Sociology

The Interactionist

The Three Main

Sociological Perspectives

Theories in sociology provide us with different

perspectives with which to view our social world. A
perspective is simply a way of looking at the world. A
theory is a set of interrelated propositions or
principles designed to answer a question or explain a
particular phenomenon; it provides us with a
perspective. Sociological theories help us to explain
and predict the social world in which we live.
Sociology
includes
three
major
theoretical
perspectives: the functionalist perspective, the
conflict perspective, and the symbolic interactionist
perspective (sometimes called the interactionist
perspective, or simply the micro view). Each
perspective offers a variety of explanations about the
social world and human behaviour.

Symbolic Interactionist
Perspective

Both the functionalist and the conflict perspectives are

concerned with how broad aspects of society, such as
institutions and large social groups, influence the social
world. This level of sociological analysis is called macro
sociology: It looks at the big picture of society and
suggest show social problems are affected at the
institutional level. Micro sociology, another level of
sociological analysis, is concerned with the social
psychological dynamics of individuals interacting in
small groups. Symbolic interactionism reflects the
micro-sociological
perspective,
and was
largely
influenced by the work of early sociologists and
philosophers, such as George Simmel, Charles Cooley,
George Herbert Mead, and Erving Goffman. Symbolic
interactionism emphasizes that human behaviour is
influenced by definitions and meanings that are created
and maintained through symbolic interaction with
others.

The symbolic interactionist perspective, also

known as symbolic interactionism, directs
sociologists to consider the symbols and details
of everyday life, what these symbols mean, and
how people interact with each other. Although
symbolic interactionism traces its origins to
Max Weber's assertion that individuals act
according to their interpretation of the meaning
of their world, the American philosopher
George H. Mead (18631931) introduced this
perspective to American sociology in the 1920s.

According to the symbolic interactionist perspective, people attach

meanings to symbols, and then they act according to their subjective
interpretation of these symbols. Verbal conversations, in which
spoken words serve as the predominant symbols, make this
subjective interpretation especially evident. The words have a
certain meaning for the sender, and, during effective
communication, they hopefully have the same meaning for the
receiver. In other terms, words are not static things; they require
intention and interpretation. Conversation is an interaction of
symbols between individuals who constantly interpret the world
around them. Of course, anything can serve as a symbol as long as it
refers to something beyond itself. Written music serves as an
example. The black dots and lines become more than mere marks on
the page; they refer to notes organized in such a way as to make
musical sense. Thus, symbolic interactionists give serious thought to
how people act, and then seek to determine what meanings
individuals assign to their own actions and symbols, as well as to
those of others.

Consider applying symbolic interactionism to the American

institution of marriage. Symbols may include wedding bands, vows
of lifelong commitment, a white bridal dress, a wedding cake, a
Church ceremony, and flowers and music. American society
attaches general meanings to these symbols, but individuals also
maintain their own perceptions of what these and other symbols
mean. For example, one of the spouses may see their circular
wedding rings as symbolizing never ending love, while the other
may see them as a mere financial expense. Much faulty
communication can result from differences in the perception of the
same events and symbols.

Critics claim that symbolic interactionism neglects the macro level

of social interpretationthe big picture. In other words,
symbolic interactionists may miss the larger issues of society by
focusing too closely on the trees (for example, the size of the
diamond in the wedding ring) rather than the forest (for
example, the quality of the marriage). The perspective also
receives criticism for slighting the influence of social forces and
institutions on individual interactions.

Basic Principles of
Interactionism

The Interactionist perspective is usually considered to consist

of three related "sub-perspectives" (Phenomenology,
Symbolic Interaction and Ethnomethodology). Only a basic
understanding of the overall perspective is required. You are
not expected to have a detailed knowledge and understanding
of each of these sub-perspectives.
1. Human behaviour is a product of the way we interpret the
social world on a daily basis. The social world is created
and recreated by people going about their lives.
2. The way in which people interpret and give meaning to the
behaviour of others is a significant factor in the
understanding of the social world.

3. "Society" is seen as an "elaborate fiction" that we create in order

to help us to make sense of the bewildering range of behaviour that
we experience on a daily basis. "Society" does not have an
objective existence, as such, since it is experienced subjectively by
people.
4. For Mead, social life consists of people interacting (that is,
behaving with reference to each other-taking note of the way people
behave towards each other), setting-up mutual expectations-or
norms-and then acting with reference to these norms.
5. The concept of categorisation is important because people
classify various similar phenomena in their daily lives in order to
make sense of these phenomena.

6. The process of labelling (giving names to the phenomena we

classify) is significant because the labels we create (mother,
criminal, insane and the like) help us to define (or stereotype)
the nature of the social categories we create. In modern societies
people tend to behave towards each other on the basis of the
labels that each person attracts from others.
7. Some labels are termed "master labels" because they are so
powerful they condition every aspect of our behaviour towards
the person so labelled. Examples of master labels in our society
might be: Criminal, homosexual, heterosexual, mad and so
forth. The labels we attract (either through choice (achievement)
or through being given them (ascription) are important because

people's knowledge of a label serves to unlock the

assumptions we hold about particular social categories. This
conditions the way in which we feel it is appropriate to
behave towards a person.
8. For Interactionists, social order is: a. Ultimately a product
of our mind (we make ourselves believe that the social
world has order and predictability and, by so doing, help to
convince each other by our actions that this is indeed the
case).

b. Real only for as long as we are able to individually and

collectively maintain this belief. In this respect, for as long as
people define a situation as real it will be real in its
consequences...
9. All social interaction involves meanings and interpretations
and the Interactionist perspective highlights the way in which
the social world is actively constructed.

Contributions of sociologist to
the Interactionist perspective

George
Herbert Mead

George Herbert Mead

Herbert pioneered the development of symbolic interaction

perspective.

Meads Theory of the self:

George Meads theory of the social self is based on the
argument that the self is a social emergent. Meads theory
states that individual selves are the products of social
interaction and not the logical or biological preconditions of
that interaction. It arises in the process of social experience
and action; hence it is not originally there at birth. According
to Mead, there are three activities through which the self is
developed: Language, play, and game

Meads concept of the generalized other is

also essential to his theory, which defines and
organized and generalized attitude of a social
group.

George Herbert Mead is also well-known for his

concept of the I and the me.
This states that the self as 2 sides. The me
represents the expectations and attitudes of
others and I is the response to me.

Charles
Cooley

Charles Cooley

Cooleys theory of the looking glass self, states that our

self-concepts and identities are a reflection of how other
people perceive us. Whether our beliefs about how others
perceive us are true or not, it is those beliefs that truly
shape our ideas about ourselves. Our internalization of
the reactions of others towards us is more important than
reality. Further, this self-idea has three principle
elements: our imagination of how others see our
appearance; our imagination of the others judgment of
our appearance; and some sort of self-feeling, such as
pride or mortification, determined by our imagination of
the others judgment of us.

Erving
Goffman

Erving Goffman
Goffman was the Major figure in the symbolic interaction
perspective.

Goffman pioneered the study of face-to-face interaction, also

known as micro-sociology, which he made famous inThe
Presentation of Self in Everyday Life. He used theatre to
show the importance of human and social action. All actions,
he argued, are social performances that aim to give off and
maintain certain desired impressions of the self to others. In
social interactions, humans are actors on a stage playing a
performance for an audience. The only time that individuals
can be themselves and get rid of their role or identity in
society is backstage where no audience is present.

Georg Simmel

Georg Simmel

Simmel
was
a
precursor
ofurban sociology,symbolic
interactionismandsocial networkanalysis. Simmel is best
known as a microsociologist who played a significant role in
the development of small-group research. Simmel's basic
approach can be described as "methodological relationism,"
because he operates on the principle that everything
interacts in some way with everything else. His essay on
fashion, for example, notes that fashion is a form of social
relationship that allows those who wish to conform to do so
while also providing the norm from which individualistic
people can deviate. Within the fashion process, people take
on a variety of social roles that play off the decisions and
actions of others.

On a more general level, people are influenced by

both objective culture (the things that people
produce) and individual culture (the capacity of
individuals to produce, absorb, and control
elements of objective culture). Simmel believed
that people possess creative capacities (morelife) that enable them to produce objective
culture that transcends them. But objective
culture (more-than-life) comes to stand in
irreconcilable opposition to the creative forces
that have produced it in the first place.

William Isaac
Thomas

William Isaac Thomas

Sociologist William Isaac Thomas ([1931] 1966) emphasized
the importance of definitions and meanings in social
behaviour and its consequences. He suggested that
humans respond to their definition of a situation rather
than to the objective situation itself. Hence, Thomas noted
that situations we define as real become real in their
consequences. InThe Unadjusted Girl(1923) he
developed the concept of the "definition of the situation":
"Preliminary to any self-determined act of behaviour, there
is always a stage of examination and deliberation which
we may call the definition of the situation..." The
individual's definition of the situation is always subject to
"a rivalry between the spontaneous

definition of the situation made by members of

an organized society and the definition which
his society has provided for him.. The
individual tends to a hedonistic selection of
activity, pleasure first; and society to a
utilitarian selection, safety first." Along with
the ideas ofGeorge Herbert Mead , Thomas'
concept of the definition of the situation later
proved to be an important part of the rebellion
ofsymbolic interactionismagainst
structural functionalism .