Any group of persons β prisoners, primitives, pilots, or patients β develop a life of their own that becomes meaningful, reasonable and normal once you get close to it.
Erving GoffmanRead
I assume that the proper study of interaction is not the individual and his psychology, but rather the syntactical relations among the acts of different persons mutually present to another.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote emphasizes the importance of understanding social interactions through the relationships between individuals rather than focusing solely on individual psychology.
Erving Goffman's quote suggests that to truly comprehend human interactions, one should focus on the relational dynamics and social structures formed between individuals in a given context, rather than merely analyzing each person's psychological traits. It highlights the interconnectedness of human behavior and the significant role of context and social presence in shaping interactions.
Themes
InteractionRelationshipsPsychologySocialCommunication
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion about social dynamics in a classroom setting.
More from Erving Goffman
All quotes βAnd to the degree that the individual maintains a show before others that he himself does not believe, he can come to experience a special kind of alienation from self and a special kind of wariness of others.
Erving GoffmanRead
When a stranger comes into our presence, then, first appearances are likely to enable us to anticipate his category and attributes, his 'social identity' - to use a term that is better than 'social status' because personal attributes such as 'honesty' are involved, as well as structural ones, like 'occupation.'
Erving GoffmanRead
Approved attributes and their relation to face make every man his own jailer; this is a fundamental social constraint even though each man may like his cell.
Erving GoffmanRead
By definition, of course, we believe the person with a stigma is not quite human. On this assumption we exercise varieties of discrimination, through which we effectively, if often unthinkingly, reduce his life chances.
Erving GoffmanRead
Our sense of being a person can come from being drawn into a wide social unit; our sense of selfhood can arise through the little ways in which we resist the pull. Our status is backed by the solid buildings of the world, while our sense of personal identity often resides in the cracks
Erving GoffmanRead
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