Symbolic Interactionism

Socialization Theories

Symbolic Interactionism

• The term was coined by Herbert Blumer in 1937

• “is based on the idea that social reality is constructed in each human interaction through the use of symbols, such as, words or gestures.”

Symbolic Interactionism

• Major Premises:

1. Human beings act towards things on the basis of the meaning that the things have for them

Symbolic Interactionism

• Major Premises:

2. The meaning of such things is derived from, or arises out of, the social interaction that one has with one’s fellows.

Symbolic Interactionism

• Major Premises:

3. Meanings are handled in, and modified through, an interpretive process used by the person in dealing with the things he encounters.

Social Structure

(social conditions, norms,

Cultural values)

Variables Related to Personality according to Symbolic Interactionism

Subjective Perception/Meaning/

Interpretation

Personality

(Cognition, Affect,

Behavior)

Charles Horton Cooley 1864-1929

• In Social Organization Cooley asks: What makes society possible?• He views that society is a process,

continuing to form and reform via individuals, groups, patterns, and institutions.

• In making the self, society is born• The self and society are twin-born

Charles Horton Cooley 1864-1929

In his attempt to illustrate the reflected character of the self, Cooley compared it to a looking glass:

Each to each a looking-glass

Reflects the other that doth pass.

(Cooley 1964:184)

Charles Horton Cooley 1864-1929

Self-concept: an image of yourself as having an identity separate from other people

Looking-glass self: a self concept based on what you believe others think of you

Charles Horton Cooley 1864-1929

Three Components of the Looking glass Self:

1.Perception of how you appear to others.

2. Perception of how others judge your behavior.

3. How you feel about other people’s judgment.

Charles Horton Cooley 1864-1929

• Society serves as our mirror or looking glass. This theory posed that personality develop depending on how we see ourselves reflected in others.

George Herbert Mead

• The self has two parts:• 1. The “I” is the creative/ unsocialized

self • Active, impulsive, unpredictable,

initiates action• Self as Subject

George Herbert Mead

• 2. The “Me” is the conventional/ socialized self• Judgmental, controlling, conforms

to norms• Imagine ourselves as others see

us• Self as Object

Mead’s concept of Social Self

“ME”

-part of self created through socialization

-predictability and conformity come from the “me”

“I”-part of self that is spontaneous, unpredictable, & creative-acts in extreme situations of rage to excitement

“I” and “Me” constantly interact in social situations …

George Herbert Mead

• Stages of Self Development:

1. Pre-verbal Period (0-1)- Body language is the means by

which the child communicates with other people.

George Herbert Mead

• Stages of Self Development:

2. Verbal Period (1-3)- Also called ‘imitation period’- ‘acquiring language means

acquiring a mind’. - The child begins to learn

symbols by observing and imitating adults.

George Herbert Mead

• Stages of Self Development:

3. Play Stage (3-7)- The child begins to learn the

attitude of significant others.- play involves acting and

thinking like another person.

• Role taking-involves imagining ourselves in the role of others in order to determine the criteria others will use to judge our behavior.

George Herbert Mead

• Significant Others- are people who play important roles in the early socialization experiences of children

• Generalized Others- a person’s image of cultural standards and how they apply to him or her; our awareness of social norms.

George Herbert Mead

• Stages of Self Development:

4. Game Stage (7-8)- The stage whereby the child

learn and able to take the role of the generalized others.

Erving Goffman

• Born in Alberta, Canada on June 11, 1922

• Became a Professor in the Sociology Department of the University of California, Berkeley.

• Became the President of the American Sociological Association in 1982.

Erving Goffman

• Goffman argues that the self is simply nothing more than “Self Presentations” and “Role Performances.”

Erving Goffman

• Social life as a theatre, with social scripts, performances and actors & roles that perform in the Front and Back Regions of self.

• The concept of depicting social life as a Theatre is called Dramaturgy.

Erving Goffman

Self

-is the product of the interaction of the actor (the person) and the audience (others).

Impression Management

-a way of guarding one’s performance as a series of unexpected actions.

Erving Goffman

Dramaturgy

“A view of social life as a series of dramatic performances like those performed on the stage.” (Ritzer, 2000).

Erving Goffman

When we talk about the Dramaturgical Approach to the Social World the self is divided by perception.

• The perception of the “Front Stage” and “Back Stage,” also known as the Front and Back Regions of Behavior .

Erving Goffman

The Front Stage

-the region where performance is given. During front stage performance, the actor tries to hide/ conceal errors while performing.

- Consist of the SETTING (physical scene) and the PERSONAL FRONT (expected items that will identify the performer).

Erving Goffman

The Front Stage

The PERSONAL FRONT is subdivided into:

1. Manner- tells the audience what sort of role the performer expects to play in the situation.

2. Appearance- these are items that will tell the social status of the performer.

Erving Goffman

The Back Stage

- Here the performer can relax; he can drop his front, relinquish speaking his lines, and step out of character.

-Suppressed actions in the front stage or various kinds of informal actions are found in the back stage.

Erving Goffman

The Outside

- When the actor is neither at the front stage nor at the back stage.- Those individuals who are on “The Outside” of the social interactions we may call outsiders.-If we shift our considerations from the front or back region to the outside, we tend to shift our reference from one performance to another.