Symbolic interactionism
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
Related e |
Featured: |
Symbolic interactionism is a major sociological perspective that places emphasis on micro-scale social interaction, which is particularly important in subfields such as urban sociology and social psychology. Symbolic interactionism is derived from American pragmatism, especially the work of George Herbert Mead and Charles Cooley. Herbert Blumer, a student and interpreter of Mead, coined the term and put forward an influential summary of the perspective: people act toward things based on the meaning those things have for them; and these meanings are derived from social interaction and modified through interpretation. Blumer was also influenced by John Dewey, who insisted that human beings are best understood in relation to their environment.
See also
- Social interaction
- Social action
- Labeling theory
- Edward T. Hall
- Extension transference
- Sandbox play therapy
- Generalized other
- Phronetic social science