Symbolic Interactionism

Symbolic interactionism, a theory most commonly associated with George Herbert Mead, has influenced generations of scholars in a number of fields in the humanities and social sciences. This theory has been especially well received in the field of communication, however, because it places communication at the forefront of the study of human social existence. Unlike theories that assume that communication is a simple exchange of messages within preexisting social frameworks or is a transmission that occurs between two preexisting individuals, symbolic interactionism contends that selves and communities are created, reimagined, and recreated by and through communicative processes. As a result, symbolic interactionism as a theoretical perspective has had a profound impact on the communication field, especially (although not solely) on qualitative, interpretive scholars in interpersonal communication. This holistic approach to communication is best understood by examining three basic topics: symbolic interaction, the relation of meaning and mind, and the nature of selfhood.

Although the origins of symbolic interactionism can be traced back to German idealism (or to the pre-Socratics), the development of this perspective was spurred by the late 19th- and early 20th-century writings of American pragmatists (and early psychologists) Charles S. Peirce, William James, and John Dewey. Symbolic interactionism was born when their work was applied to the study of social life by American sociologists Charles H. Cooley, W. I. Thomas, and George Herbert Mead; however, it was Mead who is credited with systematizing this perspective. Although Mead died without having written a book on the subject, his students collected, edited, and published a series of volumes of his work—most notably Mind, Self, and Society—and in 1937, one of them, Herbert Blumer, named the theory described within them symbolic interactionism. A number of prominent figures in communication, including Erving Goffman and Kenneth Burke, have drawn explicitly on Mead's work and on the assumptions of symbolic interactionism in their own writings. Mead's work has provided the foundation for other, specific communication theories, including the coordinated management of meaning and constructivism; it has also provided the main theoretical framework for countless studies of the role of communication in the formation of individual identity and social reality. As a result, symbolic interactionism can be described as one of the most important theoretical perspectives in the history of the field of communication.