Social Interaction
Social Interaction
Social Interaction
Understand the four types of social interactions: accidental, repeated, regular and
regulated
KEY POINTS
Social Interaction
A social exchange between two or more individuals.
social group
A collection of humans or animals that share certain characteristics, interact with one
another, accept expectations and obligations as members of the group, and share a
common identity.
dyad
A pair of things standing in particular relation; dyadic relation.
EXAMPLES
FULL TEXT
In sociology, social interaction is a dynamic sequence of social actions between individuals
(or groups) who modify their actions and reactions due to actions by their interaction
partner(s). Social interactions can be differentiated into accidental, repeated, regular and
regulated.
A social interaction is a social exchange between two or more individuals. These interactions
form the basis for social structure and therefore are a key object of basic social inquiry and
analysis. Social interaction can be studied between groups of two (dyads), three (triads) or
larger social groups.
Social structures and cultures are founded upon social interactions. By interacting with one
another, people design rules, institutions and systems within which they seek to live.
Symbols are used to communicate the expectations of a given society to those new to it,
either children or outsiders. Through this broad schema of social development, one sees
how social interaction lies at its core.
The empirical study of social interaction is one of the subjects of microsociology, which
concerns the nature of everyday human social interactions and agency on a small scale.
Methods include symbolic interactionism and ethnomethodology, as well as later academic
sub-divisions and studies like psychosocial studies, conversational analysis and humancomputer interaction.
With symbolic interactionism, reality is seen as social, developed interaction with others. It
argues that both individuals and society cannot be separated far from each other for two
reasons. One being that they are both created through social interaction. The second reason
is they cannot be understood in terms without the other. Ethnomethodology, an offshoot of
symbolic interactionism, which questions how people's interactions can create the illusion of
a shared social order despite not understanding each other fully and having differing
perspectives.