Table of Contents
Definition of Symbolic Interactionism
(noun) The theory that society is possible because of the shared meanings and social patterns created during social interactions.
Etymology of Symbolic Interactionism
- Herbert Blumer (1900–1986) is credited with coining the term.
Symbolic Interactionism Pronunciation
Syllabification: sym·bol·ic in·ter·ac·tion·ism
Audio Pronunciation
International Phonetic Alphabet
- American English – /sɪmˈbɑlɪk ˌɪntəˈrækʃənɪz(ə)m/
- British English – /sɪmˈbɒlɪk ˌɪntərˈækʃənɪz(ə)m/
Usage Notes
- Plural: symbolic interactionisms
- Symbolic interactionism is a microsociological perspective.
- Symbolic interactionism along with conflict theory and functionalism are the typical perspectives studied in sociology but postmodern perspectives are challenging this tradition.
- Symbolic Interactionism grew out of Max Weber‘s (1864–1920) work on Verstehen.
- Symbolic interactionism scholars include:
- Charles Horton Cooley (1864–1929)
- George Herbert Mead (1863–1931)
- Georg Simmel (1858–1918)
- Also called:
- interactionist perspective
- symbolic interaction
- symbolic interaction approach
- symbolic interaction perspective
- symbolic interaction theory
- symbolic interactionist perspective
- A (noun) symbolic interactionist studies society from the (adjective) symbolic interactionistic or (adjective) symbolic interactionistical perspective (adverb) symbolic interactionistically.
Related Quotation
- “Postmodern theorists, believe that entirely new ways of examining social life are needed and that it is time to move beyond functionalist, conflict, and symbolic interactionist approaches” (Kendall 2006:37).
Related Videos
Additional Information
- Berger, Peter, and Thomas Luckmann. 1966. The Social Construction of Reality: A Treatise in the Sociology of Knowledge. Harmondsworth, United Kingdom: Penguin.
- Blumer, Herbert. 1969. Symbolic Interactionism: Perspective and Method. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
- Charon, Joel M. 2010. Symbolic Interactionism: An Introduction, An Interpretation. 10th ed. Boston: Prentice Hall.
- Cooley, Charles Horton. 1902. Human Nature and the Social Order. New York: Scribner.
- Ehrenreich, Barbara. 2001. Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America. New York: Metropolitan.
- Gans, Herbert. 1962. The Urban Villagers. New York: Free Press.
- Garfinkel, Harold. 1967. Studies in Ethnomethodology. Cambridge: Polity Press.
- Goffman, Erving. 1959. The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life. Garden City, NY: Doubleday.
- Hewitt, John P., and David Shulman. 2011. Self and Society: A Symbolic Interactionist Social Psychology. 11th ed. Boston: Allyn & Bacon
- Kuhn, Manford H. 1964. “Major Trends in Symbolic Interaction Theory in the Past Twenty-five Years.” Sociological Quarterly 5(1):61–68. doi:10.1111/j.1533-8525.1964.tb02256.x.
- Manis, Jerome G., and Bernard N. Meltzer. 1978. Symbolic Interaction: A Reader in Social Psychology. 3rd ed. Boston: Allyn and Bacon.
- Mead, George Herbert. 1934. Mind, Self & Society from the Standpoint of a Social Behaviorist. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
- Reynolds, Larry T., and Nancy J. Harman-Kinney, eds. 2003. Handbook of Symbolic Interactionism. Walnut Creek, CA: Altamira.
- Rose, Arnold Marshall. 1962. Human Behavior and Social Process. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.
- Stryker, Sheldon. 1980. Symbolic Interactionism: A Social Structural Version. Menlo Park, CA: Benjamin/Cummings.
Related Terms
Reference
Kendall, Diana. 2006. Sociology in Our Times: The Essentials. 5th ed. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.
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Cite the Definition of Symbolic Interactionism
ASA – American Sociological Association (5th edition)
Bell, Kenton, ed. 2013. “symbolic interactionism.” In Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Retrieved April 20, 2024 (https://sociologydictionary.org/symbolic-interactionism/).
APA – American Psychological Association (6th edition)
symbolic interactionism. (2013). In K. Bell (Ed.), Open education sociology dictionary. Retrieved from https://sociologydictionary.org/symbolic-interactionism/
Chicago/Turabian: Author-Date – Chicago Manual of Style (16th edition)
Bell, Kenton, ed. 2013. “symbolic interactionism.” In Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Accessed April 20, 2024. https://sociologydictionary.org/symbolic-interactionism/.
MLA – Modern Language Association (7th edition)
“symbolic interactionism.” Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Ed. Kenton Bell. 2013. Web. 20 Apr. 2024. <https://sociologydictionary.org/symbolic-interactionism/>.