Symbollic_Interactionism

Symbollic Interactionism Symbolic Interactionism “The Looking Glass Self” John P. Hewitt defines symbolic interactionism as a distinctly American sociological perspective whose roots lie in the philosophy of pragmatism. George Herbert Mead is a key proponent of this theory who was a pragmatist philosopher with intellectual stature. Mead is best known and remembered for his theory of mind. His students at the University of Chicago assembled their notes after his death in 1931. Herbert Blumer was the primary student in this effort and the one who coined the term “symbolic interactionism.” These words capture what Mead claimed as the most human and humanizing activity that people can engage in – talking to each other. Blumer stated three core principles of symbolic interactionism: · Meaning: The Construction of Social Reality · Language: The Source of Meaning, and · Thought: Taking the Role of the Other. According to Mead, once we understand that these principles: meaning, language and thought, are interconnected, we are better able to understand the concept of self. Like most women, I have always been very weight conscious. When I reached high school age, I wore size eleven jeans and thought of myself as being obese. However, by the time I entered symbolic, interactionism, self, others, human, people, conduct, been, am, weight, very, time, theory, social, mind, mead, life, experience, cancer, being, began, able, years, whole, voice, thought, size, primary, pills, look, however, home, fact, experiences, doctor