Sign in with Google
Continue to Essayfit
Social Roles
This group appears to have adopted the concept of social roles, as described in Unit 1. The behavior of each person seemed to take the form of an informal role, based on what other people acted like. One person seemed to take things over as a “leader,” starting the topics and directing the flow of the conversation. Whenever the group conversation became serious, another group member would often try to put a little dampening on the topic by playing 'the comedian'. Those others did what they could to support, affirming statements, and agreeing, in keeping with the social norm of balancing out interactions in group settings. These functions helped find order and coherence in the exchange pattern and for each person’s unique contribution to be acknowledged and counted, creating a feeling of being part of and being cared for by the group.
Symbolic Interactionism
Unit 3 discusses symbolic interactionism, based on the premise that symbols and meaning-making are the primary tools in social interaction. Within this observation were a few symbolic gestures. For example, laughs marked social bonding, a sign of approval, and shared understanding. Eye contact was critical, not only between the speaker and listener but literally between the speaker and the speaker’s audience, represented in attentiveness and expression of respect. An agreement and comfort were established via nodding or smiling while giving nonverbal cues for agreement and comfort. The former allowed the group to interact easily and the latter allowed us to communicate shared meaning without using explicit statements. (Gallagher & Zahavi 2020).
Reflection and Conclusion
Based on this observation I was able to gain a deeper understanding of how social norms, roles, and symbols play a role in the social interaction among people. By roles, each member of the group contributed very distinctively while binding the group’s cohesion. Between-group members, symbolic gestures such as laughing, eye contact, and supporting verbal affirmations helped members to symbolically express their solidarity even when they were disparate. These insights revealed how people attempt to get the best of both worlds in social settings, and how much an individual can express while still staying in harmony with others.
This experience stressed that social scientific theories can serve to explain the real-world behavior of people through the understanding of interactions between them on the basis of the mutual acceptance of certain roles and certain shared understandings that occur spontaneously. This allowed me to observe these behaviors in real time and gain a practical understanding of human behavior in group settings, which demonstrated the importance of both verbal and nonverbal communication in allowing social harmony to maintain itself in such settings.
References
Burke, P. (2022). Sociology and History (RLE Social Theory). Routledge.
Gallagher, S., & Zahavi, D. (2020). The phenomenological mind. Routledge.
Plummer, K. (2021). Sociology: the basics. Routledge.
