May 3, 2022 3:00 PM (GMT+1)

<aside> 💡 inter-personal:  comes from the Latin words inter meaning (prep., adv.) "among, between, in the midst of" and persona "human being, person, character”.

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’Society is neither an aggregate of individuals nor a macro-level structure; it is a series of face-to-face encounters.’ Discuss.

Reading List

• You absolutely must read at least one book by Goffman and one by Collins.
• George H. Mead, ’The Social Self’, Journal of Philosophy, Psychology and Scientific Methods 10, 1913.
• Erving Goffman, The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life, 1959. (One of the most cited books in social science! Chances are you will cite it some day.)
• Randall Collins, Interaction Ritual Chains, 2004.

Psychologist might say:

Interpersonal Relations denotes relations between a few, often between two, people. [It is about how] one person thinks and feels about another person, how he/she/they perceives him/her/them and what he/she/they does to him/her/them, what he/she/they expects him/her/them to do or think, how he/she/they reacts to the actions of the other. (see Heider, 1958) (...)

The discussion will center on the person as the basic unit to be investigated. That is to say, the two-person group and its properties as a superindividual unit will not be the focus of attention. (Heider, 1958)

Sociologist says:

“two or more individuals are physically in one another’s presence” – Goffman, 1983

Interpersonal relations or interactions cannot be solely described by concentrating on one participant of a dyadic or polyadic interaction/relationship. The action of one individual (with another) must be studied within the social context and the relation to and interaction with others.