Symbolic Interactionism

The Nature of Meaning

Symbolic interactionists believe that human beings are symbolic creatures for whom linguistic symbols are the principal basis for constructing, experiencing, and acting meaningfully in their worlds. A symbol is anythinga word, an image, a gesture that stands for something else. National flags [Page 881]symbolize patriotic attitudes and feelings; certain hand gestures or facial expressions signify the user's contempt or disdain for another; derogatory words for outgroup members serve to demarcate and attach emotional significance to boundaries between “them” and “us.” Symbols shared by the members of a society, a community, or a group have a critical characteristic: They arouse shared responses in members. The person who invokes a symbol responds to it with thoughts, feelings, and actions that resemble those of others who see or hear it. Symbols thus prepare people to take action: An announcement in a public place that a fire has broken out arouses in all who are present the motivation to escape; derogatory words lay a shared basis for thoughts and feelings and ultimately actions toward others.

Meaning is a social and not merely an individual phenomenon. It is the individual, of course, who learns and uses the meanings provided by the language of his or her community. Yet to use a word is to bring into public view a part of the individual's state of mind at a particular time. To speak of fire, for example, is to indicate to others that one believes there is danger and is prepared to act on it, that the others should define the situation and act in a similar way, and that collectively they are seeking escape or rescue from a dangerous situation. To invoke a racial or ethnic stereotype in a conversation is to invite the other to view the member of a racial or ethnic outgroup in the same way as the speaker, and implicitly (though not necessarily immediately) to act toward the outgroup member on the basis of that attitude. Meanings thus shape both the individual's conduct and that of others. Each culture embraces a variety of meanings and thus influences conduct in a variety of directionsaltruism as well as selfishness, cooperation as well as conflict, tolerance of outsiders as well as hatred for them.

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