Social connections and social interaction. Social connections and relationships Forms of social interactions

Social connection Is a set of conscious or unconscious, necessary and random, stable and spontaneous dependencies of some social subjects on others. To the greatest extent, social ties are manifested in various kinds of adaptive behavior of people, taking into account the norms and values \u200b\u200brecognized by the group. A high degree of manifestation of social ties is the activity undertaken by people taking into account the needs of others, especially when it does not correspond to the personal interests of the acting people.

Now we will move on to further analysis and pose questions about what is happening between people, between individuals, how connections and dependencies arise between them, how associations appear that unite people into stable communities. Communicating with peers, relatives, acquaintances, with random fellow travelers, each person carries out certain social interactions.

Spatial contact - this is the initial and necessary link in the formation of social relationships. Knowing where people are and how many there are, and even more so observing them visually, a person can choose an object for further development of relationships based on their needs and interests.

Contacts can be:

v transient or persistent depending on their frequency and duration;

v personal and material;

v direct and indirect.

In the process of social interaction:

ü perceptionpeople of each other;

ü mutual evaluationeach other;

ü joint action -cooperation, rivalry, conflict, etc.

Let's give a definition of social interaction: social interaction is a system of socially conditioned individual and / or group actions connected by mutual causal dependence, in which the behavior of one of the participants is both a stimulus and a reaction to the behavior of the others.

There are four main signs of interaction:

1) Objectivity - the presence of a goal, reason, object, etc., external in relation to interacting individuals or groups, which induce them to interact;

2) Situational - rather strict regulation of interaction with the specific conditions of the situation in which this process takes place: the behavior of friends at work, in the theater, at the stadium, at a suburban picnic is significantly different;

3) Exclamation - accessibility for an outside observer of the external manifestation of the interaction process, be it work at a factory, play or dance;

4) Reflective polysemy - the opportunity for interaction to be a manifestation of both basic subjective intentions, and an unconscious or conscious consequence of the joint participation of people in interindividual or group activities (for example, joint work).

An important role in the implementation of interactions is played by the system mutual expectationspresented by individuals and social groups to each other before committing social actions. Such expectations can be episodic and vague in the case of a short-term interaction, say, with a single date, an accidental and non-recurring meeting, but they can also be stable in the case of frequent or role-based interactions.

If interaction is a bidirectional process of exchanging actions between two or more individuals, then action is just a one-way interaction. Action can be divided into four types:

1.a physical action, for example: slap in the face, handing over a book, writing on paper;

2. verbal or verbal action, for example: insult, greeting - "hello";

3. gestures as a kind of action: a smile, a raised finger, a handshake;

4. mental action, which is expressed only in internal speech.

Of the four types of action, the first three are external, and the fourth is internal. The examples that reinforce each type of action correspond to the criteria of social action by M. Weber: they are comprehended, motivated, oriented towards another.

Social interaction is based on social status and roles. Hence - the second typology of social interaction (by areas):

The economic sphere, where individuals act as owners and employees, entrepreneurs, rentiers, capitalists, businessmen, the unemployed, housewives;

Professional sphere, where individuals participate as drivers, bankers, professors, miners, cooks;

Family related sphere, where people act as fathers, mothers, sons, cousins, grandmothers, uncles, aunts, godfathers, brothers-in-arms, bachelors, widows, newlyweds;

The demographic sphere, which includes contacts between representatives of different genders, ages, nationalities and races (nationality is also included in the concept of interethnic interaction);

The political sphere, where people confront or cooperate as representatives of political parties, popular fronts, social movements, as well as subjects of state power: judges, police officers, juries, diplomats, etc .;

The religious sphere implies contacts between representatives of different religions, of the same religion, as well as believers and non-believers, if, in terms of the content of their actions, they relate to the field of religion;

Territorial and settlement sphere - clashes, cooperation, competition between local and newcomers, urban and rural, temporarily and permanently residing emigrants, immigrants and migrants.

Thus, the first typology of social interaction is based on types of action, the second - on status systems.

Any interaction is exchange... You can exchange anything: signs of attention, words, gestures, symbols, material objects. Perhaps you will not find anything that could not serve as a medium of exchange. Thus, money, with which the exchange process is usually associated with us, does not take the first place.

According to exchange theory George Homans (1910-1989), a person's behavior in the present moment is determined by whether and how his actions in the past have been rewarded. He brought out the following exchange principles: 1) the higher the deed is rewarded, the more often it is repeated; 2) if in the past in a certain situation there was a reward, people tend to create such a situation again; 3) the greater the reward, the more people are willing to spend efforts to receive it; 4) when a person's needs are almost completely satisfied, he is less likely to make efforts to satisfy them. Social behavior Is the exchange of activities, tangible or intangible, more or less rewarding or costly, between at least two persons. Subinstitutional behavior is real behavior in institutional structures, elementary social behavior is the actual behavior of people in direct contact with each other, where each directly and directly rewards or punishes the other.

Elementary social behavior:

§ socially (orientation towards another person);

§ directly (face-to-face);

§ indeed (this is real behavior, not a norm of behavior);

§ presupposes social norms, which, however, cannot cover all situations of interaction (role and role performance).

In all episodes of his life, a person is connected with other people. To satisfy his needs, a person must interact with other individuals, participate in joint activities. After a series of interactions with others, a person enters into a certain relationship.

Social connections -this is a special type of contact between people. You can talk about the presence of a social connection when it is obvious three signs: 1) the personal obligations of each member of the group to fulfill the norms common for the group and to preserve common values; 2) the dependence of the members of the group on each other, arising on the basis of common interest; 3) identification of the individual with the group.

The main elementsthat make up a social connection are contacts. They can be spatial, psychological (interest), social (exchange).

Social relationships have different bases and many different shades, depending on the personal qualities of individuals. The formation of social ties occurs gradually, from simple forms to complex ones. The development of social bonds leads to social interactions. Measuring the number and direction of social contacts allows you to determine the structure of social interactions and the nature of social relations.

Social interaction(interaction) is a form of social communications; the process of communication of individuals with each other, their impact and influence on each other. Social interaction consists of individual social actions. An important role in the implementation of interactions is played by the system of mutual expectations presented by individuals and social groups to each other before performing social actions.

Typology.Interactions can be short-term, situational, or persistent, reusable, or even permanent. By types of actions, interactions can be physical, verbal, gestural. Social interaction based on status systems is typologized by spheres, since it includes communication of people in the economic, professional, family-related, demographic, political, religious, territorial-settlement spheres. The most common formssocial interactions are cooperation (cooperation), rivalry (competition), conflict (collision).

As a result of the repetition of one or another type of interaction, different types of social relations arise between people.

Social relationships -it is a certain stable system of connections and dependencies individuals, formed in the process of their repeated interactions with each other in a given society; it is a set of forms of organization of the joint life of people. Social relations are clearly divided in meaning and content, which depend on how the need for values \u200b\u200band the possession of them are connected in interactions. Social relations are the stable element that unites people in society.

16. National and ethnic communities and relations

The ancient Greek word "ethnos" has about 10 meanings: people, crowd, tribe, mass, etc.

In ethnographic literature, “ethnos” is usually understood as a stable community of people living, as a rule, in a separate territory, having their own unique culture, language, and self-awareness. In Soviet sociology and ethnography, it was traditionally believed that ethnic division is a kind of social and ethnic groups are integral systems inextricably linked with socio-economic factors. Consequently, ethnos is a social phenomenon.

There are two opposite approaches to understanding the essence of ethnos: natural biological, sociocultural.

The origins of the first go back to the middle of the 19th century, and its representatives belonged to the so-called racial-anthropological school in naturalistic sociology, as we mentioned in our previous lectures. Representatives of this trend Zh.A. de Gobineau, S. Ammon, J. Lapouge believed that the ethnocultural diversity of mankind is due to genetic differences.

The specificity of the sociological approach to the study of ethnic groups lies primarily in the fact that, in contrast to ethnography, which has a clearly expressed historical and descriptive character, in sociology, ethnic communities are considered as elements of the social structure of society, in close relationship with other social groups - classes, strata, territorial communities and various social institutions.

1) What is religion in the broad and narrow sense of the word? Is it possible, in your opinion, to give such a definition of it, which will equally suit both believers and

atheists? Why?

2) Describe the role of religion in the life of a person, society, state. What is the moral strength of religion?

3) What is world religion? What is the essence of the discussion about the number of world religions? What criteria do you think are the basis for those experts who name more than three world religions?

4) What role have world religions played and are playing in the history of mankind?

5) What role does the religious factor play in contemporary conflicts? Can we say that it is often only a pretext for the start of an armed confrontation?

Please check your understanding of the problem and theoretical argumentation, and also help with arguments) What is society? Talking about

to this problem, Emile Durkheim says: "Society is not a simple sum of individuals, but a system formed by their association."

This statement of Emile Durkheim means that society is a systematized, regular community of people, and not just a sum of individuals.

We all know from textbooks that society is a part of the material world isolated from nature, which includes ways of interaction between people. This is a kind of integrity of people, which has a collective character. However, is society necessarily systematized?

I think so: initially, people existed outside of society, united in small groups, just like animals. However, in the process of anthroposociogenesis, man became a social being. Societies were formed: at first they were tribes, then peoples and nations. In them, a person has a set of social roles that determine his place (son, student, Russian, and so on). Society, gradually becoming more complex, was divided into strata, classes, spheres, which are also divided within themselves. All this together forms a complex dynamic regular system - society.

1. What is the spiritual life of society? What components does it include?

2. What is culture? Tell us about the origin of this concept.

3. How do tradition and cultural innovation interact?

4. Describe the main functions of culture. Using the example of one of the phenomena of culture, reveal its functions in society.

5. What "cultures in culture" do you know? Describe a situation in which the interaction of several cultures would manifest.

6. What is the dialogue of cultures? Give examples of interaction and
the interpenetration of various national cultures, using knowledge,
received in courses in history and geography.

7. What is the internationalization of culture connected with? What are her problems?

8. Describe the manifestations of folk culture.

9. What is popular culture? Tell us about its signs.

10. What is the role of the media in modern society?
What problems and threats can be associated with their spread?

11. What is an elite culture? How does her dialogue with the mass take place?

The problem of social interactions is most thoroughly considered in symbolic interactionism, the theory of social exchange and phenomenology. The main provisions of the theory of social interactions are as follows.

Social interaction is one of the types of social connection - a mutually directed process of exchange of social actions between two or more individuals.

The connection is always mutual, available and feasible (at least in the imagination).

there is two types of ties: direct (usually visual, interpersonal) and mediated (when communication is carried out through intermediaries; in this case, the phenomenon of deindividualization arises - the illusion that all social relations exist independently of the will and desire of people).

Relationship types:

1) social contact (single or regular) - a connection of a superficial, fleeting nature in the absence of conjugate (interdependent, interdependent) actions of partners in relation to each other (you asked a passerby: "How to get to the pharmacy?"; You regularly go to the bakery and contact the seller);

2) social interaction (interactionism) - systematic, fairly regular social actions of individuals, directed at each other and with the goal of causing a well-defined response from the partner. In this case, the response gives rise to a new reaction of the influencing person (that is, a system of actions of partners in relation to each other arises).

Social interaction traits:

1) the conjugation of the actions of both partners;

2) renewability of actions;

3) sustained interest in the partner's response;

4) coordination of partners' actions.

Types of social interactions:

1) rigid exchange (exchange on the basis of certain agreements (most often in the economic sphere, in the manager-subordinate relationship, in political life));

2) diffuse (non-rigid) exchange (mainly in moral and ethical interactions: friendship, neighborhood, parent-child relationship, partnership);

3) direct-indirect interactions (direct - direct (bilateral) interactions between individuals, indirect - complex, mediated through 3-4 persons (in modern society, indirect interactions prevail));

4) individual-group interactions (individual-individual, individual-group, group-group).

I. Goffman, within the framework of a phenomenological perspective, offers a slightly different view of social interactions. To analyze them, he uses a "dramatic approach" based on the premise that individuals are actors playing social roles. Accordingly, interaction is a "performance", "acting", constructed by the actor with the aim of "making an impression" in accordance with his goals. The actions of the actor, according to I. Goffman, correspond to the concept of "presenting oneself and managing the impression." "Presentation of oneself" includes gestures, intonations, clothes, with the help of which an individual seeks to make a certain impression on a partner, to evoke one or another reaction from him. At the same time, the individual in the process of interaction, as a rule, provides only selected, partial information about himself, seeking to control the impression he makes on others.

P. Blau, relying on the theory of exchange and structural functionalism, argues that not all social interactions can be considered as processes of exchange. The latter include only those that are focused on achieving goals, the implementation of which is possible only in the process of interacting with other people and for the achievement of which means available to other people are needed. That part of human behavior that is governed by the rules of exchange lies at the basis of the formation of social structures, but the rules of exchange themselves are insufficient to explain the complex structures of human society.

Nevertheless, it is social exchange that largely determines the interactions of each individual. The success or failure of our interactions ultimately depends on knowledge and ability (or ignorance and inability) to practically use the principles of their regulation, formulated within the framework of the exchange theory.

Social connections - This is the dependence of people, realized through social actions, carried out with an orientation towards other people, with the expectation of an appropriate response from the partner. M. Weber identified the following types of social action: 1) goal-oriented rational action - a clear presentation by a person of his goal and means of achieving it, taking into account the reaction of others. Rationality is usually always oriented towards success;

2) value-rational action is performed through faith;

3) affective action occurs in a state of the unconscious, at the sensory level;

4) traditional action - habit, inertia.

In T. Parsons' theory, social action is considered as a system in which the following elements are distinguished: the actor; object (individual or community to which the action is directed); the purpose of the action; mode of action; the result of the action (the reaction of the object).

Sociology distinguishes the following types of social connections: social contact and social interactions.If the connection between people is superficial and the subject of the connection can be easily replaced by another person, then they speak of social contact. Social interaction (interaction), in turn, presupposes the regular systematic influence of individuals on each other, as a result of which new social ties are renewed and created within communities or between its elements. At least two subjects, who are called interactants, are involved in social interaction. Their interactive actions must certainly be directed at each other, the purpose of which is to cause a certain response from the partner.

Interaction can be of the following types:

- direct (interpersonal) with various modifications related to the social status of the subjects and the social roles they perform;

- indirect (through intermediaries) - involves the distribution of roles between the participants, the presence of agreed norms, a system of values \u200b\u200bthat regulate this interaction.

Social interaction can be classified:

By the number of participating entities: bilateral, multilateral;

Contact type: solidary or antagonistic;

Level of organization: organized or unorganized;

The nature of the assessments: emotional, volitional or intellectual;

Level: interpersonal, group, societal.

Social interaction theories (interactions) developed mainly within the framework of American sociological thought, in which the ideas of utilitarianism, pragmatism and behaviorism were strong. A broad sociological meaning was given to the behaviorist principle "stimulus-response". Stimulus and reaction began to be considered in the aspect of human action and interaction, when one person (or group), acting on another, expects a certain positive reaction from the latter.

The classical theories of this direction include the theory of "mirror self", symbolic interactionism "and" exchange theory ".

The concept of "mirror self: In the process of socialization, the transformation of individual consciousness into a collective mind takes place with the assimilation of social norms and a reassessment of one's personality from the standpoint of perception by others, i.e. carried out

transition from intuitive "self-awareness" to "social feelings". A person looks at another person, as in a special mirror, and sees his own reflection in it. Moreover, this reflection does not always coincide with a person's own assessment. Socialization, according to Ch. Cooley, means the need to reconcile assessment and self-assessment, the transformation of the "individual I" into the "collective I".

Theories of symbolic interactionism... Symbolic interactionism (from Latin interaction - interaction) is a direction in sociology that focuses on the analysis of social interactions mainly in their symbolic content.

Representatives of symbolic interactionism are G. Bloomer, J. Mead,

A. Rose, G. Stone, A. Strauss and others.

Mead George Herbert (1863-1931) - American psychologist, sociologist, philosopher, creator of the theory of symbolic interactionism, considers personality as a social product, revealing the mechanism of its formation in role interaction. Roles set the boundaries for an individual's appropriate behavior in a given situation. Necessary in role-based interaction is the acceptance of the role of another, which ensures the transformation of external social control into self-control and the formation of the human "I". The main characteristic of human action, according to Mead, is the use of symbols. The scientist distinguishes between two forms or two stages

social action: communication through gestures and symbolically mediated communication. Mead explains the emergence of symbolically mediated interaction functionally - by the need to coordinate people's behavior, since they do not have reliable instincts, and atropologically - by a person's ability to create and use symbols.

The general ideas of symbolic interactionism were further developed in the works of the American researcher G. Bloomer (1900 - 1967), who in his work "Symbolic Interactionism: Perspectives and Method" proceeded from determining the meaning of an object, proceeding not from its properties, but from its role in people's lives. An object is what it means in an expected and real interaction. Moreover, the stability of meanings makes interaction familiar, allows it to be institutionalized. In the interaction itself, two levels can be distinguished: non-symbolic (uniting all living things) and symbolic (peculiar only to humans). By means of the sign system, a person sets distances, i.e. structures the outside world. By developing and changing meanings, people thereby change the world itself.

The original version of symbolic interactionism was developed in the writings

E. Goffman (1922 - 1982), who is called the author of the "dramatic approach", tk. he expressed the manifestations of personal and social life in theatrical terminology. At the same time, a person simultaneously acts as an author, director, actor, spectator and critic, as if trying on different social roles.

Social exchange theory - a trend in modern sociology that considers the exchange of various social benefits (in the broad sense of the word) as the fundamental basis of social relations, on which various structural formations (power, status, etc.) grow. Representatives of the theory of social exchange (theory of action) - J. Homans and P. Blau. Homans George Kaspar (1910 - 1989) - American sociologist, according to whose views, people interact with each other on the basis of their experience, weigh the possible rewards and costs. Social action, according to Homans, is an exchange process that is built according to the principle of rationality: participants strive to get the maximum benefit at the lowest cost.

In contrast to simple interaction, social relations differ in that they are perceived by individuals as long-term, repetitive, and, therefore, stable. Thus, social relations are a stable system of normalized interactions between two or more partners based on a certain interest.