SOC100H5 Lecture Notes - Lecture 4: Arlie Russell Hochschild, Flight Attendant, Role Conflict
1 Chapter 4: Fro “ocial Iteractio to “ocial Orgaizatios
FEMINIST THEORY & SOCIAL INTERACTION
❖ Introduction
o Men are more likely to engage in long monologues and interrupt when others are talking, and are less
likely to ask for help or directions bc in doing so would imply a reduction in their authority.
o Social interaction- involves ppl communicating face to face or via computer, acting and reacting in
relation to other ppl. It is structured around norms, roles, and statuses.
▪ Feminist sociologists see that gender often structures interaction patterns.
o If we define status as a recognized social position, it is true that ppl w/ higher status (men) get more
laughs, whereas ppl w/ lower status (women) laugh more. (social structures influence who laughs more)
o Social statuses are 1/3 building blocks that structure all social interactions. Others are roles and norms.
▪ A role is a set of expected behaviours. Whereas ppl occupy a status, they perform a role.
▪ A norm is a generally accepted way of doing things.
• Classroom norms r imposed by instructor who punish class clowns for distracting others.
o Role conflict- when diff role demands are placed on a person by 2/ more statuses held at same time.
o A person occupies several positions/ statuses at the same time.
▪ Ex, mother, wife, and flight attendant.
▪ these statuses together form a status set, each status composed of several sets of behaviours/roles
▪ A role set is a cluster of roles attached to a single status.
• Ex, a wife is supposed to act as an intimate companion to her husband and to assume
certain legal responsibilities as co-owner of a home.
o Role strain- occurs when incompatible role demands are placed on a person in a single status.
▪ Flight attendants were required by their employers to be slim and single and sexually available.
❖ Social Structure and Emotions
o An external disturbance causes a reaction that ppl experience involuntarily.
▪ Ex, a bear attack that causes us to experience fear, we can’t control how our body responds
o Feminists first noted that the flaw in the view that emotional responses are involuntary.
▪ Seeing how women, as status subordinates, must control their emotions.
▪ Emotions don’t just happen to us, we manage them.
• If bear attacks you, you can run as fast as possible or calm yourself and play dead/pray.
• You will also temper your fear w/ a new emotion: hope.
o When ppl manage their emotions, they follow certain cultural “scripts” like the culturally transmitted
knowledge that lying down and playing dead gives you a better chance of survival.
▪ If ppl don’t succeed in achieving the culturally appropriate emotional response, they feel guilt.
o Arlie Hochschild is a leading figure in the study of emotion management- involves ppl obeying “feeling
rules” and responding appropriately to the situations in which they find themselves.
▪ We have conventional expectations about what we should feel, how much, for how long and w/
whom we should share those feelings. (norms and rules govern our emotional life.
❖ Emotional Labour
o Hochschild distinguishes emotion management (which ppl do everyday) from emotional labour (which
ppl do as a part of their job and for which they are paid).
▪ Teachers deal w/ students who hand in late assignments, talk back.. they do emotional labour.
▪ Nurses, sales clerks, flight attendants are experts in emotional labour; they spend a considerable
part of their workday dealing w/ other ppl’s misbehaviour. (anger, rudeness..)
o Estimates that in the US, half of women jobs and one fifth of men jobs involve substantial amounts of
emotional labour, bc women are typically better socialized to undertake caring/ nurturing roles.
o As focus of economy shifts from production of goods to services, the market for emotional labour grows.
o We think of our interactions as outcomes of our emotional states.
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
2 Chapter 4: Fro “ocial Iteractio to “ocial Orgaizatios
▪ We interact differently w/ ppl depending on whether they love us, make us angry or laugh.
▪ But, emotions are not involuntary/ uncontrollable as ppl think.
o Norms, roles and statuses require a “social cement” to prevent them from falling apart and to turn them
into a durable social structure.
CONFLICT THEORIES OF SOCIAL INTERACTION
❖ Competing for Attention
o Maintaining interaction requires that both parties’ need for attention is met.
o Ppl don’t try to monopolize conversations. Taking turns is a basic norms that govern conversations.
o Charles Derber recorded 1500 conversations; concluded that North Americans try to turn conversations
toward themselves in ways that go unnoticed.
▪ the typical conversation is a covert competition for attention, but not a winner-take-all
competition. Unless both ppl receive some attention, the interaction is likely to cease.
❖ Interaction as Competition and Exchange
o Derber’s analysis is influenced by conflict theory, which holds that social interaction involves
competition over valued resources.
▪ Such sources include attention, approval, prestige, information, money..
o According to conflict theorists, competitive interaction involves ppl seeking to gain the most- socially,
emotionally, economically- while paying the least.
o The greater the inequality of payoffs to interacting parties, the greater the chance that conflict will erupt
and lead to a breakdown in the interaction.
▪ Thus, conflict never lies below the surface of competitive social interactions marked by
substantial inequality.
SYMBOLIC INTERACTION THEORY AND SOCIAL INTERACTION
❖ Introduction
o Ppl act in ways they consider fair/ just, even if that does not maximize their personal gain.
o Social life is rich. (selfishness & conflict are not the only bases of social interaction)
o When ppl behave fairly, they are interacting w/ others based on norms they have learned; must act justly
and help ppl in need even if it costs a lot to do so.
o According to Mead, the first step to learn norms is to “take the role of the other”.
▪ We interpret other ppl’s words and nonverbal signals to understand how they see us, and we
adjust our behaviour to fit their expectations about how we have to behave.
o Ppl learn norms, roles, statuses actively and creatively, not passively and mechanically.
❖ Goffman’s Dramaturgical Analysis
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
30
SOC100H5 Full Course Notes
Verified Note
30 documents
