Definition
A social interaction is where an individual acts toward another individual using some form of communication, which the second individual responds to. Goffman describes it as “instances of two or more participants in a situation joining each other openly in maintaining a single focus of cognitive and visual attention - what is sensed as a single mutual activity” (Goffman, 1963, p. 89).
Description
Face-to-Face Encounters
In face-to-face encounters, the participants use various methods to signal and aid their interaction such as eye contact and gestures (Argyle & Dean, 1965; Graham & Argyle, 1975). Eye contact in particular is a valuable part of face-to-face encounters, and lack of it can lead to suspicion between the participants (Argyle & Dean, 1965). The distance between the participants is an important feature of social interaction, and people from different cultures are comfortable with different distances (Hall, 1969). The location of a social interaction can impact on...
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Lindsay, M. (2014). Social Interaction. In: Michalos, A.C. (eds) Encyclopedia of Quality of Life and Well-Being Research. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-0753-5_2770
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