III Translate the sentences from Russian into English

Социологические теории личности изучают взаимодействие личности и общества, личности и группы.
Теория зеркального «Я» (Г. Кули, Дж. Мид). Сторонники этой теории понимают личность как совокупность отражений реакций других людей.
Самосознание развивается в результате социального взаимодействия, т.к. индивид обучается смотреть на себя глазами других людей.

Text 3

Embarrassment

Many symbolic interactionists argue that the separation of mind and body is false. When we are thinking, when we are conscious, when we are self-conscious, this activity of the self occurs in the brain. However complex our brain, it is still an organ of our bodies and is influenced by the way we treat our bodies. Not enough food or sleep, too much alcohol or food, and too much stress influence how we feel and think. Sometimes it is hard to concentrate and be rational. Frequently when we feel bad, we don’t care how we look – we don’t care how others see us. These examples illustrate the influence of the body on mental activity.

Sometimes we judge a task so important that we work late into the night even though we’d rather go to sleep – differed gratification. We will use ideas from symbolic interactionism to explain how our conscious self can influence our body responses. To do this, we will sociologically analyze the experience of embarrassment.

What happens to your body when you are embarrassed? You blush. What is it about embarrassing situations that cause the psychological response of blushing? Embarrassment is a social experience. It only occurs when others are present or when you think they might be present. Things you do in the privacy of you room might suddenly be very embarrassing if you became aware that you were being secretly observed. Thus the first consideration in our analysis is that embarrassment is a social event.

The second element is that something unexpected suddenly happens. Embarrassment results when our public self suddenly realizes that we are being seen in an unexpected and uncomplimentary way. Embarrassment may be socially defined as being caught out of role. When this happens we blush. In such situations we sometimes smile, laugh, or in some other way make light of the embarrassing thing that just happened. It is a way of establishing role distance between the self and the stupid, uncomplimentary, embarrassing event.

When we laugh at ourselves we are saying to others that this was funny or unimportant. It is not what I normally do. We are trying to restore ourselves to a normal situation of self-control. This analysis illustrates how the concept of role can be used to explain even a momentary experience. However, role has become one of the most important concepts in sociology for explaining many aspects of our relationships with others.

I Vocabulary

embarrassment – смущение, замешательство
conscious – сознательный
to treat – относиться
to influence – влиять
to blush – краснеть
to establish – установить

II Comprehension check

In what situations don’t we care how others see us? How does the body influence mental activity?
How can our conscious self influence our body responses?
How can embarrassment be socially defined?
What do people often do if they are caught out of role?
What do people try to restore when they laugh at themselves?

Text 4

The concept OF role

Remember that our roles include sets of symbols to guide our behaviour in the presence of others. We know how to behave. We can instantly imagine appropriate behaviour for us in the presence of parents, brother, sister or employer. In presenting ourselves we also consider the suitability of clothing that we might use in the presence of others. These are role relationships.

The concept of role is used in many additional ways. One important feature of the concept of role can be used to explain socialization throughout the life course or life span. We are socialized to our gender, to becoming a student, to becoming a member of a college social club, to becoming a student athlete, to becoming engaged to a person for future marriage, to becoming a graduate student, to learning a new corporate job or learning to be a lawyer, to learning a new religious life, to becoming a father or mother of your own children, to becoming a grandparent, to learning how to experience retirement and even learning how to die. In all of these instances, we are being socialized to new roles which guide our relationships to new people and new situations.

From the viewpoint of each individual, only a limited number of roles are lived during any period of one’s life. However, we can imagine innumerable roles in a society where each person interact with others, continually learning new rules, and relationships. Innumerable social networks link people together. With so many uses some sociologists have referred to the concept of role as one of the basic building blocks of society. Societies are made up of individuals and the concept of role explains the linkage between them.

Frequently the concept of role has been used to diagnose problems, for individuals or for groups. Your status refers to any role you occupy in your group or society. Your master status is the role that is dominant over any other statuses you occupy. Role strain is experienced when you’re trying to occupy two or more roles that are incompatible. One of your statuses might be as father or mother of a family, and you may also occupy another status as a corporate executive. As a mother you may want to spend more time with your infant child, but if you do, your corporate career may suffer. Your employer may want to move you to a different city? While your family wants you to stay where you are so your children can finish high school with their friends.

Things can become even more involved. Two people, simultaneously, may have complimentary and contradictory relationships with each other.

I vocabulary