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Erving Goffman Essay

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Katie Carroll Introduction to Sociology 24 September 2014 Presentation on Self Sociologist, Erving Goffman, interpreted social interaction. He believed that people live their lives as though they are actors preforming and the world is their stage. As we carry out of different roles in everyday life, we are thought of as actors. Goffman calls this idea dramaturgical perspective, or “a person’s efforts to create specific impressions in the minds of others” (Macionis 132). With dramaturgical analysis comes status and role. Goffman views status as a “part in a play” and role as the “script” (132). The way we display ourselves by acting out these parts and scripts is considered our performance. Goffman defines our performance as the presentation …show more content…

These social roles are behaviors that are expected of someone in a particular status. One single status can have a number of different roles which makes up the role set. As a girl, I feel like I am expected to perform the roles of being respectful, pleasant, and lady-like. As a daughter, my role set includes obeying my parents, being honest, working hard, and doing my best. Being an eighteen year-old gives me the roles of having fun but not too much fun. Also, this is when I need be in school and preparing for my future. As a student my roles are to attend class, do my work, study, and make good grades, and as a friend, I am expected to be there for my friends, be supportive of one another, and to have fun together. My student roles and my friend roles are the most salient to me. As a college student, I am constantly with my friends, and we have a lot of impact on one another. Having friends and being a good friend is a very important important to me. However, doing well in college is also very important. These competing roles of being a student and a friend create a role conflict. For example, I have the role of studying and a making good grade on a test, but I also have the role of spending time with my friends. I am pulled in many directions as I try to fulfill my different statuses. Sometimes I have to decide which role is more

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