A Theory of Social Interaction [Hardcover]

In developing the most comprehensive theory of social interaction among humans to date, the author has also constructed a general theory of micro dynamics for sociology and social psychology. He does so by reviewing existing theories of the past and present, synthesixing these concepts into abstract models and principles of social interaction. In contrast to Talcott Parsons and many others, the book argues that social interaction, rather than action and behaviour, is sociology's most basic unit of analysis. This unit is conceptualized as involving three processes: (1) motivational, or the process of mobilizating and energizing interactive behaviour, (2) interactional, or the process of mutual signaling and interpreting with symbols, and (3) structuring, or the process of repeating and organizing social interactions in time and place. For each of these three constituent processes, the relevant theories are analyzed and then synthesized into composite models and general laws. Finally, the author combines these composite models to produce a general, albeit tentative theory of micro dynamics in sociology, a theory that the author hopes will encourage empirical tests by researchers and possible modifications by theorists.

Part I. Introduction: 1. Do people interact in action theory?2. A strategy for analyzing micro dynamicsPart II. Motivational Processes: 3. Early models of motivation4. Contemporary models of motivation5. Toward a synthetic model of motivationPart III. Interactional Processes: 6. Mead's and Schutz's early models of interaction7. Contemporary models of interaction8. Toward a synthetic model of interactionPart IV. Structuring Processes: 9. Early models of interpersonal structure10. Contemporary models of interpersonal structure11. Toward a synthetic model of structuringPart V. Theoretical Synthesis: 12. The intersection of micro dynamics13. Speculation on the critical micro dynamicsReferencesIndex of namesGeneral index.