SOAN 2112 Chapter Notes - Chapter 5: Symbolic Interactionism, Ideal Point, Social Actions

• School: University of Guelph
• Department: Sociology and Anthropology
• Course: SOAN 2112
• Professor: Linda Hunter

Document Summary

Human beings unlike lower animals are endowed with the capacity for thought. The capacity for thought is shaped by social interaction. In social interaction people learn the meanings and symbols that allow them to exercise their distinctively human action and interaction. People are able to modify or alter the meaning and symbols that one uses in action and interaction on the basis of their interpretation of the situation. People are able to make these modifications and alternations because of their ability to interact with themselves and examine possible courses of action, advantages and disadvantages and choose one. The intertwined patterns of action and interaction make up groups and societies. The crucial assumption that humans possess the ability to think differentiates symbolic interactionism from its behaviorist roots. Individuals are not seen as units that are motivated by external or internal forces but rather as a reflection or interaction of units which compromise the social entity.