Symbolic

Interactionis
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jmachua
 Topics
• Definition
• Mead’s Symbolic Interactionism;
Pragmatism
• Weber’s Action Theory
 Objectives
• Evaluate Mead’s contribution to
Symbolic Interactionism
• Understand Symbolic Interactionism
• Analyze Weber’s Action Theory as an
influence to Symbolic Interactionism
• Before we proceed with Symbolic
Interactionism (SI), one point to
consider is how this could be
different from the first ones we
discussed (Struc. Functionalism and
Marxism).
 • SF and Marxism are more applicable
through macro perspective while SI is
more applicable through micro
perspective
– Macro concerns itself with social
structure
– Micro concerns itself with social
interaction
Blumer, 1969; Denzin 1992
 What is Symbolic
Interactionism?
• Symbolic Interactionism is a theory
about social interactions

• Basically, it is a frame of reference

to better understand how
individuals interact with one
another to create symbolic worlds,
and in return, how these
worlds shape individual behavior

Blumer, 1969; Mead, 1972; Denzin 1992;

thoughtco.com
 What is Symbolic
Interactionism?
• Symbolic Interactionism is a
brainchild of George Herbert Mead
and his student, Herbert Blumer.

• Many others would follow suit…

• Remember Charles Horton Cooley

and his ‘looking glass self’ theory?
(from SS01)
Blumer, 1969; Mead, 1972; Denzin 1992;
pinterest
 What is Symbolic
Interactionism?
• Mead argues that the individual
mind can exist only in relation to
other minds with shared meanings

• Mead’s SI essentially is the

compound of other theories:
Pragmatism, in general, and his
Social Behaviorism (gestures
and social objects are the ones
considered to be ‘stimuli’)
Blumer, 1969; Mead, 1972; Denzin 1992;
alchetron
 What is Symbolic
Interactionism?
• Pragmatism is a philosophical movement claiming that
something is true, or right, if it works satisfactorily;

• thereby the meaning is to be found in the practicality,

whether something is practical or not—thus any unpractical
ideas are discarded
• Thus man creates
meaning, because man
decides which is
practical.

Blumer, 1969; Mead, 1972; Denzin 1992;

 What is Symbolic
Interactionism?
• Here are pragmatism’s main tenets:
– true reality does not exist out there in the real
world, rather it is actively created as we act in
and toward the world

Blumer, 1969; Mead, 1972; Denzin 1992;

bbc
 What is Symbolic
Interactionism?
• Here are pragmatism’s main tenets:
– people remember and base their knowledge of
the world on what has been useful to them and
are likely to alter what no longer works

Blumer, 1969; Mead, 1972; Denzin 1992;

alchetron
 What is Symbolic
Interactionism?
• Here are pragmatism’s main tenets:
– people define the social and physical objects
they encounter in the world according to their
use for them

Blumer, 1969; Mead, 1972; Denzin 1992;

thoughtco
 What is Symbolic
Interactionism?
• Here are pragmatism’s main tenets:
– to understand people, such understanding must
be based on what they do

Blumer, 1969; Mead, 1972; Denzin 1992;

 What is Symbolic
Interactionism?
• The influence of pragmatism to Symbolic
Interactionism can be summarized into these
three:

– That there is a focus on the interaction between people

and the world
– That such interaction is dynamic and not static
– That people have the ability to interpret the world

Blumer, 1969; Mead, 1972; Denzin 1992;

 What is Symbolic
Interactionism?
• Herbert Blumer, Mead’s student,
summarized symbolic
interactionism with three main
points.

– Humans act towards things

(including other individuals) on
the basis of the meanings they
have for them

Blumer, 1969; Mead, 1972; Denzin 1992;

scotthyoung.com
 What is Symbolic
Interactionism?
• Herbert Blumer, Mead’s student,
summarized symbolic
interactionism with three main
points.

– The meaning of things arises

out of the social interactions
one has with one's fellows

Blumer, 1969; Mead, 1972; Denzin 1992;

healthline.com
 What is Symbolic
Interactionism?
• Herbert Blumer, Mead’s student,
summarized symbolic
interactionism with three main
points.

– Meanings are handled in, and

modified through, an
interpretive process a person
uses in dealing with the things
he or she encounters
Blumer, 1969; Mead, 1972; Denzin 1992;
buzzfeed
 What is Symbolic
Interactionism?
• Max Weber is also a major
contributor

• SI emphasizes greatly on the ideas

of action instead of culture, class
and power

Blumer, 1969; Mead, 1972; Denzin 1992

 What is Symbolic
Interactionism?
• Here’s a bit on Weber’s Social Action Theory

• It all starts with ‘verstehen’

• /*not to be confused with Talcott Parson’s Action Theory (since

Parson’s is structural functionalist maintaining scientific rigour of
positivism while acknowledging the necessity of the "subjective
dimension" of human action)

Blumer, 1969; Mead, 1972; Denzin 1992

 What is Symbolic
Interactionism?
• ‘verstehen’ in German literally means ‘know’

• Weber defined this as understanding the meaning of

action from the actor’s point of view, (emphatic
understanding)

Blumer, 1969; Mead, 1972; Denzin 1992

 What is Symbolic
Interactionism?
• His action theory argues that before the cause of
an action could be ascertained, you had to
understand the meaning attached to it by the
individual.

• Understanding has two types:

– aktuelles verstehen, direct observational understanding
– eklarendes verstehen, empathetic understanding –
understanding the meaning of an act in terms of the
motives that have given rise to it

Blumer, 1969; Mead, 1972; Denzin 1992

 What is Symbolic
Interactionism?
• Eklarendes verstehen or empathetic understanding
would lead you to ask upon the motives behind an
action; why do some people go outside their
houses despite a pandemic? Do they just like to do
it?

• To answer those questions, one must get into the

shoes of people doing such actions.

Blumer, 1969; Mead, 1972; Denzin 1992;

recatschool.eu
 What is Symbolic
Interactionism?
• For Weber, one should understand that people act
in such a way because society encourages/forces
people to act in such a way.

• How?

Blumer, 1969; Mead, 1972; Denzin 1992;

greatergood.berkeley.edu
 What is Symbolic
Interactionism?
• For Weber, there are four ideal types of social action (these
may arise as a mixture in reality)

– Traditional Social Action – forced by traditions (you study

because society, your family, expects you to do well)

Blumer, 1969; Mead, 1972; Denzin 1992;

 What is Symbolic
Interactionism?
• For Weber, there are four ideal types of social action (these
may arise as a mixture in reality)

– Affective Social Action – forced by one’s affections/emotions (you

study well because you are envious of your younger sibling doing
well in school)

Blumer, 1969; Mead, 1972; Denzin 1992;

verywellmind.com
 What is Symbolic
Interactionism?
• For Weber, there are four ideal types of social action (these
may arise as a mixture in reality)

– Value Rational Social Action – forced by a conscious belief in the

inherent (religious, aesthetic, constitutional, etc.) value of a type
of behavior (you study well because it is according to a grand
design of a society made by God)

Blumer, 1969; Mead, 1972; Denzin 1992;

thoughtco
 What is Symbolic
Interactionism?
• For Weber, there are four ideal types of social action (these
may arise as a mixture in reality)

– Instrumental-Rational Social Action – forced by the drive carried

out to achieve a certain goal; results based (you study well
because it can help you land better job in the future)

Blumer, 1969; Mead, 1972; Denzin 1992;

thoughtco
 What is Symbolic
Interactionism?
• Modernity encourages instrumental social action the most;
you do certain things because of a certain goal.

• Thus, there is a shift in rationality wherein people have

become disenchanted

Blumer, 1969; Mead, 1972; Denzin 1992;

pinterest
 What is Symbolic
Interactionism?
• Disenchantment is a result of formal rationality; it is the
removal of ‘magic’ in our life

• With capitalism as major contributor, we are all essentially

locked in an ‘iron cage’.

Blumer, 1969; Mead, 1972; Denzin 1992;

slideshare/sheikahmed22
Blumer, Herbert. (1969). Symbolic
Interactionism. Perspective and Method.
UCal Press: California.
Denzin, Norman. (1992). Symbolic
Interactionism and Cultural Studies. The
Politics of Interpretation. Blackwell:
Australia.
Mead, G.H. (1972). Mind, Self and Society.
UChicago Press: Chicago.