Goffman described each individual's 'performance' as the presentation of self a person's efforts to create specific impressions in the minds of others. Just as on the stage, people in their everyday lives manage settings, clothing, words, and nonverbal actions to give a particular impression to others. This analysis offers a look at the concepts of status, which is like a part in a play and role, which serves as a script, supplying dialogue and action for the characters. In a dramaturgical model, social interaction is analyzed in terms of how people live their lives, like actors performing on a stage. Dramaturgy emphasizes expressiveness as the main component of interactions it is thus termed as the 'fully two-sided view of human interaction.'ĭramaturgical theory suggests that a person's identity is not a stable and independent psychological entity, but rather, it is constantly remade as the person interacts with others. Because of this dependence on consensus to define social situations, the perspective argues that there is no concrete meaning to any interaction that could not be redefined. In Frame Analysis (1974), Goffman writes, 'What is important is the sense he provides them through his dealing with them of what sort of person he is behind the role he is in.' : 298 The dramaturgical perspective can be seen as an anchor to this perspective, wherein the individual's identity is performed through role(s) and consensus between the actor and the audience.

This is, however, debatable within sociology. ĭramaturgical perspective is one of several sociological paradigms separated from other sociological theories or theoretical frameworks because, rather than examining the cause of human behavior, it analyzes the context. The presentation of ourselves to others is known as dramaturgy. If we need to adjust our clothing or wish to say something unflattering about one of our guests, we are careful to do so out of sight of others (backstage). We enlist the help of friends, caterers, and decorators (fellow actors and stage crew) to help us successfully “stage” a dinner for a friend, a birthday party for a relative, or a gala for a fundraiser. We pick out clothing (a costume) that is consistent with the image we wish to project. We behave differently (play different roles) in front of different people (audiences). The theater metaphor can be seen in the origins of the word person, which comes from the Latin persona, meaning 'a mask worn by actors'. In addition to Goffman, this concept has been used by Jürgen Habermas and Harold Garfinkel, among others. Ī dramaturgical action is a social action that is designed to be seen by others and to improve one's public self-image. If the actor succeeds, the audience will view the actor as he or she wants to be viewed. The goal of this presentation of self is acceptance from the audience through carefully conducted performance. Performances can have disruptions (actors are aware of such), but most are successful. Goffman forms a theatrical metaphor in defining the method in which one human being presents itself to another based on cultural values, norms, and beliefs. In other words, to Goffman, the self is a sense of who one is, a dramatic effect emerging from the immediate scene being presented. In dramaturgical sociology, it is argued that the elements of human interactions are dependent upon time, place, and audience. If we imagine ourselves as directors observing what goes on in the theatre of everyday life, we are doing what Goffman called dramaturgical analysis, the study of social interaction in terms of theatrical performance. The fundamental difference between Burke's and Goffman's view, however, is that Burke believed that life was in fact theatre, whereas Goffman viewed theatre as a metaphor. Kenneth Burke, whom Goffman would later acknowledge as an influence, had earlier presented his notions of dramatism in 1945, which in turn derives from Shakespeare. The term was first adapted into sociology from the theatre by Erving Goffman, who developed most of the related terminology and ideas in his 1956 book, The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life. Dramaturgy is a sociological perspective commonly used in micro-sociological accounts of social interaction in everyday life.

Impression management sociology quizlet