Erving Goffman

1. The nature versus nurture debate is a controversial issue questioning whether human behavior is a result of the human’s biology or the result of the social and cultural environment. Nature is the idea that genetics determine an individual’s behaviors and thoughts. Sociobiology is the scientific study regarding this idea. Sociobiologists study the ways that behavior is affected by biology. On the other hand, nurture is the idea that human thoughts, feelings and actions are the result of…

In the front stage, which involves interaction with the physical and social surroundings, people present themselves in the manner they plan on showcasing themselves as. In the backstage people behave as they would in absence of an audience (Goffman, Erving. "The presentation of self in everyday life." (1959): 1-17.). Before an interaction with the ‘audience’ people decide the impression they want to give and perform the role accordingly. There is a conscious attempt to hide the backstage from…

Erving Goffman (1922-1982) was a sociologist who analyzed social interaction with what he referred to as the dramaturgical perspective or analysis. He believed that people live their lives as if they are performing. In this way, he studied social interaction in similarity with how theatre works with actors, props, dialogue, and setting. Instead of these pieces of theatre, however, everyday life involves people (actors), the things of their surrounds (both props and setting), and the ways in…

Misinformation in headlines directly impact what readers expect from the article and leaves readers with false first impressions. The headline is the first part of an article readers are exposed to, it tells the readers “what kind of article [they]’re about to read […] and it sets the tone for what follows” (Konnikova). For example an article with the headline “A Gene That Makes You Need Less Sleep” and the same article with the headline “Why We Need Eight Hours of Sleep” were remembered…

In the book, Down To Earth Sociology, “The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life” by Erving Goffman’s, people literally perform roles for each other, and the point of social interaction is partly to maintain a successful interaction that’s in line with expectations, in views of, satisfying the audience, this is viewed as the dramaturgical approach. The dramaturgical approach is broken down into two parts. It’s broken down into a front stage and back stage. Front stage is where a performance…

According to sociologist Erving Goffman “stigma [is] as an attribute that is deeply discrediting, that reduces the bearer from a whole and usual person to a tainted, discounted one” (Abrams P, 2015). Stigma is an extremely useful tactic for societal regulation of sexual conduct, as it is essentially the of policing of an individual by other citizens in a society, and is generally associated with an individual diverging away from the group identity. Society’s overall negative framing of abortion…

Introduction The concept of stigma was introduced in the sociological literature by Erving Goffman, who defined stigma as when an individual possesses an unsuitable attribute that is seen by many as making him or her different from the rest (Link & Phelan, 2001). Stigma prevails when a dominant group wields power by means of stereotyping or labeling those whom they perceive to be different. This paper will look at stigma in the context of occupations and compare cultural stigma associated with…

As explained by Erving Goffman, the sociological concept of dramaturgy is a theatrical representation of life which revolves on the idea that “impression formation is a central feature of human interaction which brings about the attempt to present oneself to others in a particular way” (Tischler and Ashton 23). The world in which we live in is like a stage because as human beings, we are concerned about our public image and how we present our identity to the public. In truth, we make an effort…

Utter silence; all that could be heard was the machinations clanks and clangs as it rose up higher and higher. Even though there were five people in it, none of them spoke. One woman kept her eyes trained on her cell-phone, scrolling through an endless feed of videos and tweeted thoughts. The man in the business suit held his body straight at the front of the small space, eyes trained on the door, waiting impatiently. The second woman, who had situated herself at the back of the space, leaned…

essay I am going to give a description of Erving Goffman’s dramaturgical approach. I am going to define dramaturgy and how this work by Erving Goffman was influenced by Kenneth Burke. I will explain this concept of dramaturgy through Goffman’s main ideas of the presentation of self and also impression management. Within these concepts are a number of ideas that help Goffman relate life to that of a play. I will assess the dramaturgical approach of Erving Goffman. Finally, by applying Goffman’s…