In social science, a social relation or social interaction is any relationship between two or more individuals. Social relations derived from individual agency form the basis of social structure and the basic object for analysis by social scientists. Fundamental inquiries into the nature of social relations feature in the work of sociologists such as Max Weber in his theory of social action.
Categorizing social interactions enables observational and other social research, such as Gemeinschaft and Gesellschaft (lit. "Community and Society"), collective consciousness, etc. However different schools and theories of sociology and other social sciences dispute the methods used for such investigations.
Forms of relation and interaction[]
| Physical movement | Meaning | Directed towards others | Await response | Unique/rare interaction | Interactions | Accidental, not planned, but repeated interaction | Regular | Interactions described by law, custom, or tradition | A scheme of social interactions | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Behavior | Yes | |||||||||
| Action | Yes | Maybe | ||||||||
| Social behavior | Yes | No | Yes | |||||||
| Social action | No | Yes | Yes | No | ||||||
| Social contact | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | |||||
| Social interaction | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ||||
| Repeated interaction | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | |||
| Regular interaction | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ||
| Regulated interaction | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
| Social relation | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |