social scripts
Interaction behavior guides
Social scripts are the unwritten rules and expected sequences of behavior for common situations—ordering at a restaurant, greeting a stranger, conducting a job interview.
People learn these patterns through observation and experience, following them largely without conscious thought.
Someone who doesn't know the social script for a situation may feel awkward or behave in ways others find odd: He didn't seem to know the social script for small talk.
The term comes from sociology and psychology, where it describes how social interactions follow predictable patterns like actors following a script.
- normsExpected behavioral standards
- unspoken rulesExpectations understood without statement
- etiquetteRules of polite conduct
- cuesSignals prompting action
- rolesPositions or functions held
playing a part · rehearsed · expectations · greetings · how are you · nice to meet you · breaking the ice · rituals · autopilot · manners · small talk · polite · thank you note · awkward · unwritten · customs · performance · interaction
- social skillsconversation, sharing, helping, listening, manners
- social codesunwritten rule, unspoken rule, unspoken rules, cultural norm, cultural norms
social scriptsimprovisation
Spontaneous, unplanned creation
spontaneity · ad-libbing · thinking on one's feet · freestyling · going with the flow
social scriptsnonconformity
Rejection of prevailing norms
rule-breaking · defying expectations · individuation · faux pas
social, script, socially, society, societal, socialize, socialization, socialist, socialism