SOCPSY 2YY3 Lecture 3: Symbolic Interactionism

• School: McMaster University
• Department: Social Psychology
• Course: SOCPSY 2YY3
• Professor: Kathleen Steeves

Document Summary

A theoretical perspective within social psychology that is concerned with the meanings we create, work with and negotiate and sometimes change socially". Human beings having agency is a big part of si. Known as first person to use term of si. 3 premises for symbolic interactionism: meaning arise through interactions. Symbols - shared symbol is something that holds the same meaning for two or more individuals. Language - combine the symbols within a language in order to create meaning between people. The social construction of reality is the process where we come to constructing a meaning around symbols. You learn a meaning to attribute to objects, not born with innate system for uses of objects. Some of the understandings we have are subjective. The meanings we attribute to things that are shared and learned socially. Facial expressions, emotions (we are portraying these things whether we know it or not)