Symbolic Interactionism
Intro
Founder: GH Mead
Stems from Weber's social action theory
An interactionist perspective that analyses society and situations in terms of subjective meanings that people impose on objects, events or behaviour
Characteristics
Micro view
The study of individuals and their interactions can explain how social order is achieved
Meaning of symbols (objects, events, actions) are given during interactions and are subjective
Main points
Symbols are human-made therefore the meanings are subjective
Role-taking involves one person taking the role of another by imaginatively placing themselves in the position of others
The Self
Me: Your definition of yourself
I: Your opinion of yourself built on others reaction to you
Developed during role-taking
One can get out of himself, place oneself in the position of others and watch oneself (become the object of oneself)
People shape society instead of society shaping people
Herbert Blumer
Two stages of development
Play stage
Children playing the role of someone else (e.g: play doctor)
Game stage
Placing themselves in the role of the others / see themselves from the perspective of the generalised other
Viewed symbolic interactionism based on three premises
Based on the meanings given
The result of the process of interactionism
Meanings given by social actors
Meanings are created, modified, developed and changed
Taking the role of others while interpret actions and intentions of others
Critics
Interactionists tend to focus on small scale face-to-face interaction and failed to take into consideration social or historical setting which is a serious omission
Ropers argued that interactionists see people engaged in as mere episodes, encounters and situations
Patrick Baert and Filipe de Silva said Mead saw social life as consensual
Traditional societies might have considerable consensus on shared meanings but society today the co-existence of it has distinct cultural forms
Looking Glass Self
Founded by Charles Horton Cooley
A social psychological concept stating that a person's self grows out of society's interpersonal interactions and the perceptions of others
3 components
Imagine how we appear to others
Imagine the judgement of that appearance
Develop our self identity through the judgements of others
Mead described self as "taking the role of the other", the premise for which the self is actualised
Through interaction with others, we begin to develop an identity about who we are, as well as empathy for others
Jean Piaget
Believed that children think differently than adults and stated they go through 4 universal stages of cognitive development
Development is therefore biologically based and changes as the child matures
- Sensorimotor (see and believe)
- Preoperational (don't see but can accept)
- Concrete operational (accept reshaping)
- Formal operational (problem solving)