Tasks, Bargains, and Identities in Social Interaction

The problem of the inlterpersolnal task, influencing others so they respond in ways congruent with one's own purposes, is a residual category both in the group dynamics focus in the common group task and in role theory with its emphlasis on automatic normiative reciprocity. Goode, Thibaut and Kelley, alnd Homlans, see interaction as a bargaining process. However, the ntodus vivendi of the process is not made explicit in their work. Goffmlain begilns to address this problem and this paper points to possible extelnsions of his framework. Given particular emnphasis is the `altercasting" perspective which focuses oIn fulnctiolns of acts in shaping the responses of others ratlher than exclusively oln their content. lie problem of understanding the nature of social interaction process in concrete terms is an old one in social psychlology-anld stands as au imposing one today. Yet it is rarely dealt w'itl directly. It is eitlher passed over comiipletely or treated as a source of residual variation in accounting for the observed properties of interpersonal behavior. This paper will, first, slhow how several importanlt avenues of tllinkinig about social interaction fail to comue to grips witlh the probleml; and, second, suggest a perspectivTe that brinlgs the problem into focus, links it to the mailnstream of sociological analysis, andl, hiopefully, provides a basis for systemiiatic researclh. It must be miade clear at the outset, however, tlhat wlhat is being proposed is not a new tlheory of interpersonal behavior, but ratlher a perspective for lookinig at social inlteractioul, suggestilng imjportanlt classes of paranieters rather than specifying predicted relatiolnslhips. The immnediate background against wlhiclh this framiieworki must be seeu is the past clecade of social psychological researclh and tlheory. Tlhere lhas beeil a curious "go-no go" quality about this period. It began in the mliidst of a great thieoretical confusionl that gave way, quite sudcllely, to a reinarkably large nunlber of confident advances along several froonts. Now againtlhe spirit of optimismlhas begun to fadle quite rapidly from tlhe literature. A little cloucl, lhas appeared on the horizon of social psychological thleory. Speakinig fr-om a firmii conviction that individual behavior is crucially shaped by and within each specific social interaction, Mead definied th-e central problem of social psychological tlheory as that of establishing the necessary conceptual links between individual behavior anid the social structure.1 As late as 1951, lhowever, str-ong fears were being expressed tlhat, in view of the continuilng failure to establish these links, social psychology lhad comie to a parting in the wvay alld was on the -verge of dissolving into pure sociology on the one lhand, anid ilnto pure psychiology on the other.2 That the two disciplines have kept togetlher tlis longowes mainly to the good offices of Lewin,3 Lilnton,j4 alnd Parsons.5 The work of these meni stimulated the riclh ilnqtuiries of recelnt yeaLrs ilnto the dylnamllics of slmjall g-roups alnd ilnto the predictabilities of role belhavior. Despite the fruitfulness of these developiiielnts, a qcuerulous note about them can be l card increasilngly in the literature. Among the coniiplaints is tlhat thie "group dynlalmiics" approaclh nlever comlles to grips witlh whlat is presuminably its mlain subject-matter, the fact of Paper read at the a1nimal meetings of the Sonthernl Sociological Society, April, 1963. 1 George H. Mead, Mllovemnicts of Tliaonht int tlte Nhietcecrth Ce-nhtry (Chicago: University of Clhicago Press, 1936), p. 417. 2 Jamies Rolhrer and Muzafer Slerif, eds., .S'ociUl Psy chology at the Crossroads (New York: H-arper alnd Brotlhers, 1951). 'A Dynannic Thleory of Personality (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1935). 4 Tlle Stndy of ilMon (New York: AppletonCelntury-Crofts, 1934). 5 The Social System (Glel-icoe: The Free Press, 195i ) . This content downloaded from 207.46.13.124 on Sun, 11 Sep 2016 06:25:53 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms