Lesson 2.

Symbolic Interactionism

Disciplines and Ideas in the Social Sciences

General Academic Strand | Humanities and Social Sciences
How does the pandemic
change the way we
interact with others?

How do our interactions

influence us?

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 Learning
Competenc
y

Appraise the meanings that people attach to

everyday forms of interaction in order to
explain social behavior (HUMSS_DIS 11-IIIh-3).

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 Learning
Objectives

● Explain symbolic interactionism.

● Identify Max Weber’s contribution to
symbolic interactionism.

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Symbolic
Interactionism

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 Symbolic Interactionism

What Is Symbolic Interactionism?

● social interactions in specific

social situations

● micro-level orientation

● focuses on symbols and the

meanings we attach to them

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Symbolic Interactionism

Symbols
● social objects used to
represent whatever people
agree they shall represent
(Charon 1995, 39)

● words, gestures, actions, logos

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 Check
Your
Progress

What meaning does social media have in

your life? Why did you attach such a
meaning to it?

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 Symbolic Interactionism

Herbert Blumer

● one of the important figures in symbolic interactionism,

according to Wallace and Wolf

● importance of subjective experience and interpretation

in explaining human interactions

● proposed the three basic premises of symbolic

interactionism

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 Symbolic Interactionism

Blumer’s Three Basic Premises

1. Human beings act toward things on the basis of

the meanings that the things have for them.

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 Symbolic Interactionism

Blumer’s Three Basic Premises

According to Wallace and

Wolf, the meanings we
attach to something may
change depending on how
we perceive it.

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 Symbolic Interactionism

Blumer’s Three Basic Premises

2. The meaning of things arises out of the social

interaction one has with one's fellows.

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 Symbolic Interactionism

Blumer’s Three Basic Premises

Meanings of a symbol or an action

may vary depending on whom the
individual interacts with and how
the symbol or action is depicted in
a particular interaction.

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 Symbolic Interactionism

Blumer’s Three Basic Premises

3. The meanings of things are handled in and modified

through an interpretative process used by the person in
dealing with things he or she encounters.

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 Symbolic Interactionism

Blumer’s Three Basic Premises

interpretative process – the act

of “talking to oneself” as a way to
process and handle meanings, as
defined by Wallace and Wolf

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 Symbolic Interactionism

Blumer’s Three Basic Premises

Individuals decide the meanings

they attach to symbols.

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 Check
Your
Progress Why do you think the meanings we attach
to symbols change? Do you think
socialization has something to do with it?
Why or why not? Explain your answer.

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Symbolic Interactionism

Max Weber

● one of the important figures of

symbolic interactionism

● Verstehen (“interpretive
understanding”)

● action theory – the

importance of subjective
meaning
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 Symbolic Interactionism

Max Weber

wrote other works that are considered important in

sociology today

● The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism

● Politics as a Vocation

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 Fill in the blanks with the correct word, phrase, or
Try name.
This!
1. Symbolic interactionism is an approach that
sees society as the product of the
____________ of individuals.

2. ____________, such as language and gestures,

are social objects whose meanings have
been agreed upon in society.

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 Fill in the blanks with the correct word, phrase, or
Try name.
This!

3. Sociologist ____________ presented the three

premises of symbolic interactionism.

4. The ____________ is described as a process of

talking to oneself when dealing with the
meanings of a certain action.

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 Fill in the blanks with the correct word, phrase, or
Try name.
This!

5. Max Weber’s ____________ theory emphasizes

the importance of subjective experience in
making sense of society.

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 ● Symbolic interactionism is an approach that
Wrap- “sees society as the product of the everyday
Up
interactions of individuals.”

● Symbols refer to social objects used to

represent whatever people agree they shall
represent.

● According to authors Wallace and Wolf,

meaning is a social product; it is created, not
inherent in things; it is not a given.

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 ● According to Herbert Blumer, symbolic
Wrap- interactionism has three basic premises. These
Up
premises center on the importance of
meanings, how meanings are formed through
social interaction, and how individuals can
interpret meanings on their own.

● Max Weber also believed in the importance of

individual experiences in understanding an
action.
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Wrap-
Up

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Challen
ge
Yourself
Explain how social interactions construct and
reconstruct the meanings attached to symbols
in a culture or society. Use your own examples.

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Essenti
al
Questio
n
How is symbolic interactionism relevant in
understanding differences in our society
today?

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 Bibliography

Blumer, Herbert. Symbolic interactionism; perspective and method. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, 1969.

Charon, J.M. Symbolic interactionism. An introduction, an interpretation, an integration. Englewood Cliffs, NJ:
Prentice-Hall, 1995.

Elwell, Frank. "Verstehen: The Sociology of Max Weber." Rogers State University. March 28, 2005.
https://faculty.rsu.edu/users/f/felwell/www/Theorists/Weber/Whome2.htm.

Farganis, James. Readings in Social Theory: The Classic Tradition to Post-Modernism, 7th ed. New York:
McGraw-Hill, 2014.

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 Bibliography

Macionis, John J. Sociology, 16th ed. Harlow: Pearson Education Limited, 2017.

Macionis, John J., and Linda M. Gerber. Sociology, 5th Canadian ed. Toronto: Pearson Education Canada, 2003.

Ritzer, George, and Jeffrey Stepnisky. Sociological Theory. Los Angeles: SAGE, 2017.

Wallace, Ruth A. and Wolf, Alison. (1991). Contemporary Sociological Theory: Continuing the Classical
Tradition. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice Hall, 1991.

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