Symbolic interactionism is a sociological theory that suggests people assign symbolic meaning to everything and react to situations based on the meaning they have given them. Herbert Blumer drew on the work of George Mead, Charles Cooley, and John Dewey to create this theory, which is based on meaning, language, and thought. People create language as a set of symbols to give names to the different meanings they find in the world. An example of symbolic interactionism is how Mary interprets Paul’s actions as possible signs that he likes her because she has assigned him the symbolic meaning of being a potential boyfriend.
Symbolic interactionism is one of the three main classes of sociological thinking and is the view that people react to other people and objects based on the personal opinions they have given to that object. How people interact with each other can change a person’s point of view so that the object has a different meaning to them. The term comes from Herbert Blumer who explained the theory of symbolic interactionism and drew on the work of George Mead, Charles Cooley and John Dewey. The theory states that people assign symbolic meaning to everything and change this meaning to fit current social norms. So they react to different situations based on the specific meaning that situation has for them.
Herbert Blumer drew on a number of important theories to create symbolic interactionism. He reviewed the work of John Dewey, who believed that people’s actions can be better understood if we look at their environment and the kinds of people they interact with. George Mead felt that language is made entirely of symbols and people create new words so they can assign meaning to an object. This also played a role in Blumer’s theory along with the work of Charles Cooley who is a major contributor to the theory of symbolic interactionism.
The theory of symbolic interactionism is based on three important parts: meaning, language and thought. People attach different meanings to the objects or people they come into contact with and act differently depending on the specific meaning they have given to that person or thing. To express each other, people create language as a set of symbols to give names to the different meanings we find in the world. Finally, people use thinking to examine their beliefs and change their interpretation of things based on the new information they have learned about the object or person.
For example, if Mary is attracted to Paul but Paul does not share these feelings, the two will act differently towards each other. Mary will interpret Paul’s actions as possible signs that he likes her since she has assigned him the symbolic meaning of being a potential boyfriend. Paul still sees Maria only as a friend and acts this way towards her. If Mary were to admit her feelings about her to Paul, she might see her differently and she would influence the symbolic meaning she gave of her. This is a prime example of symbolic interactionism at work in everyday life.
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