The Role of Social Interactions in Social Psychology

The Role of Social Interactions in Social Psychology

Social interactions can be defined as certain forms of externalities, in which the activities of a reference group influence an individual’s preferences. Social interactions can also refer to practices, acts or actions of two or more people jointly concerned with each other’s selves; any behavior that takes into account or tries to affect each other’s personal intentions or experiences (Baron, Byrne, & Branscombe, 2008). In social interactions, involved parties must bear in mind each other’s self. For instance, army commanders preparing war plan against their enemies or friends writing letters to each other are forms of social interactions; regardless of such actions not being directly physical or in sight. This means that social interaction exists despite there being no physical behavior involved; for instance, when competitors intentionally ignore each other’s professional work.

On the other hand, according to Suls, “social psychology is the scientific field that aims to understand the nature and causes of individual behavior in social situations” (Baron, Byrne, & Suls, 2000). As a scientific study, social psychology aims at understanding the causes and nature of individual thought and behavior in the social situation. It investigates the means by which our actions, thoughts, and feelings are influenced by the social environments in which we live (Baron, Byrne, & Branscombe, 2008).

Social interactions assist in shaping how we act and who we are in various situations (Baron, Byrne, & Suls, 2000). The factors affecting social interactions can be classified into five main categories. They include, biological factors, basic cognitive processes, characteristics and actions of others, cultural context, and ecological variables (Hockenbury & Hockenbury, 2006). The aim of this paper, therefore, is to illustrate the role of social interactions in social psychology and also explain the various aspects of social interactions.

 

From childhood to adulthood, social interactions can be termed to be among the key factors in predicting the well-being and physical health of an individual. As soon as children are born, they have no idea whatsoever on what to expect from their surrounding environment. Among the first things that children come into contact with are social interaction and influences from their parents and caregivers (Hockenbury & Hockenbury, 2006). Regardless of other people’s thoughts and opinions, parents teach their children the sense of “self”. At first, children often find themselves placed in their parents’ situations and more so in the circle of their parents’ friends-those the parents interact with. This forms the genesis of the cycle of social interaction whereby these friends either like or dislike the child.  However, as the child grows, they develop an interest in interacting and playing with other children (Kowalski & Westen, 2009). Playing with others inculcates in children suitable social mannerisms such as respecting other people’s property, cooperation, and sharing etc. In addition, peer interaction, especially among young children, enables them to learn motor, communication, and cognitive skills (Hockenbury & Hockenbury, 2006).

It is during playtime that most opportunities for social interactions manifest themselves among young children. The development of appropriate social skills is enhanced when children are accorded an opportunity to play with others (Kowalski & Westen, 2009). Teachers in integrated preschools need to use play as a part of instruction especially by encouraging non-disabled pupils to play together with the disabled pupils (Baron, Byrne, & Suls, 2000). This, in turn, enables the disabled child to develop a sense of belonging as well as learn age-appropriate social skills and the able-bodied pupils to acquire a positive attitude towards people living with disabilities due to the friendship created during the playtime (Kowalski & Westen, 2009).

 

Inferences, perception, and memory (cognitive processes) play a major role in understanding the behavior of every person in the community. The reminiscences of other’s past behavior and the inference of such behaviors by an individual, strongly influence the response or reaction of the individual towards various situations.

To better understand the reasons behind a person’s behavior in a social situation, it is important to first understand his/her thinking pattern and secondly to comprehend the process of others, when they behave in a certain social situation (Baron, Byrne, & Suls, 2000). For instance, if a husband sets up a date with his wife at 7:00pm at White Rhino Hotel, the wife is to wait for him to turn up at that specific time and place. However, if the husband is late for 2hours, then the wife’s reaction will be negative for example, angry, disappointed, hateful etc. In such cases, therefore, the social thoughts and social behavior of every person are heavily influenced by the cognitive processes. A research on how individuals perceive, contemplate, and remember information about others has a tremendous effect on understanding human social behavior.

Ervin Goffman in his book, “The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life”, articulates his opinions on social interaction by analyzing the various chief aspects that express a person’s role and mannerism through the act of self-expression before others (Goffman, 2002). Goffman further relates the difference between “the expression that he gives off and the expression that he gives”, elucidating that the two perceptions involve significantly differing activities, but both provide a way in which other people develop an impression of the individual (Goffman, 2002). To some extent, every person has the control to conduct themselves according to how they want to be perceived by others, influence other people’s impressions about them, as well as set the course in which other people will react towards them. Goffman noted that specific aspects of “self” are conveyed via various human acts which are, in most cases, contrived, manipulated and strategic.

During a social encounter, a person can emphasize, exaggerate or hide some aspects from the audience (Goffman, 2002). Such pre-formulated actions of a person are important for the good of specific social situations bearing in mind that total honesty at times can lead to uneasiness and disruptions.

The utilization of techniques and practices to avoid offensive situations and embarrassment are referred to as “tact” or “defensive practices” by Goffman (Goffman, 2002). For instance, an individual will tend to have an open mind and use a neutral perspective when having a political discussion with people of the opposing party unlike the way s/he would be conversing with other people who share the same ideologies and are affiliated to the same political party. According to his observation, Goffman refers to the impression or image that a person gives off to the addressees as a “script”. The “script” as employed by the individual, is influenced by many factors which are subjected to advanced scrutiny by the individual (Goffman, 2002). Goffman notes that the individual tends to exemplify and incorporate societal norms whenever they appear before others (Goffman, 2002). For instance, the social stratification, the role being aspired to by the individual, the society and placing of the interaction are among the facets affecting the script. The above elements act as stage directions, cues, and hints to the individual on the appropriate behavior that is anticipated of them by the society.

In a nutshell, peer pressure in social interaction, especially during play, influences children to do either right or wrong for them to “fit in the group”. Likewise, adults are constantly worrying about how others perceive them and such thoughts and worries alter their behavior for them to fit in. Social influences exist in all spheres of life be it in the books, television, the internet, and above all in others. During interactions with things and people, it is important to bear in mind the fact that the influence of others is weaker than the personality already instilled in us.

It is, therefore, necessary for adults to remind children of their importance and that they are loved by those who interact with them; this is essential since the children are discovering who they are and where they fit in. Otherwise, what they turn out to be in future should not be defined by social influences.

 

The Aspects of Social Interactions

There are many aspects of social interaction, however, due to the limitation of this paper, I will dwell on the main facets. These are cooperation, accommodation, assimilation, competition and conflict (Sutherland, 1996).

 

Cooperation.

It is among the basic processes in the society. Fairchild defined cooperation as the process by which groups or individuals combine their power in a relatively organized way for the achievement of a mutual objective (Doshi, 1999). Cooperation involves the coming together of two or more people or groups working together so as to accomplish similar goals (Sharma, 1997). It is due to the struggles in life that necessitates cooperation among individuals and groups. Social interaction is affected significantly by cooperation in that whenever individuals share common goals which they cannot be able to achieve they combine their power to realize those goals. In this process there must be some form of social interaction. Kropotkin observes that due to its importance, no single society can exist without cooperation (Maclver, MacIver, & Page, 2003).

Cooperation is both a social and psychological requirement for human beings, especially for both male and female, in ensuring continuity of mankind. Lack of cooperation may lead one to live a life of misery and solitude (Sharma, 1997).

People aspire for a progressive lifestyle. Continuous progress can never be achieved without embracing cooperation. The spirit of cooperation among people and nations has meaningfully contributed to the exceptional advancement in transport, and communication, science and technology, agriculture and industry. Thus, cooperation is not only necessary for the social interaction between individuals but also amongst nations.

 

Accommodation

As Maclver and Page say, “the term accommodation refers particularly to the process in which man attains sense of harmony with his environment” (Maclver, MacIver, & Page, 2003). Accommodation thus, refers to the process of social adjustment. It occurs when an adjustment between people allows harmonious behavior in the society. A person attains accommodation when s/he acquires attitudes, habits and mannerisms conveyed to them socially. Adjustment is the process whereby groups and individuals alter the changed circumstances so as to conquer their difficulties (Maclver, MacIver, & Page, 2003). For instance, whenever there is a new situation in the society, people normally adjust the situation or themselves so as to adapt to the new environment. Park and Burgess state that societal organization among human beings is mainly the consequence of accommodation of conflicting components (Park & Burgess, 2007). Conflict is a reality of life, however, it is never permanent. Thus, conflicting individuals or groups reach a consensus ending the conflict. This agreement is simply referred to as accommodation.

Accommodation generally has many facets which include subordination, rationalizing, tolerance, conversion, arbitration and compromise among others. It thus makes individuals or groups to interact socially by coercion since one or both parties do not have a choice other than to cooperate (Park & Burgess, 2007).

Accommodation is equally important in the society similar to cooperation since its absence brings about conflict which in turn leads to the disruption of social stability, integration and order.

Accommodation minimizes or controls conflict as well as empowering individuals and groups to adapt to new conditions in the society. It is for this reason that Burgess notes that, “Social organization is the sum total of accommodation to past and present situations. All the social heritages, traditions, sentiments, culture, techniques are accommodations…” (Park & Burgess, 2007). Due to its closeness to conflict and cooperation, accommodation is necessary if social harmony is to be achieved.

 

Assimilation

Ogburn and Nimkoff describe assimilation as the process whereby individuals or groups once dissimilar become similar, that it becomes identified in the interests and outlook (Ogburn & Nimkoff, 1992).  According to Park and Burgess, “Assimilation is a process of interpenetration and fusion in which individuals and groups acquire the attitudes and values of other persons or groups, and by sharing their experience and history, are incorporated with them in a common cultural life” (Park & Burgess, 2007). In social interaction, assimilation stipulates the disappearance of cultural disparities between diverse groups of people. The assimilated individuals act, feel and think in the same way as they internalize foreign attitudes, common traditions and subsequently adopt the new cultural identity (Ogburn & Nimkoff, 1992). However, assimilation is not limited to culture as is evidenced when husbands and wives with differing upbringings often develop an unanticipated unity of purpose and interest. The process of assimilation is slow and gradual in that quite some time is required before groups or individuals can be converted from being divergent to similar.

During assimilation, acculturation- borrowing some or all cultural elements from other people and incorporating them into their own- process takes place. Although the process of assimilation certainly affects both groups, it is usual that the weaker society (in terms of culture) will borrow more and contribute less to the stronger group (Sharma, 1997). A merger of two cultures necessitates that the main culture becomes the mutual culture for the two. Assimilation as an aspect of social interaction is promoted by cultural similarity, amalgamation, equal economic opportunity, toleration, common physical traits, and close social contact (Argyle, 2009). On the other hand, it is hindered by the following elements: cultural differences, domination and subordination, prejudice, physical differences, isolation, sense of superiority and inferiority.

Competition

Sutherland, Woodword and Maxwell state that, “Competition is an impersonal, unconscious, continuous straggle between individuals and groups for satisfaction which, because of their limited supply, all may not have” (Sutherland, 1996). Based on the above definition by Sunderland et al competition is the central form of social struggle. Competition arises as a result of scarce resources which most if not all individuals endeavor to acquire. In the words of Ogburn and Nimkoff, competition thrives when demand outweighs supply (Ogburn & Nimkoff, 1992).

Money, power, fame, status, name, glory, luxuries etc. are among the topmost things that people compete for. Scarcity is another reality in life and as such, competition can never lack in any given society (Ogburn & Nimkoff, 1992). For instance, there are so many graduates from universities and colleges in Kenya, however, the job market does not match up the number and thus there is a lot of competition for employment.

Those employed are also in competition with others for better paying jobs so that they can be in a position to attain the above topmost scarce things.

Characteristics of competition can be derived by analyzing the various definitions. The most prominent facets are that competition is a continuous process, impersonal, universal, and an unconscious activity. Competition is universal and as such it is manifested in various forms. The various forms of competition are political, cultural, economic, racial, social competition etc (Sutherland, 1996).

H.T. Mazumdar noted both the negative and positive functions of competition in the society (Doshi, 1999). Positively, competition is conducive to progress, is a source of motivation and ensures that the right individuals are assigned to the right positions in the society. In contrast the negative aspect of competition may lead to conflict, monopoly and even frustration. It is therefore important to maintain a healthy and fair competition at all cost to avoid the negatives.

 

Conflict

According to J.H. Fitcher, “Conflict is the social process in which individual or groups seek their ends by directly challenging the antagonist by violence or threat of violence” (Doshi, 1999). It is similar to competition since they are both disintegrative or dissociative social processes. Often, conflict results when the attention of rivals is averted from the object of competition to themselves. The contrasting aspect between conflict and competition is that the former achieves goals by weakening or eliminating the adversaries. Conflict deliberately attempts to coerce, oppose or resist the will of others or another (Sharma, 1997). Simply put, conflict is a competition in its hostile personal and occasional forms.

Conflict is part and parcel of humanity and thus a significant form of social process. It is characterized by being a conscious activity, universal process, intermittent process, and a personal activity (Argyle, 2009). Although conflict is universal, it is not known when it originated or what actually causes it. However, numerous thinkers have tried to explain the valid reasons of conflict.

Charles Darwin, an eminent biologist argued that, the principle of struggle for existence and survival of the fittest are the key foundations of conflict. Malthus an eminent economist and mathematician stated that conflict arises only when there is shortage of food or means of subsistence. According to him, the increase of population in geometrical progression and the means of subsistence in arithmetical progression is the main cause of conflict between the people. Freud and some other psychologists noted that, the origin of conflict lies in man’s inmate or inborn aggressive tendency (Argyle, 2009).

Differences in interest of individuals, ideologies, aspirations, and attitudes of people lead to conflicts. Since no human being is precisely identical to another, then conflict is due to arise especially if people do not accommodate each other (Sharma, 1997). A change in the society may also propagate conflict. For example, the new generation may conflict with the older generation whenever there is a social change whereby the former embraces while the latter lags behind. The rapid change in moral norms of a community, desires, hopes, and demands of man can also be attributed to the rise of conflicts. For instance, since the ancient days, it was mandatory for children to respect and obey their parents. However, today’s generation is rebellious to such moral norms and as such there is more parent-child conflict that ever before.

There are numerous ways in which conflict exists based on varying schools of thought and authors (Argyle, 2009). The most common types of conflict include indirect conflict, latent, litigation, conflict of impersonal ideals, personal and corporate conflict, feuds, war, direct conflict, and overt conflict among others.

Conflict has both its merits and demerits in the society. The merits of conflict are that it changes the relative status of the conflicting parties, leads to redefinition of value system, promotes solidarity and fellow feeling, acts as a cementing factor in the establishment of intimate relations, and enlarges the victorious group (Sharma, 1997). On the other hand, the negative functions of conflict are that it causes a lot of psychological and moral damage, causes social confusion, chaos, and disorder, disrupts social unity and cohesion (Sharma, 1997).

 

In conclusion, social interaction has very many aspects with the most prominent being cooperation, accommodation, assimilation, competition and conflict. As discussed above, these aspects contribute significantly to how human beings tend to interact with others and subsequently how such interaction influences them psychologically.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

References

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Doshi, S. L., & Jain, P. C. (1999). Rural sociology. Jaipur: Rawat Publications.

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