Textbook: Ch. 4: Symbolic Interaction Theory:

*I*

*_____* - the spontaneous, impulsive, creative self

*self*

*_______* - imagining how we look to another person

*Me*

*_______* - the reflective, socially aware self

*mind*

*________* - the ability to use symbols with common social meanings

*thought*

*__________* - an inner conversation

*society*

*____________*- the web of social relationships humans create and respond to

*self-concept*

*_____________* - a relatively stable set of perceptions people hold about themselves

*language*

*______________* - a shared system of verbal and nonverbal symbols

*role-taking*

*______________* - the ability to put oneself in another's place

*looking-glass self*

*__________________* - our ability to see ourselves as another sees us

*self-fulfilling prophecy*

*___________________* - a prediction about yourself causing you to behave in such a way that it comes true

*particular others*

*___________________* - individuals who are significant to us

*Pygmalion effect*

*___________________* - living up to or down to another's expectations of us

*significant symbols*

*_____________________* - symbols whose meaning is generally agreed upon by many people

*generalized other*

*______________________* - the attitude of the whole community

*mind* *language* *significant symbols* *thought* *role taking*

Mind: Mead defines *_________* as the ability to use symbols that have common social meanings, and mead believes that humans must develop minds through interaction with others. infants cannot really interact with others until they learn *________________*, or a shared system of verbal and nonverbal symbols organized in patterns to express thoughts and feelings. language depends on what Mead calls *___________________________*, or those symbols that evoke basically the same meaning for many people. Let's use the infant as an example to illustrate the concept of significant symbols. When parents coo and talk to their baby, the infant may respond, but she does not really understand the meanings of the words her parents use. As she learns language, the infant exchanges shared or significant symbols and can anticipate the responses of others to the symbols she uses. By using language and interacting with others, we develop what Mead calls "mind," and this enables us to create an interior setting for the society that we see operating outside us. Thus, mind can be viewed as the way people internalize society. Ye timid does not just depend on society. Mead suggests that there is a reciprocal relationship: Mind reflects and creates the social world. As people learn language, they learn the social norms and cultural values that constrain them. But they also learn ways to shape and change that social world through interaction. When children learn to talk, they may learn to say "please" and "thank you" as cultural indicators of politeness. Yet they may also create unique personal ways of expressing politeness, like saying "mayberry" and "yes you", that become accepted phrases within a specific relationship. Closely related to the concept of mind is the notion of *_____________*, which Mead conceives of as an inner conversation. Mead holds that without social stimulation and interaction with others, people would not be capable of holding inner conversations or sustaining thought. According to Mead, one of the most critical activities that people accomplish through thought is *_______________*, or the ability to symbolically place oneself in an imagined self of another person. This process is also called "perspective taking" because it requires that one suspend one's own perspective on an experience and instead view it from the imagined perspective of another. Whenever we try to imagine how another person might view something or when we try to behave as we think another would, we are role taking. Mead suggests that role taking is a symbolic act that can help clarify our own sense of self, even as it allows us to develop the capacity for empathy with others.

dynamic

Thee intellectual ancestors of Symbolic Interaction Theory were the easy 20 century pragmatists, such as John Dewey and William James. The pragmatists believed that reality is ______________, which was not a popular idea at that time. In other words, they had different ontological beliefs than many other leading intellectuals. The pragmatists advanced the notion of an emerging social structure and insisted that meanings were created in interaction. They were activist, or critical theorists, who saw science as a way to advance knowledge and improve society.

scope; utility; testability

integration, Critique, and Closing: Symbolic interaction Theory has been a powerful theoretical framework for over 80 years. it provides striking insights about human communication behavior in a wide variety of contexts. The theory is well developed, beginning with the role of the self and progressing to an examination of the self in society. Yet the theory is not without its critics. As you think about Mead's theory, consider 3 areas of evaluation: _________, ____________, and __________________.

*self-concept*

the Importance of the Self-Concept: The second overall theme focuses on the importance of the self-concept, or the relatively stable set of perceptions that people hold of themselves. When any social actor asks the question "Who am I?", the answer relates to *________________* The characteristics someone acknowledges about their physical features, roles, talents, emotional stats, values, social skills and limits, intellect, and so forth make up their self-concept. This notion is critical to Symbolic Interactionalism. Furthermore, Symbolic Interaction is interested in the ways in which people develop self-concepts. The theory pictures individuals with active selves, grounded in social interactions with others. This theme suggests 2 additional assumptions, according to LaRossa and Reitzes (1993): 1. Individuals develop self-concepts through interaction with others 2. Self-concepts provide an important motive for behavior.

Theory of Symbolic Interaction Symbolic Interaction (SI) Theory

George Herbert Mead, who is credited with originating The _____________________________, was fascinated with humans' ability to use symbols; he proposed that people act based on the symbolic meanings that are communicated in a given situation. Symbols form the essence of ____________________________, and the theory centers on the relationship between symbols (or verbal and nonverbal codes) and interactions between people using these symbols. As Lorie Sicafuse and Monica Miller (2010) observe, generally in social encounters people do not respond to stimuli directly but, rather to symbolic representations of stimuli, negotiated through interactions with others.

active

Ralph LaRossa and Donald C. Reitzes (1993) suggest that Symbolic Interaction Theory is "essentially...a frame of reference for understanding how humans, in concert with one another, create symbolic worlds and how these worlds, in turn, shape human behavior." LaRossa and Reitzes reflect Mead's contention about the interdependency between the individual and society. In fact, SI forms a bridge between theories focusing attention on individuals and theories attending to social forces. This is the case because of Mead's belief in individuals as __________, reflective participants in their social context.

*self-fulfilling prophecy*; self-expectations

Self-Concepts Provide an Important Motive for Behavior: The notion that beliefs, values, feelings, and assessments about the self affect behavior is a central tenet of the theory. Mead argues that because human beings possess a self, they are provided with a mechanism for self-interaction. This mechanism is used to guide behavior and conduct. It is also important to note that Mead sees the self as a process, not as a structure. Having a self forces people to construct their actions and responses, rather than simply expressing them. So, for instance, if you feel great about your abilities in your communication theory course, then it is likely that you will do well in the course. In fact, it is likely that you will feel confident in all of your courses. This process is often called the *___________________________*, or the ___________________ that cause a person to behave in such as way that the expectations are realized.

*self* *looking-glass self* *Pygmalion effect*

Self: Mead defines *_____* as the ability to reflect on ourselves from the perspective of others. From this you can see that Mead does not believe that self comes from introspection or from simply thinking on one's own. For Mead, the self develops from a particular kind of role taking - that is, imagining how we look to another person. Borrowing a concept originated by the sociologist Charles Cooley in 1912, Mead refers to this as the *_____________________*, or our ability to see ourselves in the reflection of another's gaze. Cooley (1972) believes that 3 principles of development are associated with the looking-glass self: (1) we imagine how we appear to others (2)we imagine their judgment of us (3)we feel hurt or pride based on these self-feelings We learn about ourselves from the ways others treat us, view us, and label us. Other researchers refer to the looking-glass self as "reflected appraisals," or people's perceptions of how others see them. Joanne Kaufman and Cathryn Johnson (2004) used the concept of reflected appraisals to examine how gay men and lesbians develop and manage their identities. They argue that SI is a much better framework for understanding identity construction than the stage models often applied to gay and lesbian identity development. Kaufman and Johnson found that gay men and lesbians who experienced positive reflected appraisals (in regard to homosexuality) had an easier time developing their identity than did those people who experienced negative reflected appraisals. Mead's notion of the looking-glass self implies the power that labels have on self-concept and behavior. This power represents a second type of self-fulfilling prophecy. Earlier in the chapter we spoke of self-fulfilling prophecies as being self-expectations that affect behaviors. By the same token, negative self-talk can create situations where predictions of failure come true. The second type of self-fulfilling prophecy produced by labels is called the *______________________*, and it refers to the expectations of others governing one's actions. The name comes from the myth of Pygmalion, on which a play of the same name and the musical "My Fair Lady* were based. The main character, Eliza, states that the difference between an upper-class lady and a poor flower girl is not in her behavior, but in how others treat her. The is phenomenon was tested in a classic study by Robert Rosenthal and Lenore Jacobson *1968). in their study, Rosenthal and Jacobson told elementary-school teachers that 20% of their students were gifted. But the names of these "gifted" students were simply drawn at random. 8 months later these students showed significantly greater gains in IQ compared to the rest of the children in the class. Rosenthal and Jacobson concluded that this was the result of teachers' expectations (and behaviors based on these expectations) towards the "gifted" children. As Mead therapies about self, he observes that through language people have the ability to be both subject and object to themselves. As subject, we act, and as object, we observe ourselves acting. Mead calls the subject, or acting self, the *I* and the object, or observing self, the *Me*. The "I" is spontaneous, impulsive, and creative, whereas the "Me" is more reflective and socially aware. The "I" might eat to go out and party all night, whereas the "Me" might exercise caution and acknowledge the homework assignment that should be done instead of partying. Mead sees the self as a process that integrates the "I" and the "Me".

*society* *particular others* *generalized other*

Society: Mead argues that interaction takes place within a dynamic social structure that we call culture or society. Mead defines *___________* as the web of social relationships that humans create. individuals engage in society through behaviors that they choose actively and voluntarily. Society thus features an interlocking set of behaviors that individuals continually adjust. Society exists prior to the individual, but is also creates and shaped by the individual, acting concert with others. Society, then, is made up of individuals, and Mead talks about two specific parts of society that affect the mind and the self. Mead's notion of particular others refers to the individuals in society who are significant to us. These people are usually family members, friends, work colleagues, and supervisors. We look to particular others to get a sense of social acceptability and a sense of self. ex: when a son thinks of his parents' opinion of him, he is deriving a sense of self from *_______________________*. The identity of the particular others an draw context influence our sense of social acceptability and our sense of self. Often the expectations of some particular others conflict with those of others. For ex: if a boy's family wants him to work hard and be successful, whereas his friends want him to party and ignore work, he is like to experience conflict. The *_____________________* refers to the viewpoint of a social group or the culture as a whole. It is given to us by society, and "the attitude of the generalized other is the attitude of the whole community." The generalized other provides information about roles, rules, and attitudes shared by the community. The generalized other also gives us a sense of how other people react to us and of general social expectations. This sense is influential in developing a social conscience. The generalized other may help mediate conflicts generated by conflicting groups of particular others. So if your friends want you to party and your family wants you to study, your knowledge of the importance of a college degree in your culture may lead you to decide in favor of your parents' position.

Twenty-Statements Self-Attitudes questionnaire

The 2 schools diverged primarily on methodology (or epistemology). Mead and his student at the University of Chicago, Herbert Blumer, contended that the study of human beings could not be conducted using the same methodology as the study of other things. They advocated the use of case studies and histories and non directive interviews. The Iowa School adopted a more quantitative approach to their studies. Kuhn believed that the concepts of SI could be operationalized, quantified, and tested. To this end, Kuhn developed a technique called the ___________________________. A research respondent taking the 20-statements testis asked to fill in 20 blank spaces in answer to the question, Who am I? Some of Kuhn's colleagues at Iowa became disenchanted with this view of the self and broke away to form the "new" Iowa School. Carl Couch was one of the leaders of this new school. Couch and his associates began studying interaction behavior through video-tapes of conversations, rather than simply examining the 20-statements test, although they still subscribed to a quantitative approach.

Semiotic; phenomenological

The Symbolic Interaction Theory integrates the ________________ and ________________________ traditions.