Symbolic Interactionism

1. Symbolic Interactionism By: Ivan Howard

2. What is symbolic Interactionism? • a theory that human interaction and communication is facilitated by words, gestures, and other symbols that have acquired conventionalized meanings. • Symbolic interactionists study meaning and communication; they tend to use qualitative methods.

3. The Three Core Principles: • -Meaning • -Language • -Thought • These core principles lead to conclusions about the creation of a person's self and socialization into a larger community.

4. Who came up with it? • -Symbolic Interactionism originated with two key theorists, George Herbert Mead and Charles Horton Cooley in the 1920’s & 1930’s. But Herbert Blumer gave it its current name in 1969. • -“Symbolic” because this theory uses symbols • -“interactionism” because we use symbols in interacting with one another in order for us to build our concept of oneself and as to how we socialize into a larger community.

5. perceived strengths & Weaknesses Strengths: Weaknesses: • it takes into account individuals free will, the choices they make and how they behave. As it is a Micro theory it is more detailed and beneficial to individuals. It also gives real insight into small scale interactions, which we would not be able to define with a macro theory. • symbols may be interpreted wrong, it doesn't develop the idea of socialization, it cannot adequately explain where people get the meanings to these symbols and that it ends up drawing these answers from other sociological theories, and it doesn't explain social order and how it comes about.

6. Major Terms: • -Self-concept-the image we have of who and what we are (formed in childhood by how significant others treat/respond to us). The self-concept is not fixed and unchanging – if in childhood your teachers tell you you’re stupid, but later in life your teachers and friends begin to treat you as if you’re very bright, your self-concept is likely to change. • -Self-fulfilling prophecy-The tendency for our expectations to evoke responses in others that confirm what we originally anticipated. Each one of us affects how others view themselves. Our expectations evoke responses that confirm what we originally anticipated. Phenomenon: The way I choose to see the world creates the world I see. • -Significant symbol- A word or gesture that has a common meaning to an individual and others. • -Social Act- Behavior that in some way takes into account the “other” person, group or social organization, and is guided by what they do. It emerges through the process of communication and interaction. • -Symbol manipulation-The means through which we motivate others to action through the use of symbols

7. Symbolic interactionism looks at individual and group meaning-making, focusing on human action instead of large-scale social structures

8. That’s all folks!