Social Concentration Theory Analysis

Symbolic Interactionalism: One of the three perspectives of sociology is Symbolic Interactionalism, this is a microlevel theory that concerns

Symbolic interactionism can be easily described as the “interactions of individuals with the larger institutions of social structure” (Ainbinder, 2015 p. 20). It can also be explained as focusing on ways, which meanings emerge through human life (symbolic interactionism, 2003 para. 2). In everyday life, it represents that people are repeatedly observing and understanding through their social interactions (Ainbinder, 2015 p. 20). Symbolic Interactionism can be defined in many ways, simply it means that everyday we are observing our surroundings.

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.

I choose the symbolic interactionism for my theoretical perspective. From sociological perspective, symbolic interactionism most concerned with the face-to-face interaction between members of society. Symbolic interaction reminds us that culture is a human creation.

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 theory address this sociological problem by addressing the subjective meanings imposed to people. This theory suggests that people behave according to what the society believes and what is

Symbolic interactionist is a micro level of social analysis, it is concerned with individual experiences and the wider society. As well as not focusing on the core structures or support the general theory of society like the functionalist does.

Since it focuses mainly on the micro level in sociology it is able to relate more to social interactions and thats what I feel matters more than just the overall general macro view on society. When dealing with someones life it seems like it should be a lot more important than just putting society into a general and less personal scale. Symbolic Interactionism mainly looks at the outer behaviors of a person and finds meaning in how they do things, like reactions. Symbolic Interactionism is more specific to how people are different and the way the are, unlike the other theoretical perspectives which have a specific cause and effect concept of system. There is no specific answer when you have the perspective of a symbolic interactionist and that is what I enjoy the most; our lives are too complicated to have specific answers and solutions for things. People find meaning in everything and it’s up to them on how they react, this is how I go about my life. It’s the most helpful of the theory because it helps me able to empathize with other people and see things in someone else's

One comparison from sociology scholar Ashley Crossman put this into words to say that rather than focusing on the ‘forest’, symbolic interactionism focuses on the individual ‘trees’. Another way I put that into thought was, if a tree were to fall and you were trying to figure out how this happened through the symbolic interactionism theory, if you couldn’t focus on the big picture (forest) you might miss that there was a large backhoe plowing down trees. Symbolic interactionism is also criticized for insulting the social forces influence on individual

Symbolic Interactionism is the first theory I would like to discuss out of the three. The two major psychologists who introduced this theory were George Herbert Mead(1863-1931) and Charles Horton Cooley(1864-1929). Mead was one of the founders of this theory and it was a major theoretical perspective in sociology. This perspective is viewed and composed from symbols that people use to establish meaning, ways of communicating with others, and develops the view of the world. This theory is a way to view life through a lens into our social life. These different symbols define our relationships and tells us who we are related to. I would like to discuss a short film first called China’s Lost Girls, to help further understand this theory.

Imagine that it is your first semester of college. Several thoughts are racing through your mind. How am I going to eat? What should I wear to my classes to make a strong first impression? Will my roommate be nice? I know she’s my cousin, but I’m still worried because I’ve never met her! There is one thought, one question, one thing that hides in the shadows of your mind. How will I ever make new friends? This question continues to pull at you until, before you know it, it is move-in day. You and your roommate do not utter any words other than a simple hello. Overtime, slowly but surely, you both begin to speak to each other more and more.

The Social Penetration Theory interpersonal communication was proposed by the psychologists and theorists, Altman and Taylor in 1973, with the idea of offering an explanation for the closeness or intimacy that can develop between two people. “The social penetration theory states that as relationships develop, communication moves from relatively shallow, no intimate levels to deeper, more personal ones.”(Altman and Taylor in 1973.) They also proposed that this process towards closeness, is regulated by self-disclosure that moves slowly and orderly, from superficial to intimate. Self-disclosure -- voluntarily communication of information about one 's self to another and vice versa and based on a cost-reward model. The theory is also known as the “Onion Theory” since Altman and Taylor explained self-disclosure by comparing it to the layers of an onion that has “breadth” and “depth. Breadth includes the different superficial areas of a person’s life like family, work, neighborhood, hobbies, community, etc. “Depth” is “the degree of disclosure in a specific area of an individual’s life”, going from the outside to de inside, from superficial relationship to an intimate relationship. According to Altmar and Tylor, people’s characters are like onions with many layers, meaning that in Interpersonal Communication people starts to self-disclose from the outer layer that represents information like physical appearance and the way a person talks. Each layer represent areas of

There are several sociological perspectives including functionalism, conflict, social exchange, and sociological imagination. The one that will be talked about within this paper is called symbolic interaction. Symbolic interaction does not focus on social structure like other sociological perspectives do, symbolic interaction is based on small, mostly person to person ideas and perspectives on what symbols mean between people in cultures, what interaction is like, and how interaction between people can impact or reflect upon society as a whole. (Gingrich) Symbolic interaction is defined as “How people act toward things based on the meaning those things have for them;

Now we must ask a question as to how much one should disclose to people? The breadth and depth of self-disclosure is determined by the degree of intimacy a person wants to achieve, with another. This theory claims that peripheral (public) items are exchanged more frequently and sooner than private information. This usually happens in the beginning of a relationship when it is still on a more impersonal and superficial level. According to one study, only about 2 percent of people disclosed intimate details about themselves during this level of the relationship, the majority of talk between two individuals on this level was about public items, or worldly experiences they both knew about. Self-disclosure is reciprocal during the beginning stages of developing a relationship. New acquaintances generally achieve equal levels of openness, perhaps due to the vulnerability of both people knowing nothing about the other. Instant intimacy usually does not happen with people, it is something that both parties must strive for in order to attain. At the beginning of a relationship penetration is usually fast, but as the layers of personality are revealed, it slows

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.