Interpersonal Communication : Symbolic Interactionism And Social Penetration

Chapter One of Interplay: The Process of Interpersonal Communication is largely an introductory section, acquainting readers with some of the foundations of communication – our needs, models and characteristics of communication, and the world’s newest form of communication: social media. One of the needs detailed during this chapter was titled “Identity Needs,” and this is the particular section to which I wish to respond through this “Biblical Response” paper.

Symbolic Interaction is the view of social behavior that emphasizes linguistic or gestural communication. First example that I came across was towards the end of the book. The pigs became human like and had to rely

Emerging out of the Chicago School in the 1920, symbolic interactionism is a theory that looks at the concrete daily life of individuals and how these individuals shape society as opposed to society being imposed upon them; a direct counter-argument to positivism. The major focus of symbolic interactionism in on the subjective meanings that individuals assign to objects, events, and behaviors. Based on this, society is said to be created as a result of human interpretation.

Symbolic interactionism perspective is a theory that is used to study social life. To do this, this theory relies on studying and observing the interactions among people and how they form meanings to things from those interactions. Although, there is much more to this theory than that. Blumer, the man who invented the term symbolic interactionism, presented three premises which help to understand this theory. The first one is, people act a certain way towards things depending on their meaning for that thing. The second premise is that we get meanings from social interaction, so we are taught meanings or we witness them from others. Lastly, the third premise is that meanings are able to change because people have the mental capacity to

To me interpersonal communication describes the exchange of verbal and nonverbal messages between two different people. Joseph DeVito states that “interpersonal communication is inevitable, irreversible, and unrepeatable” due to these things effective communication is a necessary skill for us to function in our day to day lives (p. 20). Therefore, I have created a theory for interpersonal communication that goes as follows; To experience effective communication you must understand: your culture, the other person’s culture, and how to listen effectively. By knowing these three things you can consistently avoid misunderstandings and promote understanding in your interpersonal and intercultural relationships.

Symbolic Interactionist approach falls between meaning making and socio cultural position. It is through communicating and interaction

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

Symbolic interactionism is a theoretical perspective that people use definitions, meanings, symbols, interpretations, and human interactions to compare themselves to others (Henslin, 2010, p. 15). Herbert Blumer, whom attended University of Chicago with one of the founders of the

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).

Herbert Blumer, the first person to use the term symbolic interactionism, once suggested three basic premises for it. He put the first one as “humans act toward a thing on the basis of the meaning they assign to the thing” , which is to say that human’s perceptions and behaviors are not directly determined by objects or phenomena in the physical

There have been many aspects of the human being that have been examined and many theories proposed to explain how we develop and why one person can be satisfied with a certain task and the other not. Symbolic interaction is one theory that strives to provide an explanation to our development. Simply put, this theory states that there is a link between the individual and social interactions. Through our interactions we develop a sense of self and knowledge about others and the world around us. Interactions give our lives meaning and this meaning guides our behavior

Through language people are able to share ideas about food, beliefs, knowledge and ideas. Languages of many different origins are symbols that people use to communicate. Symbolic interactionism are symbols or things that attach meaning to be the key to the understanding of how we view the world and how we communicate with others. “Symbolic interactionists examine how people use symbols (meanings) to develop and share their views of the world” (Henslin, J. M. (2013). Many ways that we communicate with one another to learn the ways of others in different cultures is done in a face-to-face manner. The only way that people of one culture knows about other cultures and customs is to study them as well as communicate with them to get understanding. Again leaving out judgment of their ways of living because we are used to only one way.

Since the beginning of Symbolic Interactionsim, when George Herbert Mead coined the theory, despite its lack of official information, anyone who studies the theory can see how it relates and is true to most, if not all human beings and the culture that they derive from. In this paper, it will discuss the theory; provide examples from people who have studied this specific theory more in depth, as well as my personal opinions about the view on this theory as well as the results that have come from it. This paper will also, if more than anything, will show more insight into despite the actual facts and testing on Symbolic Interactionism, it

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