Tact replaces real interests as the regulator of pure social interaction

Evidence

But precisely because all is oriented about them, the personalities must not emphasize themselves too individually. Where real interests, co-operating or clashing, determine the social form, they provide of themselves that the individual shall not present his peculiarities and individuality with too much abandon and aggressiveness. But where this restraint is wanting, if association is to be possible at all, there must prevail another restriction of personal pushing, a restriction springing solely out of the form of the association. It is for this reason that the sense of tact is of such special significance in society, for it guides the self-regulation of the individual in his personal relations to others where no outer or directly egoistic interests provide regulation. — Georg Simmel, on individuality and social forms_…, 375

Categorization

• DEFINE: Defines tact as the self-regulating mechanism that substitutes for the restraint real interests normally impose.
• XREF: Tact as a form of self-regulation connects to Lofland’s civil inattention — both are learned interpersonal controls for navigating others without engagement. — connects to: Individual motives become social only through forms of mutual interaction — Georg Simmel, on individuality and social forms_…, 194; Objective status markers are excluded from pure social interaction — Georg Simmel, on individuality and social forms_…, 375; Social distance maintained by etiquette or replaced by spatial segregation undergirds hierarchy (+5 more)

Related

• Objective status markers are excluded from pure social interaction (similarity 0.80)

Broader Connections

• Trust is regulated through symbol-feedback loops, not direct reality contact #complicates (0.75)
• Individual motives become social only through forms of mutual interaction #corroborates (0.45) — Georg Simmel, on individuality and social forms_…, 194
• Objective status markers are excluded from pure social interaction #qualifies (0.40) — Georg Simmel, on individuality and social forms_…, 375
• Social distance maintained by etiquette or replaced by spatial segregation undergirds hierarchy #responds-to (0.35)