Symbolic Interactionism

Symbolic interactionism is a sociological perspective that views human conduct as a meaningful product of situated social interaction among selfconscious individuals. The perspective is rooted in the philosophy of pragmatism, especially as it was developed by George Herbert Mead, who taught at the University of Chicago in the early 20th century, and whose student, Herbert Blumer, named the perspective symbolic interactionism. This research seeks to portray social behavior from the perspective of participants by closely studying the concrete situations in which they form what is labeled “conduct.” Symbolic interactionists examine how people define situations and act on the basis of those definitions, as well as how the self is shaped by group membership and by the real and imagined boundaries between groups. Symbolic interactionists have ...