Deck 12: Symbolic Interaactionism and Dramaturgy

Question 1

When our natural capacity to engage in emotion work is sold for a wage and bought to serve the profit motive, we are experiencing according to Hochschild

A) rationalization of the self.
B) alienation.
C) commodification of feelings.
D) emotional labor.

Answer 1

C

Question 2

Which of the following would not be considered a total institution by Goffman?

A) prisons
B) monasteries
C) public schools
D) the military

Answer 2

C

Question 3

The process of killing off the multiple selves possessed prior to one's entrance into the total institution is termed

A) impression management.
B) emotional labor.
C) mortifications of self.
D) emotion work.

Answer 3

C

Question 4

Goffman suggests that the definition of the situation is based often on a "working consensus." By this he means that

A) actors conceal their immediate feelings and want in order to maintain a surface of agreement.
B) actors feel free to express themselves honestly and candidly.
C) it is virtually impossible to alter the prevailing definition of the situation.
D) the self is divided between the "character" and the "performer."

Question 5

Which scholar originally coined the term symbolic interactionism in 1937?

A) Erving Goffman
B) Herbert Blumer
C) George Herbert Mead
D) Arlie Hochschild

Question 6

What Hochschild labeled the organismic model, focuses on

A) the role of social processes in shaping self-consciousness.
B) how emotions are rooted in an individual's biological or psychological makeup.
C) how emotions interact systematically similar to organs within a body.
D) the role of cognitive processes in forming conceptions of the self.

Question 7

Durkheim influenced Warner, who in turn influenced Goffman's interest in exploring

A) the economic division of labor in interaction within modern societies.
B) the increased rationalization of interaction in modern societies.
C) the fetishism and fad of interaction embodied in modern societies.
D) the rituals that structure social life in modern societies.

Question 8

In The Managed Heart Hochschild connects emotive experiences to

A) social structures such as institutions and interaction.
B) modern economic positions based on division of labor.
C) introspective cognitive processes individuals and small groups.
D) gender identity and emotional inequality between men and women.

Question 9

Goffman differed from William I. Thomas when discussing the definition of the situation in that Goffman believes

A) definitions are largely the work of an individual's efforts.
B) definitions are largely due to subjective processes of examination and deliberation.
C) definitions are largely a matter of convention built into situations themselves.
D) definitions are largely constructed by via introspective cognitive processes.

Question 10

Goffman defines secondary adjustments as

A) attempts on the part of an individual to play a fictitious role like an actor on a stage.
B) the "real" self that appears backstage.
C) a second attempt on the part of actors to reduce feelings of embarrassment after a situation has broken down.
D) distancing practices used to preserve an independent self beyond the grasp of an organization.

Question 11

Deference and demeanor's relationship can best be described as

A) parallel
B) inverse
C) reciprocal
D) negative

Question 12

One of Goffman's central concepts - impression management - refers to

A) Verbal and nonverbal practices we employ in an attempt to present an acceptable image our self to others.
B) Psychological work we adhere to on a daily basis to manage our emotional faculties.
C) Social etiquette practices individuals employ in large gatherings to stifle embarrassment.
D) Conscious verbal work individuals construct to clearly manage meanings of language.

Question 13

Efforts to alter or manage the intensity or type of feelings one is experiencing is referred to by Hochschild as

A) impression management.
B) emotional labor.
C) emotion work.
D) organismic labor.

Question 14

For Goffman, the essence of the self is found not in the interior, cognitive deliberations of the interaction as ___________ believed it to be.

A) Emile Durkheim
B) Max Weber
C) George Herbert Mead
D) Georg Simmel

Question 15

Herbert Blumer's theoretical orientation would most closely align with which of the following statements?

A) Social life as a dynamic process with actors creating patterns of behavior
B) Actors approach social interaction motivated by a rationalist perspective
C) Meanings are fixed and external to actors within a social interaction
D) Institutions originate joint actions and their resultant routines and patterns

Question 16

The kitchen in your favorite restaurant can best be described as the ________ for the scene your waiter or waitress interacts within when you go to dine.

A) character
B) backstage
C) performer
D) front

Question 17

Upon what three models did Hochschild build her emotion-management model?

A) Organismic, interactional, and impression management
B) Symbolic interactionism, organismic, and structural functionalism
C) Organismic, impression management, exchange theory
D) Interactional, exchange theory, symbolic interactionism

Question 18

Which of the following is not one of the basic premises that form the basis for Blumer's understanding of a symbolic interactionist approach to social life?

A) Human beings act toward things on the basis of the meanings that the things have for them.
B) Meaning is derived from social interaction.
C) Meaning is determined by the introduction of social structure.
D) Meaning is modified through an interpretation process.

Question 19

Hochschild's notion of emotional labor parallels

A) Durkheim's concept of anomie.
B) Marx's concept of alienation.
C) Mead's concept of generalized other.
D) Weber's concept of an iron cage.

Question 20

Which of the following would not be utilized to denote deference?

A) honor
B) conduct
C) dignity
D) respect

Question 21

Being motherly, they may also act motherly and may sometimes experience themselves using the motherly act to win regard from others. In the same way, some women are sexually attractive and may act in ways that are sexually alluring.

Question 22

Goffman defines the performer as a dramatic effect arising diffusely from a scene that is presented.

Question 23

Deference refers to one's conduct while demeanor to honor, dignity, or respect.

Question 24

For Blumer, actors are vessels for the mechanical expression of conduct prescribed by roles and norms.

Question 25

Goffman studied embarrassment as less than an inner emotional state and more for what it contributes to the flow of __________.

A) impression.
B) dramaturgy.
C) interaction.
D) preservation.

Question 26

Estrangement from aspects of oneself as a defense mechanism ultimately relinquishes a healthy sense of wholeness according to Hochschild.

Question 27

Being________, they may also act ________ and may sometimes experience themselves using the ________ act to win regard from others. In the same way, some women are sexually attractive and may act in ways that are sexually alluring.

A) sexual, interested, sex
B) motherly, motherly, motherly
C) motherly, sexual, helpful
D) sexual, sexy, sex

Question 28

Goffman explored how social arrangements themselves and the actual physical copresence of individuals shape the organization of the self.

Question 29

Hochschild's emotion management focuses on deep acting - inner efforts to produce a real feeling.

Question 30

Goffman studied embarrassment as less than an inner emotional state and more for what it contributes to the flow of __________.

A) impression.
B) dramaturgy.
C) interaction.
D) preservation.

Question 31

According to Goffman, the self is realized only in and through the social arrangements that alone create the conditions for its expression.

Question 32

The demands for emotion management are shaped by both class and gender relations.

Question 33

_________makes two jobs out of one in yet another sense when females are asked more often than males to appreciate jokes, listen to stories, and give psychological advice.

A) Gender
B) Sex
C) Status
D) Feelings

Question 34

Gender can make two jobs out of one.

Question 35

Blumer is known for his study of backstage.

Question 36

"Merchants of morality" is Goffman's term for leaders of traditional religious sects.

Question 37

According to Hochschild, On the job, the acceptance of a division between the "real" self and the self in a company uniform is often a way to avoid work.

Question 38

According to Hochschild, on the job, the acceptance of a division between the "real" self and the self in a company uniform is often a way to avoid _______.

A) work.
B) reality
C) stress.
D) sex.

Question 39

Males are asked more often than females to appreciate jokes, listen to stories, and give psychological advice.

Question 40

Emotion work is engaged in primarily for the purposes of deceit or manipulation.

Question 41

Explain Goffman's dramaturgical approach to the study of social life. Be sure to define all key vocabulary employed by Goffman. Connect this approach to the contemporary world embodied by mediated expressions of the self [e.g. text messaging, Facebook, etc.]. How do these new technologies confirm or alter Goffman's approach?

Question 42

List and briefly discuss the three major premises of symbolic interaction. Based on the logic of the premises, how would you "solve" the "problem of order"?

Question 43

Outline the two key models Hochschild draws upon for her work. Explain her emotion-management model being sure to define and differentiate between emotion work and emotional labor. Finally explain feeling rules and where they fit into her other concepts.

Question 44

Explain how Goffman deviates from William I. Thomas's conception of definition of the situation.

Question 45

What is the relationship between secondary adjustments and the self? Or, said differently, how can the self be seen as a product of secondary adjustments?

Question 46

Define Goffman's term impression management and how it is connected to the work of George Herbert Mead.

Question 47

Define and explain Goffman's concept "merchant of morality."

Question 48

Explain and use an example from your own life on how gender and class relations can affect the demands for emotion management, especially commodification of feelings.

Question 49

Discuss and differentiate between Hochschild's emotion work and emotional labor.

Question 50

Discuss Goffman's ideas concerning self and society from his quote "…our status is backed by the solid building of the world, while our sense of personal identity often resides in the cracks."

Question 51

Explain how George Herbert Mead's work informs Blumer's own work on symbolic interactionism. In your answer, define the terms "self," "significant gestures," "meaning," and "interpretation" when explaining how these two scholars' work intersect. Finally, contrast this perspective to the one held by behavioral psychologists.

Question 52

In your own words, discuss Blumer's following statement "It is the social process in group life that creates and upholds the rules, not the rules that create and uphold group life".

Question 53

Discuss the connection between avoidance/presentational rituals and the concepts of demeanor and deference.

Question 54

Define Hochschild's feeling rules and how they are connected to our own private emotion work.

Question 55

Discuss Durkheim's research on religion and society and how it influenced W. Lloyd Warner. Explain how Goffman used these scholars' work as an influence on his own being sure to define such vocabulary as deference and presentational rituals.

Question 56

Use an example from your own life that demonstrates Goffman's vocabulary front, backstage, character, and performer.

Question 57

Discuss the following basic premise that forms the basis for Blumer's understanding of a symbolic interactionist approach to social life: Meaning is determined by the introduction of social structure. Using an example of a social structure, consider the meaning attributed to said structure and social significance. Consider education or the military or policing.