Symbolic Interactionism

Symbolic interactionism is a sociological perspective rooted in the philosophy of pragmatism, especially as it was developed by the philosopher George Herbert Mead, who taught social psychology at the University of Chicago in the early 20th century. His student, Herbert Blumer, who named the perspective “symbolic interactionism,” asserted the three basic precepts that have defined the interactionist approach. First, people act in and toward the social world—its people, situations, social roles, goals, ideas, institutions, and material things—on ...