Symbolic Interaction Ism II

8/8/2019 Symbolic Interaction Ism II

1/34

Symbolic

InteractionismTiffany Kotalik

Laura ByrdShawn Oetjen


2/34

Symbolic InteractionismTerm coined by Herbert Blumer

Symbolic interactionism- is based on the idea that social reality isconstructed in each human interaction through the use of

symbols, such as, words or gestures. Studying symbolic

interaction assists us in understanding human behavior. There

are 3 premises to symbolic interactionism:

Human beings act toward things on the basis of the meaningsthat the things have for them. Things include everything that the

person has in their world.

The meaning of things that is derived from the social interaction

that you have with someone.

These meanings are handled in, and modified through, an

interpretative process used by the person in dealing with the

things he/she encounters.

QuickTime andaTIFF(Uncompressed) decompressor

areneededtoseethis picture.


3/34

Darwin wrote,Expression of the Emotionsin Man and Animals

Theory of evolution into the field of conscious experience.

Darwin viewed consciousness as a psychological state.

Mead believed consciousness is an emergent form of

behavior.

Darwins ideas led Mead to believe that behavior is not

accidental or random but formed through individualsinteractions with one another in a social environment.


4/34

Romantic Philosophers: Gottlieb Fichte,Friedrick Von Schelling, and G.W.F Hegel

They argued humans construct their own

worlds and their realities.

*Mead learned from the German tradition that

there is no consciousness which is not

conscious of something.


5/34

Pragmatism

Pragmatists believe that true reality does not exist out there inthe real world.

They reject the idea of absolute truths and regard all ideas as

provisional and subject to change in light of future research. Truth is determined by humans adaptations to theirenvironments.

Pragmatism helped to develop the idea that people baseknowledge on what is most useful to them.

Pragmatists believe that human beings reflect on the meaning

of a stimulus before reacting. The meaning placed on various acts depends on the purpose ofthe act, the context in which it is performed, and the reactions ofothers to the act.


6/34

Mind, Self, & Society

Mead explains people begin their understanding of the social

world through play and game.

Play becomes first in the childs development. Child gains

understanding of the different social roles.

Game occurs later and a child gains understanding that

he/she has to relate to norms of behavior in order to be

accepted as a player.

Mead calls this the childs first encounter with thegeneralized other (the individual understands what kind of

behavior is expected, appropriate and so on, in different

social settings.)


7/34

Meads Me & I

Me is the socialized self. Me is what is

learned in interaction with others. Including

both knowledge about the environment/society,and who he/she is; their sense of self.

I can learn who I am by observing the

responses of others. The I is the

unsocialized self. It is the subject of ones

actions.


8/34

William James

James recognizes that habit reduces the need for

conscious attention. If individuals are capable of forming

new habits, they are also capable of modifying their

behavior.

He viewed the consciousness as I (the self as

knower/pure ego) and Me (the self as known/ empirical

ego).

Me is everything that you can claim as your own: yourown thoughts, feelings, emotions, etc.

I is what you are at, at any given specific moment in time.


9/34

Charles Horton Cooley

Cooley identified the influence of the

environment on behavior.

People learn to act as society wants

them to act.

Individuals modify their behaviors as the

situation dictates


10/34

Erving Goffman, Presentation of

Self in Everyday Life Dramaturgical perspective- society is viewed as a

stage where humans are actors giving

performances for audiences. Front stage includes using props to illustrate the

role that one is playing.

Backstage is closed and hidden from the

audience. Actors can act as they really are and lettheir guard down.


11/34

Arlie

Russell Hochschild

Well known for her work on the sociology of

emotions. Emotion work becomes mostnecessary when the actors feelings do not fit

the situation they find themselves in.


12/34

Charles Horton Cooley Born in 1864 on the Ann Arbor Campus

at the University of Michigan

4 of 6 children

Financially well off and well- educatedfamily

Sickly child, causing strain betweenCooley and his father

Cooley had a speech impediment

His father was larger than life

The only expectation of Cooley was notto embarrass his family.

He enjoyed reading Charles Darwin andHerbert Spencer in his free time.


13/34

Cooleys Background Cooley did his undergrad work at the University of Michigan

majoring in Engineering, which he disliked.

He enjoyed history, philosophy, and economics.

Worked as a mechanical engineer in Washington for twoyears as a surveyor for the Interstate CommerenceCommission and the Census Bureau

Cooley then decide to go to Graduate School at theUniversity of Michigan

While in Graduate school Cooley met his wife Elsie Jones,

whose father was the dean at the University They had three children, who later would become subjects of

observation in their fathers quest to understand thedevelopment of self.


14/34

Cooleys Background Cooley then got his PhD in political economy and a minor in

Sociology. His dissertation was The Theory ofTransportation His thesis was The theory of transportationis a pioneering study in human ecology, still highly required.

He then continue to teach at the University of Michigan. Because of his sickly demeanor and nervous approach hewas not well-liked by the undergraduates.

However the graduate students were impressed by his indepth analysis.

Cooley helped in founding of the American SociologicalAssociation.


15/34

Cooleys Publications Personal Competition (1899)

Human Nature and the Social

Order (1902) Social Organization (1909)

Cooleys best selling book

Social Process(1918)

The posthumous SociologicalTheory and Social Research


16/34

The Organic View of Society Cooley believed that society was

interrelated

Cooley also believed that Organic Viewcontained three parts know as the triadic

relationship. The triadic relationship

contains the primary group, human nature,

and the looking-glass self.


17/34

Primary Groups Cooleys main goal was to explain the relationship between

man and society

Primary Groups are intimate, face to face groups that play

a key role in linking the individual to the larger society.Properties of primary group

1. Face to face association

2. Unspecified Nature of associations

3. Relative permanence

4. A small number of persons involved5. Relativity intimacy of participants


18/34

Primary Groups Primary Groups are important to the

development of children

The children develop a sense of self Provide socialization

They give a sense of belonging

Cooley concluded that human naturecannot develop without primary group


19/34

The Looking-glass Self TheoryContains three parts

1. 1.The imagination of our appearance

to the other person

2. 2.The imagination of their judgment

of the that appearance

3. 3. Our resulting self-feeling , such as

pride or mortification

The theory of the Looking-glass Self ismost prevalent when is applied to

children


20/34

George Herbert Mead

Born February 27, 1863

Educated and religious family

Both parents were teachers

Mother hoped he would be a minister

Attended Oberlin college at age 16 Rigid Christian school

Questioning and conversation discouraged

Lost faith in his religion

Quic

ime

and a FF ncompressed decompressor

are needed to see this picture


21/34

BackgroundA

fter Oberlin

First job out of college was teaching at aprimary school and lasted four months

Worked as a tutor and railroad surveyor whichallowed him to read a lot

Started writing his college friend Henry Castlewho helped shape his life Went from theological to secular beliefs

Roommates at Harvard graduate school Studied philosophy but found it too abstract and

changed to physiological psychology


22/34

Background

Germany to Michigan

Went to Germany on scholarship

Studied underWilhelm Wundt and Stanley Hall

Psychology and philosophy of Simmel

Married Castles sisterHelene in 1891

Quit graduate school to teach philosophy and

psychology at the University of Michigan

Hoped to combine scholarship and social action

Colleagues: Charles Cooley, James Tufts, and John

Dewey


23/34

Background

Chicago Became friends with Dewey who received an offer from the

University of Chicago

Dewey got Mead an assistant professor position

Mead would stay in Chicago the rest of his life

Chicagos social problems provided a good environment forstudy and reform

Mead was not a significant writer

His lectures were influential however

Grad students published most of his major works from notes

Conflict with the president of the college

Said he would resign and leave Chicago

Released from hospital the next day and died suddenly at theage of 68


24/34

Intellectual Influences

William James, Pragmatism, Behaviorism

Social psychology

Habits and modifying behavior

Role of consciousness

Development of the self I and me

American Pragmatism

Everything socially constructed & subject to change

Behaviorism Attempt to explain phenomena by studying behaviors

Lead Mead to idea of the social act


25/34


German Idealism

Philosophers: Fichte, Schelling, and Hegel

Subject and object connection

Influenced Meads generalized other Hegel: consciousness and society

WilhelmWundt

language and gesture in social context


26/34


CharlesDarwin and Evolutionism

Final push away from theology

Nothing is fixed; continuing process of change

Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals Support for gestures but Mead disagreed that emotion

was a psychological state

Consciousness emerges, not innate


27/34

Concepts and Contributions

Symbolic Interactionism

Founder of modern symbolicinteractionism, but did not coin term

Mind, Self, and Societypublished by hisstudents after his death influenced Blumer

Humans think about how they should actaccording to their perceptions about reality

and their agreement with others on themeanings behind the reality


28/34


Mind, Self, and Society

Mind Develops within the social process

Perceives, defines, evaluates

Self Involves process of reflection

Both object and subject

Society Nothing is separate from society Society is a structure for ongoing communication and

interaction


29/34


The I and the Me

The self has two parts

The I is the unsocialized self

Active, impulsive, unpredictable, initiates action Self as Subject

The Me is the socialized self Judgemental, controlling, conforms to norms

Imagine ourselves as others see us Self as Object


30/34


Development of the Self

Critical for consciousness and taking therole of the other

Dependent on social environment Stages of development:

1. Imitation stage

2. Play stage

3. Game stage4. Generalized other


31/34


The Act

How a person responds to stimuli

1. Impulse

gut reaction, need to do something2. Perception

Deciding stimulus is important, and how to react

3. Manipulation

Taking action, adapting to the environment

4. Consummation

Following through to satisfy impulse

uickTime and aTIFF ( ncompressed) decompressor

are needed to see this picture.


32/34


The Social Act

The Social Act

involves two or more people

Requires cooperation and sharedunderstanding of the social object

Importance of the gesture Vocal gesture allows the speaker to reflect on the

message as well as the other listeners

mutually understood gesture = symbol

uick

ime

and a

I

(

ncompressed) decompressorare needed to see this picture.


33/34


34/34

Philosophy Realism vs Idealism

Idealism - we construct reality through our interpretation of

symbols, society constantly recreated

Realism vs Nominalism

Realism - abstract concepts (me & I) real in their

consequences, processes important to Mead

Idealism vs Materialism

Idealism - things exist only in the sense that they are

perceived, social objects exist only in the sense that they

are mutually perceived by the group

2

uic 34

ime 5 and a4

I6 6

(7

ncompressed) decompressor

are needed to see this picture

Documents

Symbolic Interaction Ism II