symbolic interactionism

(noun)

Symbolic interactionism is the study of the patterns of communication, interpretation, and adjustment between individuals.

Related Terms

Examples of symbolic interactionism in the following topics:

  • The Symbolic Interactionist Perspective

    • Symbolic interactionism looks at individual and group meaning-making, focusing on human action instead of large-scale social structures.
    • Symbolic interactionism is a theoretical approach to understanding the relationship between humans and society.
    • The basic notion of symbolic interactionism is that human action and interaction are understandable only through the exchange of meaningful communication or symbols.
    • The main principles of symbolic interactionism are:
    • Some symbolic interactionists, however, would counter that the incorporation of role theory into symbolic interactionism addresses this criticism.

  • Symbolic Interactionism

    • In contrast to the rather broad approach toward society of structural-functionalism and conflict theory, Symbolic Interactionism is a theoretical approach to understanding the relationship between humans and society.
    • The basic notion of symbolic interactionism is that human action and interaction are understandable only through the exchange of meaningful communication or symbols.
    • According to symbolic interactionism, the objective world has no reality for humans, only subjectively-defined objects have meaning.
    • In symbolic interactionism, this is known as "reflected appraisals" or "the looking glass self" and refers to our ability to think about how other people will think about us.
    • Stated another way, Symbolic Interactionism argues that people become selves by learning and internalizing the symbolic materials of the social and historical context and culture they are born into and raised within (e.g., the individual is formed by the society), and then act back upon and alter societies (e.g., norms, cultures and structures) by deploying the symbolic resources at their disposal throughout the course of their ongoing lives (e.g., the society is formed by the joint action of individuals).

  • The Symbolic Interactionist Perspective

    • Symbolic interactionism is a social theory that focuses on the analysis of patterns of communication, interpretation, and adjustment between individuals in relation to the meanings of symbols.
    • This emphasis on symbols, negotiated meaning, and the construction of society as an aspect of symbolic interactionism focuses attention on the roles that people play in society.
    • Ethnomethodology, an offshoot of symbolic interactionism, examines how people's interactions can create the illusion of a shared social order despite a lack of mutual understanding and the presence of differing perspectives.
    • Symbolic interactionists also explore the changing meanings attached to family.
    • Symbolic interactionists explore the changing meanings attached to family.

  • Understanding Social Interaction

    • Symbols are used to communicate the expectations of a given society to those new to it, either children or outsiders.
    • Methods include symbolic interactionism and ethnomethodology, as well as later academic sub-divisions and studies like psychosocial studies, conversational analysis and human-computer interaction.
    • With symbolic interactionism, reality is seen as social, developed interaction with others.
    • Ethnomethodology, an offshoot of symbolic interactionism, which questions how people's interactions can create the illusion of a shared social order despite not understanding each other fully and having differing perspectives.

  • The Interactionist Perspective

    • From a symbolic interactionist perspective, gender is produced and reinforced through daily interactions and the use of symbols.
    • In sociology, interactionism is a theoretical perspective that understands social processes (such as conflict, cooperation, identity formation) as emerging from human interaction.
    • Symbolic interactionism aims to understand human behavior by analyzing the critical role of symbols in human interaction.
    • The meanings attached to symbols are socially created and fluid, instead of natural and static.
    • Because of this, we act and react to symbols based on their current assigned meanings.

  • Levels of Analysis: Micro and Macro

    • Studying social life on the micro-level is a more recent development (in the early and mid-twentieth century) in the history of the field, and was pioneered by proponents of the symbolic interactionism perspective, namely George Herbert Mead, Herbert Blumer, and Erving Goffmann.
    • Analyze how symbolic interactionism plays a role in both macro and micro sociology

  • Mead

    • The two most important roots of Mead's work, and of symbolic interactionism in general, are the philosophy of pragmatism and social behaviorism.

  • Gender and Research

    • Theories that have contributed to gender research and the realm of gender studies include structural functionism (the theory that gender roles were originally functional; for example, women took care of the domestic responsibilities in or around the home because they were often limited by the physical restraints of pregnancy and nursing and unable to leave the home for long periods of time); conflict theory (seeing society as a struggle for dominance among social groups, such as women versus men, that compete for scarce resources); feminist theories (which use the conflict approach to examine the maintenance of gender roles and inequalities); and symbolic interactionism (which aims to understand human behavior by analyzing the critical role of symbols in human interaction).

  • Dramaturgy

    • Dramaturgy is a sociological perspective that is a component of symbolic interactionism and is used in sociological analysis of everyday life.
    • If an individual wishes to convey that she does not agree or identify with social norms, she must use a commonly legible system of symbols in order to communicate that information.

  • The Interactionist Perspective

    • According to theorists working in the symbolic interactionist perspective, health and illness are socially constructed.
    • According to theorists working in the symbolic interactionist perspective, health and illness are socially constructed.
    • Symbolic interactionist researchers investigate how people create meaning during social interaction, how they present and construct the self (or "identity"), and how they define situations of co-presence with others.
    • While interactionism does acknowledge the subjective nature of diagnosis, it is important to remember who benefits the most when a behavior becomes defined as illness.
    • Explain and give examples of social constructions of health according to the symbolic interactionist perspective