Types of Social Interaction

Exchange

Exchange: individuals, groups or societies interact in an effort to receive a reward or a return for their actions

Dating, friendship, family life, politics all involve exchanges

Reciprocity

Exchange theory:

Theorists believe that people are motivated by self-interests in their interactions with other people

Competition

Two or more persons or groups oppose each other to achieve a goal that only one can attain

Feature of western socieities

Capitalist economic system

Democratic forms of government

Viewed by sociologists as a positive means of motivating people to perform society's needed roles

Negative side: can lead to psychological stress, lack of cooperation in social relationships, inequality, and even conflict

Conflict

Deliberate attempt to control by force, oppose, harm or resist the will of another person or persons

Few rules of conduct and these are often ignored

Range from deliberate snubbing to the killing of an enemy

Positive: serves useful purposes to reinforce group boundaries and strengthen loyalty by focusing attention on an outside threat; draws attention away from internal problems; can lead to social change by bringing problems to the forefront

Sociologist Georg Simmel identified four sources of conflict:

1. Wars

2. Conflicts within groups

3. Legal disputes

4. Clashes over ideology: religion or politics

Cooperation

Two or more persons or groups work together to achieve a goal that will benefit many people

Social progress that gets things done

No group can complete its tasks or achieve its goals without cooperation from its members

May motivate members to work harder for the group

Accommodation

State of balance between cooperation and conflict

Different forms of accommodation:

Compromise: two or more parties both give up something to come to a mutual agreement

Truce: brings a halt to the conflict until a compromise can be reached

Mediation: third party who acts as an adviser and/or counselor in helping the two parties reach an agreement

Arbitration: third party decision maker that is binding on both parties

Formal Organization

Structure

Formal Organization: a large, complex secondary group that has been established to achieve specific goals

Bureaucracy: ranked authority structure that operates according to specific rules and procedures

Rationalization: process by which every feature of human behavior becomes subject to calculations, measurement and control

Weber’s Model of Bureaucracies

Division of Labor

Ranking of Authority

Employment based on formal qualifications

Rules and Regulation

Specific Lines of Promotion and advancement

Criticisms of Bureaucracies

Purpose of bureaucracies becomes self-continuation

Goals of individual may be lost

Continue to exist with very little change, regardless of particular problems

Individuals develop bureaucratic personalities

‘Red Tape’

Tendency to result in OLIGARCHIES

Iron Law of Oligarchy by Robert Michels tendency to become increasingly dominated

Relationships in Formal Organizations

Effective?

Offer reasonable prices for production volumes

Clearly define job tasks and rewards

Provide stability, individuals come and go but organization continues

Ineffective?

Way to large to coordinate people to achieve large-scale goals

Purpose: Self-continuation and goals of individuals may be lost