Erving Goffman Research Paper

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Frequently refereed to as the most influential North American sociologist of the twentieth century Erving Goffman is a Canadian-American Sociologist born June 11, 1922. Goffman was born and raised in Manville, Alberta to Max Goffman and Anne Goffman, two Jewish Ukrainian immigrants. After attending the University of Toronto Goffman continued his career int sociology at the University of Chicago, Division of Social Science. Goffman spent much of his career studying the everyday interactions of human being such as the way in which people speak to one another as well as how the way one behaves in public. This form of observation was far more contemporary and less formal than other sociologist of the time due to the fact that most sociologist …show more content…
By 1962 Goffman became a professor of sociology at the University of California, Berkley and six years later he was employed at the University of Pennsylvania, receiving the Benjamin Franklin chair in sociology. Later in his life Goffman was elected as the 73rd president of the American Sociological Association however this was was short lived due to the fact that he died one year later on November 9, 1982 due to stomach cancer. The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life is one of Goffman’s first and most highly regarded piece of work. It is a theory that when humans come face to face with one another each individual will try and control the impression the other individual will have of him or her by changing their setting, appear an or manner. As well, Erving Goffman also believed …show more content…
If one is to think of every encounter with another individual as an act or as if they are on ‘front stage’ how is one to know if they are ever being treated with sincerity and honesty? Rather than the other individual making an attempt to appear in a certain manner. Not only does the idea of a constant lack of sincerity breed distrust in our society but also confusion as to why one is constantly masking their true self from one another. As well when one is to look at this idea of performing when encountered by other individuals does this mean that one is performing when surrounded by family, close friends or their spouse. It is hard to see why one would adjust their personality while amongst people which one would generally believe that they love and trust. Although The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life is a brilliant idea, there are some holes within it which may lead one to have further questions, illustrating that it is not a complete or definitive theory of human social
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