease the audience involved in the interaction.
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