Transcript Humor

THE SELF AND INTERACTION
CHAPTER 5
SOCIAL INTERACTION
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kQMB5teKf7M
&NR=1
Free hugs
How do we create reality in our
face-to-face interactions?
SOCIAL INTERACTION
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q0BB
gVCAxg0
String experiment
SOCIAL STRUCTURE:
A GUIDE TO EVERYDAY LIVING
SOCIAL INTERACTION
Process by which people act and react in relation to
others
STATUS
A social position
STATUS SET
All statuses a person holds
ASCRIBED AND ACHIEVED
STATUS
Ascribed Status
Social position received at birth or taken
involuntarily later in life
Achieved Status
Social position taken voluntarily
Ascribed statuses influence Achieved statuses
ASCRIBED STATUS—BORN RICH
ASCRIBED STATUS--GENDER
ASCRIBED STATUS--GENDER
ACHIEVED STATUS
MASTER STATUS
Special importance for social identity
Negative or positive
Gender
Athlete
Nerd
Criminal
ROLE
Behavior expected of someone who
holds a particular status
Person holds a status
Who we are
 Person performs a role
What we do
PERFORMING A ROLE
Role Set
Roles attached to a single status
ROLE SET: STUDENT STATUS
ROLE CONFLICT AND ROLE
STRAIN
Role Conflict
Conflict among roles connected to two or more
statuses (student, job, athlete)
Role Strain
Tension among roles connected to single status
(student)
ROLE CONFLICT
Statuses
Conflicts
Student
Time
Athlete
Importance
Enjoyment
Job
Expectations
ROLE STRAIN: STUDENT STATUS
TENSION AMONG ROLES CONNECTED TO A SINGLE
STATUS
ROLE EXIT
Process by which people disengage from
important social roles
Becoming an “ex”
Graduating
Retirement
Widow
Divorce
Status Set and Role Sets
A status set includes all the statuses a person
holds at a given time. The status set defines
“who we are” in society. The many roles
linked to each status define “what we do.”
Social Construction of Reality
The process by which people
creatively shape reality through
social interaction
Social interaction is:
Complex
Involves Negotiation
Builds reality
Perception of events based on
interests and intentions
THE THOMAS THEOREM
“Situations that are defined as
real are real in their
consequences.”
DEFINING SITUATIONS
DEFINING SITUATIONS
DEFINING SITUATIONS
DEFINING SITUATIONS
DEFINING SITUATIONS
ETHNOMETHODOLOGY
Study of:
The way people make sense of
everyday life
Behavior based on assumptions
“Breaching experiments”

BREACHING EXPERIMENTS
Taking items from others’
shopping carts
Standing very, very close
Tipping a person who opens a
door for you
Eating with fingers in fancy
restaurant
REALITY BUILDING:
CLASS AND CULTURE
How we act & what we see depends
on:
•
•
•
•
•
Our interests
Social class
Gender
Race/ethnicity
Culture
REALITY BUILDING
WHAT DO YOU SEE?
DRAMATURGICAL ANALYSIS:
THE PRESENTATION OF SELF
Study of:
Social interaction as a theatrical
performance
Erving Goffman (1922-1982)
People perform on a stage
PRESENTATION OF SELF
Efforts to create specific
impressions in others’ minds
Also called
Impression Management
PRESENTATION OF SELF
(IMPRESSION MANAGEMENT)
PERFORMANCES
Reveal information Consciously &
Unconsciously:
Dress (costume)
Objects we carry (props)
Tone of voice and way we carry
ourselves (demeanor)
Performances influenced by context
(the set)
NONVERBAL COMMUNICATION
“BODY LANGUAGE”
Communication using:
• Body movements
• Gestures
• Facial expressions
BODY LANGUAGE
BODY LANGUAGE & DECEPTION
Contradictions in verbal & nonverbal
meaning
Nonverbal communication hard to control
Clues to deception
Recognizing dishonest performances is
difficult
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qGQf9O61cww
Key to detecting lies
• --View whole performance
 --Look for inconsistencies
VIDEO
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x9YTxff3pHU&feature
=more_related
Learning body language--Funny
STARING, SMILING, AND TOUCHING
Women hold eye contact more than
men do
Men stare
Claiming social dominance
Smiling
• Trying to please
• Submission
• Women smile more than men do
EYE CONTACT
STARING
Random Staring
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GLBCsWQbwJ0
Tom Brady staring contest
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pkp03HdkUJs
10/16 SMILING
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PR_UYx4vSPs
EMBARRASSMENT AND
TACT
Embarrassment: Discomfort after a
spoiled performance
 Embarrassment is an ever-present
danger
 One moment can shatter the
intended impression
 Audience often overlooks flaws in
performance
EMBARRASSMENT
Tact
Helping someone “save face”
“Tact is the ability to describe others
the way they see themselves.” (Abraham
Lincoln)
Embarrassment creates discomfort for
the actor and everyone else
People are reminded of how fragile
their own performances are
PROCESS OF SOCIALIZATION
The process of learning the:
• Values
• Beliefs
• Norms
of our social group
 Begins in infancy
 Lasts throughout lifetime
DEVELOPMENT OF THE SELF
• The self is our personal identity
•Separate and different from others
•Who are you?
• The self is created and modified
through social interaction
•The socialization process
AGENTS OF SOCIALIZATION
Major agents include:
Family
Schools
Peers
The mass media
AGENTS OF SOCIALIZATION
The family: Single most
significant agent of socialization
Teaches:
• Basic values
• Norms that shape identity
AGENTS OF SOCIALIZATION
SCHOOLS
• Hidden curriculum: Traits such
as:
• Punctuality
• Neatness
• Discipline
• Hard work
• Competition
• Obedience
AGENTS OF SOCIALIZATION
PEERS
• Provide different social skills than
the family
• Often become more significant than
the family
•Especially during adolescence
THE MEDIA
 Has become an important agent of
socialization
 Often overriding the family and
other institutions
 In instilling values and norms
REALITY PLAY: THE SOCIAL
CONSTRUCTION OF HUMOR
 Humor an important part of
everyday life
 By using humor, we “play with
reality”
HUMOROUS QUOTES
“You can observe a lot by just watching”.
-- Yogi Berra
"He who laughs last probably didn't get the joke."
---Unknown
"Not all chemicals are bad. Without hydrogen or
oxygen, for example, there would be no way to
make water, a vital ingredient in beer."
---Dave Berry
THE FOUNDATION OF HUMOR
Create and contrast two different realities
1. Conventional
What people in a specific situation
expect
2. Unconventional
An unexpected violation of cultural
patterns
Humor arises from differing
definitions of the same situation
The Dynamics of Humor: “Getting It”
To “get” humor, must understand the two
realities enough to appreciate the
difference
Enjoyment of a joke increased by
pleasure of figuring out the pieces needed
to “get it”
The joke makes you an “insider”
If a joke has to be explained, not very
funny
You’re an “outsider”
The Topics of Humor
Humor is a universal of human
culture
However, humor rarely travels
well
Controversy of humor: Fine line between
what is funny and what is “sick”
Middle Ages – “humors” from the Latin
“humidus” meaning “moist”
A balance of bodily fluids that regulated a
person’s health
Researchers today document the power of
humor to reduce stress and improve health
“Laughter is the best medicine”
At the extreme, people who always take
conventional reality lightly
• Risk being defined deviant or mentally ill
Certain topics are “not funny”
Too sensitive for humorous treatment:
Religious beliefs
Tragic accidents
Appalling crimes
A joke about sociologists:
How many sociologists does it take to
change a light bulb?
Answer: None. There is nothing wrong with
The light bulb; it’s the system that needs to
be changed!
What sort of people are likely to get joke?
What kind of people probably won’t?
What makes this joke funny?
Why?
The Functions of Humor
Humor is found everywhere--As a safety
valve for potentially disruptive emotions
Humor provides acceptable way to discuss
sensitive topic
Without appearing to be serious or
offensive
Humor used to relieve tension in
uncomfortable situations
Humor and Conflict
Humor also used to put down others
“Put-down” jokes make one category of
people feel good at expense of another
Real conflict can be masked by humor
http://www.bing.com/videos/watch/video/top-10-yo-mamajokes/45d62e5de7219b1af9da45d62e5de7219b1af9da168729313694?q=the%20dozens%20jokes
http://www.bing.com/videos/watch/video/top-10-yo-mamajokes/45d62e5de7219b1af9da45d62e5de7219b1af9da168729313694?q=the%20dozens%20jokes
Humor: More important than we think
Mental escape from world not entirely to
our liking
Survival: Comedians from historically
marginalized
groups
Sense of humor asserts freedom
We are never a prisoner of reality
THEORY IN EVERYDAY LIFE
The Real World: An Introduction to Sociology, 2nd Edition
Copyright © 2010 W.W. Norton & Company