Compulsory interaction is characterized by consistent internal antagonism, as between lifelong enemies, conflicting nations, a slave and master. It may or may not be intensive, extensive, durable and organized. It comprises the attempt of one or more parties or groups to coerce others. The use of coercion is a hallmark of this type of social interaction. In a pure compulsory relationship the parties remain total strangers and outsiders to each other.
Describing interaction with a combination of modalities P. A. Sorokin styles it as the system of interaction or social relationship. If a social contact may have the form of exchange of information, joint activities etc., social interactions form the basis of social relations. Social relation refers to a multitude of social interactions, regulated by social law-norms, between two or more people, each having a social position and performing a social role.
Sociologists share the opinion of F. Znaniecki who defines social relations as a system of interactions comprising two partners (from individuals to societies) and a bound such as the object, interest, orientation, value which become the platform for the entity. An example of the bound can be parents' obligations to ensure socialization of their child, i. e. to make him learn its own obligations with regard to the elder, brothers and sisters, society etc.
So, social relations can be defined as a stable system of regulated social interactions between two or more people on the basis of a certain platform (i. e. interest). This concept always suggests a goal which the united people intend to achieve. For instance, such institutions as the court or jail are created to maintain social order and punish deviants who break moral and legal norms, encroach on social material or spiritual values.
The availability of a common platform in social relations was marked by M. Weber who also underlined that social behaviour of the people should be defined and observed. And social institutions are designed to provide observation. If the function of the institution of the family is to reproduce the population, both physically as delivering children, and socially as their bringing up, consequently we can observe social behaviours of the members of a family such as their methods of influence on the children or planning the family. It leads to a logical conclusion that social relations form the basis of such concepts as social organization, social structure, social institution, social movement and social system.
Levels of social interactions
There are three levels of social interactions. Interpersonal or face-to-face interactions may be presented by interactions between two people (dyad), between three people (triad), between one person and many (between an actor and spectators, and many and many individuals (buyers - sellers). Interpersonal interactions are largely determined by psychical and physiological factors due to the fact that partners enter into direct interaction with each other. The other factors are purposes and orientations of the partners who predetermine the character of interactions because setting the purpose and formation of value orientations are connected with the processes of socialization, i. e. their learning social experience.
Interpersonal interaction is observable. At this level a number of units of observation are differentiated: interaction subjects (individuals), their actions mutually oriented toward each other (acts of interaction), symbols of actions, outcomes of interactions. Each of them may be classified as a functional element of the social system. For instance, interaction subjects can be analyzed from the viewpoint of a demographic or professional structure. The other example is formal or informal character of interactions under observation.
Group interactions are of a higher level at which both the group's social orientations and values shared by all or most of its members are manifested. They are further determined by additional factors such as relations within a group, the character of leadership, value orientations of the group etc. The subjects of interactions are groups, not individuals. As in interpersonal interactions, in group behaviour one can observe and empirically fix the character of interactions, and determine the type of relations between the groups.
Societal interactions bearing on the level of community and society are always indirect. Such interactions are most often defined as social relations. As they are characterized by a high degree of indirectness, the interaction partners such as nations cannot be in direct contact that's why it is difficult to fix empirically observed acts of interaction if formal structures or concluding of political, economic treaties etc. are not spoken about.
At this level of interactions other factors perform such as culture, morals, ethics, law which make the interactions regulated. As any society is interested in social order, the system of regulated interactions at any of its levels is supported by law and social control. The analysis of societal interactions can be made from the viewpoint of social structures or functional systems, for instance, education, the institution of power, social control etc. that, in turn, enables to determine the character of interactions at the societal level.
Theories of social interaction
There are a number of theories of social interaction as their authors are seeking for the answer to the question about what factors determine whether individuals enter into interaction, continue or break it. To such theories belong social exchange theory, symbolic interactionism, psychological analysis etc.
Social exchange theory is based on a central premise that the exchange of social and material resources is a fundamental form of human interaction. G. Homans underlined that without repeated social actions there are no enduring social structures. He developed five propositions which enable to explain why individuals enter into interaction, why they continue or break it.
The success proposition implies that an increasing frequency of reward leads to an increasing frequency of action, but it is obvious that such an increase cannot go on indefinitely.
The second proposition concerns the effect on the action of the circumstances attending it. Since in many accounts of behaviour these attendant circumstances are called stimuli, G. Homans calls this the stimulus proposition. It emphasizes the reappearance of the circumstances attending a successful action that make the repetition of the action more probable. For instance, if you pass the exam well, next time you try to reproduce the previous circumstances such as the same dress or suit, some rituals as a coin in the shoe, no washing in the morning, or a ticket numbered 3 in the upper row etc. But the uppermost here is knowledge.
The value proposition includes reward and punishment. The results of a person's actions that have positive values for him are called rewards; the results with negative ones are called punishments. The proposition implies that just as an increase in the positive value of the reward makes it more likely that the person will perform a particular act, so an increase in the negative value of the punishment makes it less likely that he will do so.
The deprivation-satiation proposition implies that if a man has often received the reward, he begins to be satiated with it. Its value decreases for him, and by the value proposition, he becomes less apt to perform an action that is followed by this reward. Food is the best example.
The aggression-approval proposition implies that when a person doesn't get what he expected, he is frustrated. When he is frustrated, he is apt to feel some anger. No doubt, the more valuable to a person is the reward he expected or the more painful the punishment he didn't expect, the greater is his frustration and hence his anger. When a man is frustrated, he is apt to perform aggressive actions. These are actions that attack, break, hurt, or threaten the source of the frustration. The target of aggression may be an inanimate object though humans can also serve targets. When we are furious at someone and hit him, the sight of his wincing under our blow becomes intensely rewarding.
Social exchange theory explains interpersonal interaction, i. e. how we feel about a relationship with another person as depending on our perceptions of the balance between what we put into the relationship and what we get out of it. But the postulates of equal and mutually beneficial interaction known as balanced exchange can't explain such phenomena as social inequality, coercion, or power. To do so G. Homans suggested the proposition of the least interest that states that a person, who is least interested in the continuation of exchange, possesses a greater ability to dictate the terms of this exchange to the interaction partners. The result of this kind of exchange is emergence of power because “one man can provide more rewards to the others than the latter can reward him”. The researcher asserts that any relations of power, even coercive ones, are examples of non-balanced exchange.
P. Blau's version of exchange value makes a useful complement to Homans. He viewed social interactions from the other positions, those of structural exchange. The researcher stressed that behavioural propositions can explain people's interactions at the micro-level when relations are oriented toward achieving the aim but this aim can be achieved only if partners interact with each other and they all have the means necessary to obtain the aim. Relations of power emerge when one of the interaction partners has monopolistic or exclusive rights to some reward which other partners are trying to get. In this case the owner will try to exchange the available reward at a higher cost possible, imposing his will on the other partners. But in order to be institutionalized, power must be legitimized on the basis of social norms and values constituting a particular cultural system, the latter not being connected with the exchange processes. In other words, P. Blau explains the essence of social interaction at the macro-level.
American sociologists have gone further in developing the theory within the framework of which social life can be treated as an exchange of rewards or resources between actors. Their main conclusion is that actors in exchange can be not only individuals but also groups, and that in-group processes and inter-group relations are more complex than being sets of market transactions.
Blau P. Exchange and Power in Social Life. (3rd edition). - New Brunswick and London: Transaction Publishers, 1992. - 354 p.
Bourdeiu P. Logic of Practice. - Cambridge: Polity Press, 1990. - 382 p.
Coser L. The Functions of Social Conflict. - Glencoe, Ill: Free Press, 1956. - 188 p.
Durkheim E. The Division of Labour in Society. - New York, NY: Free Press; 1997. - 272 p.
Durkheim E. Suicide. - New York, NY: Free Press; 1951. - 345 p.
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