Activity, activity and actions, like atoms, are combined into complex molecules, which in the language of psychology and sociology are called social interaction.
IN everyday life Every now and then we perform many elementary acts social interaction, without even knowing it. When we meet, we shake hands and say hello; when we get on the bus, we let women, children and older people go ahead. All of these are acts of social interaction or social behavior.
However, not everything we do in connection with other people is social interaction. If a car hits a passerby, then this is a normal traffic accident. But it becomes a social interaction when the driver and pedestrian, analyzing the incident, each defend their interests as representatives of two big social groups.
The driver insists that the roads are built for cars and the pedestrian does not have the right to cross wherever he pleases. The pedestrian, on the contrary, is convinced that the main person in the city is he, and not the driver, and cities are created for people, but not cars. IN in this case driver and pedestrian indicate social statuses. Each of them has their own range of rights and responsibilities. Playing the role of driver and pedestrian, two men do not sort out personal relationships based on sympathy or antipathy, but enter into social relationships, behave as owners social statuses, which are determined by society. The arbiter in their interaction is often a policeman.
When communicating with each other, they do not talk about family matters, the weather or the prospects for the harvest. The content of their conversation is social symbols and meanings: the purpose of such a territorial settlement as a city, the norms for crossing the roadway, the priorities of a person and a car, etc. Concepts in italics constitute attributes of social interaction. It, like social action, is found everywhere. But this does not mean that it replaces all other types of human interaction.
So, social interaction consists of individual acts, called social actions, and includes statuses (range of rights and responsibilities), roles, social relationships, symbols and meanings.
Behavior is a set of movements, acts and actions of a person that can be observed by other people, namely those in whose presence they are performed. It can be individual and collective (mass). It follows that the main elements of social behavior are: needs, motivation, expectations.
When comparing activities and behavior, it is not difficult to notice the difference. Activities include conscious goals and planned actions. It is performed for the sake of some kind of reward that serves as an external incentive, for example, earnings, a fee, a promotion. Behavior does not contain a goal as the main, defining element. Most often it does not serve any purpose. But in behavior there are intentions and expectations, there is a need and motives. Unlike incentives, motives refer not to external, but to internal incentives.
The unit of behavior is an action. Although it is considered conscious, it has no purpose or intention. Deed honest man natural and therefore arbitrary. He simply could not do otherwise. At the same time, the person does not set a goal to demonstrate to others the qualities of an honest person. In this sense, the action has no purpose. An action, as a rule, is focused on two goals at once - compliance with one’s moral principles and to the positive reaction of other people who evaluate our action from the outside. To save a drowning man, risking his life, is an act oriented towards both goals. Going against the general opinion, defending your own point of view, is an act focused only on the first goal. I think you yourself can give examples of actions focused only on the second goal.
If sociological theories are developed cumulatively, they should not use ordinary language. This means that the subject of sociology cannot be the social world described in everyday language, as everyone is accustomed to believe. Theoretical constructs in sociology are not abstract counterparts of everyday phenomena. They describe a possible state of affairs.
Theoretical Methods in Sociology / Ed. by L. Freese. Pittsburgh.
1980. P. 331
In a team or small group, which consists of people you know and constantly interact with you, behavior is significantly different from what can be observed in a crowd consisting of strangers, random people. The difference is based on following the rule: behave with others (in scientific parlance, “significant others”) the way you would like them to behave with you. You can be rude to a passerby and you won’t see him again, but what about a fellow worker? Among their acquaintances, people try to look the way they would like to look, or the way they would like others to see them. Most people want to be seen as generous and intelligent. They want to be helpful, courteous, and expect the same from others. They understand that if they themselves are not like this, then they will not be able to demand the same from others.
Actions, deeds, movements and acts are the building blocks of behavior and activity. Activity and behavior are two sides of one phenomenon, namely human activity.
Action is possible only if there is freedom of action. If your parents oblige you to tell them the whole truth, even if it is unpleasant for you, then this is not yet an act. An action is only those actions that you perform voluntarily.
Freedom of choice is necessary for a person at every step. Even going to the store or drinking a cup of tea requires freedom of action. It is even more necessary in the higher spheres of human activity, especially in creativity. A scientist, an artist, an actor cannot create anything if they are forced, pointed out, or interfered with. When we consider world history as the advancement of humanity from pre-industrial to industrial and post-industrial society, we are talking about the increased importance in modern era scientific knowledge, information, intellectual work, as well as leisure and creativity. When scientists call a post-industrial society a leisure society, they emphasize an important detail: the degree of freedom of action today should be immeasurably greater than before.
If you carefully analyze the statistics, this is what you will find: modern society The volume of intellectual workload and people's life expectancy have increased. Is the connection between the two phenomena coincidental?
When we talk about an action, we unwittingly mean an action focused on other people. An action emanating from an individual may or may not be directed at another individual. Only an action that is directed at another person (rather than a physical object) and produces a response should be classified as social interaction. Interaction is a bidirectional process of exchange of actions between two or more individuals.
In science, it is customary to distinguish between three main forms of interaction - cooperation, competition and conflict. In this case, interaction refers to the ways in which partners agree on their goals and means of achieving them, distributing scarce (rare) resources.
Social interaction consists of many individual social actions. They are called mass. Mass actions can be poorly organized (panic, pogroms), or sufficiently prepared and organized (demonstrations, revolutions, wars). Much depends on whether the situation is realized or not, whether organizers and leaders have been found capable of leading the rest or not.
Society does not consist of individual individuals, but expresses the sum of those connections and relationships in which these individuals are with each other. The basis of these connections and relationships is the interaction of people.
Interaction- this is the process of direct or indirect influence of objects (subjects) on each other, giving rise to their mutual conditionality and connection.
It is causation that constitutes main feature interaction, when each of the interacting parties is high-. dulls as the cause of the other and as a consequence of the simultaneous reverse influence of the opposite side, which determines the development of objects and their structures. If a contradiction is discovered during interaction, then it acts as a source of self-propulsion and phenomena and processes.
Under interaction in domestic social psychology Usually it is understood not only the influence of people on each other, but also the direct organization of their joint activities, allowing the group to implement activities common to its members. The interaction itself in this case acts as a systematic, constant implementation of actions aimed at provoking an appropriate reaction from other people.
Usually a distinction is made between interpersonal and intergroup interaction.
Interpersonal interaction- accidental or intentional, private or public, long-term or short-term, verbal or non-verbal contacts and connections of two or more people, causing mutual changes in their relationships, etc.
The presence of an external goal in relation to interacting individuals, the achievement of which requires mutual efforts.
Explicitness (availability) for observation from the outside and registration by other people.
Situationalism is a fairly strict regulation by specific conditions of activity, norms, rules and intensity of relationships, due to which interaction becomes a rather changeable phenomenon.
Reflexive ambiguity is the dependence of perception on the conditions of implementation and the assessments of its participants.
Intergroup interaction- the process of direct or indirect influence of multiple subjects (objects) on each other, generating their mutual conditionality and the unique nature of the relationship. Usually it takes place between entire groups (as well as their parts) and acts as an integrating (or destabilizing) factor in the development of society.
Currently, in Western science there are many points of view that explain the reasons for human interaction.
The process of human interaction is divided into three main stages (levels).
At the first stage (initial level), interaction represents the simplest primary contacts of people. Between them there is only a certain primary and very simplified mutual or unilateral influence on each other for the purpose of exchanging information and communicating. Due to specific reasons, it may not achieve its goal and not receive further development.
The success of initial contacts depends on the acceptance or rejection of each other by the interaction partners. Differences between individuals are one of the main conditions for the development of their interaction (communication, relationships, compatibility, workability), as well as themselves as individuals.
Any contact usually begins with a concrete sensory perception of the external appearance, characteristics of the activities and behavior of other people. At this moment, as a rule, the emotional and behavioral reactions of individuals dominate. Acceptance-rejection relationships are manifested in facial expressions, gestures, posture, gaze, intonation, and the desire to end or continue communication. They indicate whether people like each other or not. If not, then mutual or unilateral reactions (gestures) of rejection follow.
Contact is terminated.
And vice versa, people turn to those who smile, look directly and openly, turn to the front, and respond with a cheerful and cheerful intonation; to someone who is trustworthy and with whom further cooperation can be developed based on joint efforts.
Of course, the acceptance or rejection of each other by interaction partners has deeper roots.
The first (lower) level is the ratio of individual (natural) and personal parameters (temperament, intelligence, character, motivation, interests, value orientations) people. Special significance in interpersonal interaction there are age and gender differences between partners.
The second (upper) level of homogeneity - heterogeneity (degree of similarity - contrast of participants in interpersonal interaction) is the ratio (similarity - difference) of opinions in the group, attitudes (including likes - antipathies) to oneself, partners or other people and to objective world(including to joint activities). The second level is divided into sublevels: primary (or initial) and secondary (or resultant). The primary sublevel is the initial correlation of opinions given before interpersonal interaction (about the world of objects and their own kind). The second sublevel is the correlation (similarity - difference) of opinions and relationships as a consequence of interpersonal interaction, the exchange of thoughts and feelings between participants in joint activities.
A large role in the interaction on his initial stage plays the congruence effect, i.e. confirmation of mutual role expectations, a single resonant rhythm, consonance of the experiences of the contact participants.
Congruence presupposes a minimum of discrepancies in the key points of the behavior lines of the contact participants, which results in the release of tension, the emergence of trust and sympathy on a subconscious level.
Congruence is enhanced by the partner’s sense of complicity, interest, and mutual search activity based on his needs and life experience. Congruence may appear from the first minutes of contact between previously unfamiliar partners, or it may not arise at all. The presence of congruence indicates an increased likelihood that the interaction will continue. In this sense, one should strive to achieve congruence from the first minutes of contact.
The experience of belonging that arises:
- when the goals of the subjects of interaction are interconnected;
- when there is a basis for interpersonal rapprochement;
- in the case of subjects belonging to one. Empathy (emotional empathy with the interlocutor) is realized:
- when establishing emotional contact;
- when the behavioral and emotional reactions of partners are similar;
- if you have the same feelings towards some object;
- when attention is drawn to the feelings of partners (for example, they are simply described).
Identification (projection of one’s views onto the interlocutor), which is enhanced:
- with a variety of behavioral manifestations of the interacting parties;
- when a person sees his own character traits in another;
- when partners seem to change places and conduct a discussion from each other’s positions;
- when referring to previous cases;
- with common thoughts, interests, social roles and positions.
As a result of congruence and effective initial contacts, feedback is established between people, which is a process of mutually directed response actions that serves to support subsequent interaction, during which both intentional and unintentional communication is carried out to another person about how his behavior and actions (or their consequences) ) perceived or experienced.
Feedback happens different types, and each of its variants corresponds to one or another specificity of interaction between people and the establishment of stable relationships between them.
Feedback can be immediate or delayed in time. It can be bright, emotionally charged and transmitted as a kind of experience, or it can be with minimal experience of emotions and behavioral responses (Solovieva O.V., 1992). IN different options joint activities, their own types of feedback are appropriate. The inability to use feedback significantly complicates the interaction of people, reducing its effectiveness. Thanks to feedback during interaction, people become similar to each other, bring their state, emotions, actions and actions in accordance with the unfolding process of relationships.
At the middle stage (level) of interaction between people, which is called productive joint activity, gradually developing active cooperation finds increasing expression in an effective solution to the problem of combining the mutual efforts of partners.
There are usually three forms, or models, for organizing joint activities:
- each participant does his part general work regardless of the other;
- common task performed sequentially by each participant;
- there is simultaneous interaction of each participant with all others. Their actual existence depends on the conditions of the activity, its goals and content.
At the same time, the common aspirations of people can lead to clashes in the process of coordinating positions. As a result, people enter into “agree-disagreement” relationships with each other. In case of agreement, partners are involved in joint activities. At the same time, roles and functions are distributed between the participants in the interaction. These relationships give rise to a special focus volitional efforts among the subjects of interaction, which is associated either with a concession or with the conquest of certain positions. Therefore, partners are required to demonstrate mutual tolerance, composure, perseverance, psychological mobility and other strong-willed personality traits, based on intelligence and high level and personality.
At the same time, at this time, the interaction of people is actively accompanied or mediated by the manifestation of complex socio-psychological phenomena, called compatibility - incompatibility (or workability - incompatibility). Just as interpersonal relationships and communication are specific forms of interaction, compatibility and workability are considered its special constituent elements (Obozov N.N., 1980). Interpersonal relationships in a group and the compatibility (physiological and psychological) of its members give rise to another important socio-psychological phenomenon, which is commonly called “psychological climate.”
Psychophysiological compatibility is based on the interaction of temperamental characteristics and needs of individuals.
Psychological compatibility involves the interaction of characters, intellects, and motives of behavior.
Socio-psychological compatibility involves the coordination of social roles, interests, and value orientations of the participants.
Social-ideological compatibility is based on the commonality of ideological values, on the similarity of social attitudes (in intensity and direction) regarding possible facts of reality related to the implementation of ethnic, class and religious interests. There are no clear boundaries between these types of compatibility, while extreme levels of compatibility, for example physiological, socio-psychological and socio-ideological climate, have obvious differences (Obozov N.N., 1980).
In joint activities, control on the part of the participants themselves is noticeably activated (self-monitoring, self-checking, mutual monitoring, mutual checking), which affects the performing part of the activity, including the speed and accuracy of individual and joint actions.
At the same time, it should be remembered: the driver of interaction and joint activity is, first of all, the motivation of its participants. There are several types social motives interactions (i.e. the motives for which a person interacts with other people).
Cooperation - maximizing the total gain.
Individualism - maximizing one's own gain.
Competition - maximizing relative gain.
Altruism - maximizing the gain of another.
Aggression - minimizing the gain of another.
Equality-minimization of differences in winnings (Bityanova M.R., 2001).
The mutual control of each other carried out by participants in joint activities can lead to a revision of individual motives for activity if there are significant differences in their focus and level, as a result of which individual people begin to coordinate.
During this process, there is a constant coordination of thoughts, feelings, and relationships of partners in joint life activities. It is clothed in various shapes influence of people on each other. Some of them encourage the partner to act (order, request, proposal), others authorize the partners’ actions (agreement or refusal), and others call for a discussion (question, reasoning). The discussion itself can take place in the form of coverage, conversation, debate, conference, seminar and a number of other types of interpersonal contacts.
However, the choice of forms of influence is more often dictated by the functional-role relationships of partners in working together. For example, the control function of a leader encourages him to more often use orders, requests and sanctioning responses, while the pedagogical function of the same leader requires more frequent use of discussion forms of interaction. In this way, the process of mutual influence of interaction partners is realized. Through it, people “process” each other, striving to change and transform mental states, attitudes and, ultimately, the behavior and psychological qualities of partners in joint activities.
Mutual influence as a change in opinions and assessments can be situational when circumstances require it. As a result of repeated changes in opinions and assessments, their stability is formed; the convergence of positions leads to behavioral, emotional and cognitive unity of the participants in the interaction. This in turn leads to a convergence of interests and value orientations, intellectual and characterological characteristics of the partners.
Under their influence, opinions and relationships of interaction partners change. Regulators of mutual influence are formed on the basis of a deep property of the psyche - imitation. In contrast to the latter, suggestion, conformity and persuasion regulate interpersonal norms of thoughts and feelings.
Suggestion is an influence on other people that they perceive unconsciously.
Conformity is a conscious change in opinions and assessments. Situational and conscious conformity makes it possible to maintain and coordinate ideas (norms) regarding ongoing events in people’s lives and activities. Of course, events have varying degrees of significance for those who are forced to evaluate them.
Persuasion is a process of long-term influence on another person, during which he consciously learns the norms and rules of behavior of interaction partners.
The convergence or change of mutual points of view and opinions affects all spheres and levels of interacting people. In the context of solving specific current problems of life and activity, and especially communication, their convergence-divergence represents a kind of regulator of interpersonal interaction. If the convergence of assessments and opinions forms a single “language”, group norms of relationships, behavior and activities, then their divergence acts as the driving force for the development of interpersonal relationships and groups.
The final stage (highest level) of interaction is always the extremely effective joint activity of people, accompanied by mutual understanding. Mutual understanding between people is a level of their interaction at which they understand the content and structure of the partner’s present and possible next action, and also mutually contribute to the achievement of a common goal. For mutual understanding, joint activity is not enough; mutual assistance is needed. It excludes its antipode - mutual opposition, with the appearance of which misunderstandings arise, and then misunderstanding of man by man. At the same time, mutual misunderstanding is one of the essential prerequisites for the breakdown of human interaction or the cause of a wide variety of interpersonal difficulties, etc.
An essential characteristic of mutual understanding is always its adequacy. It depends on a number of factors:
- type of relationship between partners (relationships of acquaintance and friendship, friendly, love and marital relationships);
- friendly (essentially business relations);
- sign or valence of relationships (likes, dislikes, indifferent relationships);
- the degree of possible objectification, manifestation of personality traits in the behavior and activities of people (sociability, for example, is most easily observed in the process of communication interaction).
In adequacy, as accuracy, depth and breadth of perception and interpretation, an important role is played by the opinion, assessment of others more or less significant people, groups, authority figures.
For a correct analysis of mutual understanding, two factors can be correlated - sociometric status and the degree of similarity according to it. In this case, it is necessary to take into account:
- persons who have different socio-psychological statuses in the team consistently interact (are friends) with each other;
- reject each other, i.e. experience interpersonal rejection, heifers, who are similar in status and it is not high enough for them.
Thus, interaction is a complex multi-stage and multifaceted process during which communication, perception, relationships, mutual influence and mutual understanding of people are carried out.
The interaction, as already emphasized, is diverse. An indicator of this is its typology.
Usually there are several ways of interaction. The most common dichotomous division is: cooperation and competition (consent and conflict, adaptation and opposition). In this case, both the very content of the interaction (cooperation or competition) and the degree of expression of this interaction (successful or less successful cooperation) determine the nature of interpersonal relationships between people.
Additional interaction - partners adequately perceive each other’s position.
Intersecting interaction - partners, on the one hand, demonstrate an inadequate understanding of the positions and actions of the other participant in the interaction, and on the other, clearly demonstrate their own intentions and actions.
Hidden interaction includes two levels at the same time: explicit, expressed verbally, and hidden, implied. It presupposes either deep knowledge of the partner, or greater sensitivity to non-verbal means of communication - tone of voice, intonation, facial expressions and gestures, since they convey hidden content.
Interaction is always present in the form of two components:
Content - determines around what or about what this or that interaction unfolds.
Style refers to how a person interacts with others.
We can talk about productive and unproductive styles of interaction. The productive style is a fruitful way of contact between partners, contributing to the establishment and prolongation of relationships of mutual trust, the disclosure of personal potential and the achievement of effective results in joint activities.
In other cases, having exhausted the adaptation resources available to them, having achieved some balance and trust in the first stages of development of interaction, people cannot maintain effective relationships. In both cases, they talk about an unproductive style of interaction - an unfruitful way of contact between partners, blocking the realization of personal potentials and the achievement of optimal results of joint activities.
The unproductiveness of an interaction style is usually understood as a specific embodiment in an interaction situation of the unfavorable state of the existing system of relations, which is perceived and recognized as such by at least one of the participants in the interaction.
The nature of activity in the position of partners:
- in a productive style - “next to your partner”, i.e. active position both partners as accomplices in the activity;
- in unproductive - “above the partner”, i.e. the active position of the leading partner and the complementary passive position of subordination of the slave.
Nature of the goals put forward:
- in a productive style - partners jointly develop both near and distant goals;
- in unproductive - the dominant partner puts forward only close goals, without discussing them with the partner.
Nature of responsibility:
- in a productive style, all participants in the interaction are responsible for the results of their activities;
- in unproductive - all responsibility is assigned to the dominant partner.
The nature of the relationship that arises between partners:
- in a productive style - goodwill and trust;
- in the unproductive - aggression, resentment, irritation.
The nature of the functioning of the mechanism and isolation:
- in a productive style - optimal forms of identification and alienation;
- in the unproductive - extreme forms of identification and alienation.
The ancient Romans said that man is a social animal and, therefore, a person living in society depends on it. This means that he depends on other individuals with whom he enters into contacts, forming a kind of social community.
For social communication to occur, three components are required:
subjects of communication (from two or more people);
subject of communication (what the communication is about);
mechanism for regulating relationships.
If the subject of communication is absent, individuals do not contact each other and vice versa. For example, a guy is trying to meet a girl he likes. It depends on the girl how much she likes the subject and object of the connection. If she likes you, she gives you a phone number, agrees to a meeting, etc., in other words, she performs certain actions to implement social communication.
Social connections represent the dependence of people, realized through social action, carried out with a focus on other people, with the expectation of a corresponding response from the partner.
Social connections are divided into social interactions and social relationships. These are different concepts; moreover, in the sociological hierarchy, social relations are broader than social behavior, social action, social contact and social interaction. What are these concepts?
the most basic concept - animal behavior, i.e. physical movements of the body (eating, movement);
action– a movement that has a purpose and meaning (you pick berries to eat them);
social behavior– behavior oriented towards other people;
social action assumes a response from another person (a guy gives his girlfriend a diamond ring);
social contact– a pair of social actions;
social interaction(interaction) – sequence of social actions.
As a type of social connection, social interaction also means the dependence of people on each other: my further action depends on the response of my partner. However, this does not mean that partners must see each other or interact physically. In social terms, both pen pals and generals who are preparing for battle with the enemy interact. It is important that during interaction the mutual orientation of the partners towards each other and their response are taken into account. Spying on someone is not a social interaction unless the person being spied on knows it. Two competitors who deliberately ignore each other also interact socially, because they depend on each other and carry out their actions in the market in accordance with the actions of the competitor.
Social interactions are also based on social dependence. The problem of social dependence reflects two aspects: firstly, we can talk about dependencies that arise between people living in society, and secondly, about dependencies arising from the conscious influence of people on each other as representatives of society. The expression “A depends on B” in the first case means that A in his actions must take into account the existence of B, his duties and rights. In other words, dependence arises from common membership in an organized system. In the second case, this expression means that B can directly impose a certain way of behavior on A. In other words, in both cases, a person (or group) builds his behavior in accordance with these dependencies, behind which individuals stand.
The question quite naturally arises about the extent to which this dependence determines human behavior and consciousness. The Polish-Austrian sociologist L. Gumplowicz noted in his work “Foundations of Sociology” that the mistake of psychologists lies in the assumption that a person thinks. In this regard, they are always trying to find the source of thinking in the individual and determine why he thinks this way and not otherwise. However, it is not he who thinks in a person, but a social group, and the source of his thoughts lies not in him, but in the social environment in which he lives. This means that a person can only think in the way that the surrounding social environment forces him to think.
We can agree with L. Gumplowicz’s statement that personality is the result of interactions with social environment. And not only because it has a strong social impact on a person, but also because the integration of a person into the social environment provides him with comfortable life in the form of rewards and encouragements. Consequently, a person’s need to integrate into the social environment is not only a biological, psychological, but also a social necessity for his survival. This kind of interaction gives rise to territorial, national, linguistic, and professional communities.
However, these processes are associated not only with the changing interests and needs of the person himself, but also with the interests of the social environment in which he is included. For example, a worker studied by correspondence, received a higher education and moved to a higher social stratum; in this case we are talking about disintegration with representatives of the lower stratum. He became a manager, learned the behavior patterns of managers of his echelon (creativity, leadership, etc.) and actively demonstrates them - integration with representatives of the new stratum. If he doesn't do this, he won't be promoted.
So, social interactions - these are systematic, regular social actions of partners, aimed at each other, with the goal of causing a very specific response on the part of the partner, and the response generates a new reaction of the influencer.
Types of Social Interactions. They are divided into:
random (social contacts) – are not planned and are not repeated (the question of a random passer-by on how to get to BSEU). Social contact does not imply continuation or consequences: if the object (subject) of the connection is not liked, it can be replaced by another;
repetitive– not planned, but take place from time to time (meeting with a neighbor from another entrance);
regular– not planned, but very common, the question arises if interaction does not take place (daily meeting with a familiar student from another faculty);
normalized– are planned and regulated by tradition or law (labor and family relations, educational process at a university), always raise questions if they do not happen (a student skipped class).
Characteristics social interactions. The American scientist R. Rummel classifies interactions according to their meaning, direction, intensity, extensiveness, duration and degree of organization.
Meaning social interaction - understanding an individual's behavior as a specific action, act or practice.
Direction depends on how the partners’ actions are directed: in relation to each other or not, whether they include common interests, etc.
- solidary interactions– acts with joint intentions and partners’ orientation towards helping each other to realize these intentions (parental actions in raising children).
- antagonistic interactions occur when partners prevent each other from achieving their goal (two employees collecting dirt on each other in order to get a promotion).
Intensity (= depth) . Social interactions can be high intensity(deep, highly motivated interactions occur in marriage, organizing a strike, in war) and low intensity(take place when discussing what movie to watch, how to spend the weekend, etc.).
By degree extensiveness (= length) interactions can be extensive(wide) and limited(narrow). If interactions are aimed, for example, at winning an enemy in a war or winning an election, they are extensive. If they are limited to specific actions (who should wash the dishes after eating), then these are limited interactions.
Duration : interactions can be long-lasting (family relationships) And short-lived(picnic outside the city).
By degree organization interactions can wear organized character, if they are regulated by the laws and norms of society (the activities of trade unions, the educational process) and unorganized(preparing for an outing, deciding to run away from a lecture).
In general, social interactions have different combinations of characteristics. They can be solidary, intense, short, limited and unorganized (sexual relations), antagonistic, intense, extensive, long and organized (war), etc.
These characteristics were also used by P. Sorokin to identify 3 types of interactions (in Russian-language literature: relationships): family type (interactions are total, extensive, intense, consistent in direction and long-lasting, internal unity of group members); contract type (the relations of the parties interacting within the framework of the agreement are limited in time and aimed at obtaining mutual benefit or “as much as possible for less”); forced type (antagonism of relationships with various forms of coercion: economic, physical, psychological, etc.). The transition from one type to another can occur smoothly or unpredictably. Mixed types of social relationships are often observed in society.
Levels withsocial interactions. When analyzing social interactions, three levels are distinguished. Interpersonal interactions can be represented by an interaction between two individuals ( dyad or pair); between three individuals ( triad ); between one individual and many (for example, actor - audience); between many, many individuals (buyers - sellers). In interactions at the interpersonal level, factors associated with the attitudes and orientations of the subjects of interaction play an important role. Subjects also predetermine the nature of interactions, since the formation of attitudes and value orientations is associated with the processes of socialization of individuals and their assimilation of social experience. Interpersonal interactions are largely determined by mental and physiological factors, which is associated with the fact of direct communication between subjects and the nature of their social behavior.
Group interactions represent a higher level of interaction in which the social attitudes of the group and the values shared by the majority or almost all members of the group are manifested. Their subjects are not individuals, but groups. Group interactions can also be observed (clashes between classes - the bourgeoisie and the proletariat, ethnic groups in Yugoslavia - Serbs and Croats) and their nature can be empirically recorded, the type of relations between groups can be determined, etc.
Societal interactions (community and society level) are often called social relations. They are difficult to observe because... subjects of interaction (countries) may not be in direct contact. If countries are at war or cooperate, these interactions can be observed and recorded in the form of political, economic treaties, etc. At this level of relations, different laws operate. They are presented in the form of culture, morality, and law, which give interactions a normalized character.
Indeed, social interactions often serve as the basis for social relations– relations between people as representatives of social groups and social institutions. Based on this, it can be argued that group interactions can also be considered social relationships. Social relations is a stable system of normalized interactions between subjects based on a specific platform (i.e., an interest or goal that the united people want to achieve). For example, institutions of coercion (court, prison) are created with the aim of maintaining public order, punishing those who do not want to obey moral and legal norms, and who encroach on public values (spiritual or material).
Isolating individual social actions is very useful when studying with social processes. At the same time, even simple observation shows that social action rarely occurs in a single, isolated form. In fact, people are connected to each other by thousands of invisible threads and depend on each other. Dependence arises in cases when each of us can say about ourselves: “Specific objects, values, conditions (and we can talk about both material and moral values), which are required to me, are in his disposal."
It can be elementary, direct dependence on parents, friends, colleagues, or it can be complex, indirect. The latter include the dependence of our individual lives on the level of development of society, the effectiveness of the economic system, the efficiency political system etc. Social life arises, reproduces and develops precisely due to the presence of dependencies between people, because it is they who create the preconditions for the interaction of people with each other.
In the case when dependence is realized through a specific social action, we can talk about the emergence social connection . Social communication, no matter what form it takes, has a complex structure. But it is always possible to identify the main elements in it: the subjects of communication, the subject of communication and, most importantly, the “rules of the game” by which this connection or the mechanism of conscious regulation of relationships between subjects is carried out.
Social connection appears in the form of social contact and social interaction. Let us take a closer look at these phenomena.
Every day each of us enters into huge amount social contacts: a random passerby asks us how to get to such and such a street, we go into the store and ask the seller to give us the goods we need. We encounter people at work, in transport, at university. Without thinking, we pass by people, but we constantly remember their existence. This is reflected in a change in our behavior in the presence of other people: talking out loud to ourselves alone is not so rare occurrence, but on the street we do the same mentally, “to ourselves” and only because there are others next to us.
Contacts can be sporadic (as in a situation with a random passer-by) or regular (with the saleswoman of “your” store). We can join them as individuals or representatives of a team or institution.
Despite all their diversity, social contacts have common features. During contact, the connection is superficial, fleeting. The contact partner is fickle, random, and can be easily replaced (you may also be served by another saleswoman; you can find out what time it is, if not from this person, then from another passerby). The expectation and orientation towards the other for each of the partners does not extend further than this social contact (having satisfied the curiosity of the passer-by regarding the route, we part without trying to renew contact).
In other words, social contact is a fleeting, short-term connection in which there is no system of associated actions in relation to the partner. This does not mean that social contacts are unimportant and insignificant in our lives: a quarrel with another passenger on a tram or a conflict with an inattentive cashier can significantly determine our well-being. But still, they do not form the leading basis of our social life, its foundation.
The leading importance is social interaction - systematic, fairly regular social actions of partners, aimed at each other, with the goal of a very specific (expected) response on the part of the partner, which generates a new reaction of the influencer. We are talking about the exchange of actions that are mutually related. It is these moments: the conjugacy of the systems of action of both partners, the recurrence of actions and their coordination, a stable interest in the response actions of one’s partner - that distinguish social interaction from a single social contact
A striking example of interaction - educational process. Each teacher, preparing for classes, selects material, mentally imagining, predicting the reaction of students: will they be interested in certain questions, will the examples given reveal the essence of the problem posed, etc. During classes, students behave differently depending on how important they consider a given subject for their professional training, and how interesting, intelligible and convincing the teacher presents his material. Some work with interest, with passion, others are not very interested in the subject, but they also try to work in order to avoid possible troubles, while others do not hide their lack of interest in the subject, mind their own business or do not attend classes at all. The teacher records, “catches” the current situation and, preparing for a new meeting with students, adjusts his actions taking into account past experience.
As you can see, in the above example there is a main characteristic feature social interaction - deep and close coordination of the system of actions of partners regarding the subject of social communication - study.
Social interactions come in three main options: social relations, social institutions and social communities. Let's give brief description each of them.
Social relations is a stable system of interaction between partners, which is distinguished by the fact that relationships are established according to to a wide circle phenomena and have a long-term, systematic, self-renewing nature. This feature applies to both interpersonal and intergroup relations. When we talk, for example, about interethnic relations, we mean an established, recurring connection between ethnic entities across a fairly wide range of interactions (we are, as a rule, talking about political, economic, and cultural ties).
The concept “” captures the fact that the process of satisfying basic human needs is to a greater or lesser extent guaranteed against randomness, sporadicity, that it is predictable, reliable, and regular. Any social institution arises and functions as the interaction of groups of people regarding the implementation of a certain social need. If such a need, due to some circumstances, becomes insignificant or completely disappears, then the existence of the institution turns out to be meaningless. It may still function for some time due to inertia or as a tribute to tradition, but in most cases it disappears.
The birth and death of a social institution is clearly illustrated by the example of the institution of noble duels of honor. The duel was an institutionalized method of settling relations between nobles for three centuries. It arose due to the need to protect the honor of the nobleman and streamline relations between representatives of this social stratum.
Initially, quarrels and duels occurred spontaneously, by chance, but gradually a certain system of procedures emerged that regulated the behavior of all participants in duels, distributing roles between them (duelists, manager, seconds, medic). This institution provided for strict adherence to rules and norms in situations of honor protection. But with the development of industrial society, ethical standards also changed, which made it unnecessary to defend noble honor with weapons in hand, as a result of which this institution is gradually dying out. An example of its decline is the absurd choice of dueling weapons A. Lincoln: He suggested throwing potatoes at the enemy from a distance of twenty meters.
From the above example it is clear that the institutionalization of social connections presupposes:
· formation of common goals for interacting subjects;
· appearance social norms and rules, as well as procedures for their implementation;
· establishing a system of sanctions that stimulate desirable behavior and discourage and deter undesirable behavior;
· clear distribution of functions, rights and responsibilities of participants in interaction, creation of a system of statuses and roles, as a result of which individual behavior within the institution is more predictable;
· impersonality of requirements for those who are involved in the activities of the institute; status and role expectations for each object are presented as instructions for a given institution;
· division of labor and professionalization in the performance of functions.
The above makes it obvious that the more developed, streamlined and effective social institutions are, the more stable and sustainable the development of society will be. Particularly dramatic periods are marked in the development of a particular society, when there is a transformation of the main social institutions, when the rules and norms that underlie the functioning of each institution change. In essence, we are talking about reconsidering basic value systems. For example, in our society the institution of property is being renewed.
If yesterday Russians did not own, did not manage property, were controlled, but had a guaranteed minimum standard of living, today many want to own, manage, take risks and at the same time have only a chance to live prosperously and independently. Naturally, not all participants in social interaction regarding property perceive the established institution of property in the same way, hence the inconsistency, severity, and drama of the formation of new stable norms in this area. The same can be said about the institutions of the army, family, education, etc.
A characteristic feature of such social interaction as social communities, is that they arise from the need for solidarity and coordination of joint actions. The basis of social community is a person’s desire for the benefits that come from combining efforts. Individuals who form united forms of social interaction can qualitatively increase the effectiveness of individual actions, the ability to improve, defend their interests, and survive. Based on the types of communication (social contacts and social interactions), two main types of social communities can be distinguished - these are social circles, i.e. people between whom there are contacts, communication, and social groups, which are based on the exchange of related, coordinated systems of actions regarding the coordination of joint efforts, unification, and solidarity.
Modern society demonstrates a huge diversity of social groups, which is due to the variety of tasks for which these groups were formed. More details about the types, types and methods of functioning various groups can be found in other sections of this manual. In the meantime, it is important for us to note that the desire for solidarity and joint efforts means the emergence of shared expectations of each member of the community regarding the other: for example, from your neighbor down the street, whom you meet from time to time, you expect one type of behavior, and from your loved ones, members family is different. Violation of these expectations can lead to mismatch, depression, and conflicts.
The variety of social interactions makes it necessary their typology. First of all, social interactions can be divided according to the following criterion: as the nature of the action.
In accordance with it, we obtain the following types:
· physical interaction;
· verbal interaction;
· sign or symbolic interaction.
In addition, sociologists distinguish between social interactions by methods, with the help of which partners agree on their goals and means of achieving them. In connection with this criterion, two of the most general type interactions - cooperation and competition (sometimes in the sociological literature you can find another division - cooperation, competition and conflict). Cooperation involves the interrelated actions of individuals aimed at achieving common goals, with benefits for all parties. Interaction based on rivalry is based on attempts to remove and suppress an opponent striving for identical goals.
Finally, interactions can be studied using micro and macro level. In the first case we are dealing with interpersonal interactions, in the second - with the existence of social relations and institutions. It should be noted that in any given social context elements of both levels are combined. Everyday communication family members is carried out at the micro level. At the same time, the family is social institution, studied at the macro level.
So social interaction is special kind social connection, which is characterized by the actions of social partners based on mutual expectations of a response. This means that everyone, in their interaction with another, can predict (with varying degrees of probability) his behavior. Consequently, there are certain “rules of the game” that are observed to one degree or another by all participants in social interaction, otherwise it is either impossible at all or ineffective.
Therefore, it is necessary to find out how and by what means people’s relationships are regulated in the process of social interaction.