Social event

In social psychology, a social event is precisely defined as a social interaction episode characterized by a singular, continuous goal or purpose.

This conceptualization views a social event as an atomic unit of social interaction. For example, if a father and a child are coloring, and the father's initial goal is to give son some attention, but shifts to teaching the child the father could start teaching the child to color within the lines. This continuous episode would be considered is split in two distinct social events during to the change in purpose, in accordance with the goal of the activity.

Conversely, in abroader usage the term "social event" can encompass any gathering of people for any reason event, activity, or gathering of a group of people for any purpose. The word "event" can refer to any action, and describes a wide variety of activities. Related terms, such as "special event", are also difficult to define.

Communication among participants is not necessarily a defining characteristic of a social event. For example, while chats between spectators are part of a football match event, it is not its defining characteristic.

A social event may happen within another social event, which can be described in sociological research by the term "recontextualization".

In entertainment, the field of planning and executing social events is called event planning or event management.