Communication 300 Summary And Implication Summary

Symbolic interactionism is a theory is defined as, ”a theoretical perspective in which society is viewed as composed of symbols that people use to establish meaning,

This explains why things have different meanings according to the situations. Finally, as meaning emerges trough interactions, it is also maintained trough them. As we acquire ways to feel, behave and think through our interactions culture is socially constructed. This explains why for symbolic interactionists, there is no Society, no greater body that controls and determines social norms, we are the ones who trough our interactions, create them. Since our responses to symbols, signs, events and situation are public, we are free to redefine to a certain extent meanings and as new things and objects emerge, we come up with new meanings. It is when we do not use a meaning associated with a symbol, for abstract ideas such as beliefs of values, that they disappear or are modified. This is how symbolic interactionists explain the change in ‘’societies’’ mentalities over time. All of these choices and these interactions implicate a Self, a reflexive process that enables us to formulate, monitor, control and react to our own behaviour, which formation we’ll explain through Meade, Cooley and Goffman.

Lastly I will discuss the elements of Symbolic Interaction. This theory was brought to sociology by Charles Horton Cooley (1864-1929), William I. Thomas (1863-1947) and George Herbert Mead (1863-1931). They believed that symbols, things with meaning and face to face interactions are how society views the world and communicate with each other , without symbols our social life would have no meaning. Symbolic interactionists analyzed how our social life depends on the way we define ourselves and others, for example with out symbols we would have no mom, dad, teachers, brothers and sisters. We would not know who we should respect and whom we are obligated too.

Symbolic Interactionism (1)- The theory of symbolic interactionism conveys how society is made up of symbols that create meaning, develop communication, and produce world views. At the North Hanover Mall all interactions and even moods were established because of simple symbols. The overall mood of the mall was almost the same form person to person, a look of boredom was on the faces of many whether young or old. The attitude seemed to appear in people shortly after they entered the mall, once they had observed other individual’s body language and expressions, they shifted theirs as if they were trying to fit in with the crowd. Contrastingly when an employee

Four principal scholars explored the symbolic interaction theory, George Herbert Mead, Charles Horton Cooley, William Isaac Thomas, and Herbert Blumer (Smith & Hamon, 2012). George Herbert Mead proposed that through interaction with others, we learn about ourselves—this is done through three stages; play stage, game stage, and generalized other (Smith & Hamon, 2012). He identifies the movement between “I” and “me.” “I” being the spontaneous, immediate reactions to a situation, “me” being the roles learned from prior experiences (Smith & Hamon, 2012). Charles Horton Cooley had the idea of the “looking-glass self”—which explains individuals consider how they appear to others in order to create their own concept of themselves (Smith & Hamon, 2012). The third scholar, William Isaac Thomas, was known for the definition of the situation, which led to the idea that understanding perspective of the people involved in the situation was necessary to understand human behavior in general (Smith & Hamon, 2012). The Thomas Theorem stated

The symbolic interaction theory relates how individuals correlate actions and items to symbols they create. This association takes place between humans and the society they live in. Individuals can have the same situation going on, but associate different meaning through symbols of how they view what is going on. It is important to note that individuals will act differently based on the meaning of the interaction for the people or things around them. There is also a huge component of the symbolic interaction theory that takes into consideration how individuals think they are perceived. “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” (Boundless, 2015). This will also govern the symbols that we associate with different groups of people that we will encounter.

“Symbolic interactionists study how people use symbols to develop their views of the world and to communicate with one another. Symbols define for us what relationships are… without symbols, our social life would lack sophistication” (Henslin, 2006:15). The significance these happenings had on social change would mean nothing in our history if everyone and everything did not have a particular symbol. Unable to specify title, materials, or goals Albert Einstein would not have been labeled with the status he had achieved as world most famous physicist, Nazi Germany would not have been feared, Szilard would not have had the ideas he did, the President would

Symbolic interactionism focuses on the language and symbols that help us give meaning to the experiences in life. It also studies how people discuss the meaning of social life during interactions

The Symbolic Interaction theory refers to ways in which a family or society attaches meaning to verbal communication, non-verbal communication, people, and objects. We are taught from a young age communication using verbal language and accepted ways to express our needs. The theory represents perception of objects or actions (Macionis, 2007, p.17).

“Symbolic interaction refers to the patterns of communication, interpretation and adjustment between individuals,” (Baird and Kaufmann) humans will interpret different meanings in everyday life, from having a conversation or using their

George Herbert Mead studied and used an interactionist approach for many years. He was a philosophy professor at the university of Chicago. Mead thought that the true test to any theory is whether or not it is useful in solving complex social problems (EM Griffin, p.83). So Mead decided to study the procedures of communicating, specifically with symbols, the theory was titled Symbolic Interactionism.

Our communication process or the way we attribute symbolic meanings to words and gestures, in order to express ourselves is shaped by the society in which we evolve. This shared use of codes within a given group of persons, also leads to a common philosophy of life, ideas or

Symbolic interactionism as a term was coined by Herbert Blumer to further develop the theories of George Herbert Mead and Charles Horton Cooley. This perspective gives priority to the importance of understanding the meanings of social action. This framework works with the belief that human social behaviour is based on symbolic meanings that are found within a given situation (Tepperman et al., 2013 p.369). Symbolic interactionism, being a form of microsociology, focuses attention on the smallest systems of society, being individual people and their interaction. Symbolic interactionists, like all microsociologists, see society

The symbolic order is the social world of linguistic communication, intersubjective relations, knowledge of ideological conventions, and the acceptance of the law. Once the subject enters into language and accepts the rules and dictates of society, it is able to deal with others. The acceptance of language’s rules is aligned with the Oedipus complex, according to Lacan. The symbolic is made possible because of your acceptance of the Name-of-the-Father (the fundamental signifier which permits signification to proceed normally), those laws and restrictions that control both your desire and the rules of communication (Evans 121). Through recognition of the Name-of-the-Father, one is able to enter into a community of others. The symbolic, through language, is “the pact which links... subjects together in one action. The human action par excellence is originally founded on the existence of the world of the symbol, namely on laws and contracts” (Lacan 230). The symbolic represents a further remove from the mother. We are all cut off from the Imaginary, primordial state and long for the Real

Symbolic interaction offers a dramaturgical perspective of how people identify and create their social self through social interaction. Many social theorist studies social interaction/ self as a function to our society. In addition, microsociology develop the idea of applying social interaction on a smaller sample size within the society. Therefore, there were an increase in the study of human interaction and the self. Mead develop his idea through symbolic interaction and social psychology of the human mind. Simmel develop his idea through the perspective of symbolic interaction of urban sociology. Both sociologist focus on the inter social aspect of the human life.