Week 11-1. Symbolic interactionism

1. Summary 

Symbolic interaction is a social science theory that people are connected and communicated through symbols. You can see how society is created and maintained through repetitive interactions between individuals. Individuals act on a common understanding within the social context. Therefore, the interaction and the resulting actions are interpreted in a way that is common to all. Most symbolic interactionists believe a physical reality does indeed exist by an individual's social definitions, and that social definitions do develop in part or in relation to something "real". People thus do not respond to this reality directly, but rather to the social understanding of reality. There are three assumptions frame symbolic interactionism. First, Humans act toward things on the basis of the meanings they ascribe to those things. Second, The meaning of such things is derived from, or arises out of, the social interaction that one has with others and the society. Third, The Meanings are handled in, and modified through, an interpretative process used by the person in dealing with the things he/she encounters. 
And there are 5 central ideas. The central themes of symbolic interaction are human agency, interactive decision making, symbolization and emergence. However, symbolic interactionists are often criticized for being overly impressive in their research methods and, in theory, not organized. 

2. Interesting 

It was impressive that people acted to include each other according to their meaning. This is because the meaning you have is created by interaction with people, and later, when you understand other people, it is interpreted from the paradigm you have already created. 
It was also found that language provides meaning as a sign of interaction. It's no wonder that people use language as a medium when interacting and forms the basis for communication, but I never thought about it consciously. In order to communicate with others, there must be a medium of interaction and this is what the language does. 

3. Discussion 

With the development of new media, people often create new subjects in cyberspace in addition to the “I” created by interaction with others. If so, do you think the social interaction theory mentioned above applies? 
With the development of the media, more social interaction occurs than before. If two groups of different values are put into one person, how do you think the individual will accept it?

Comments

  1. AnonymousMay 31, 2020 at 5:45 PM

    It is likely to take a neutral stance that embraces two different values. Or I think I'm right between the two values or I'm going to take a familiar one.

    ReplyDelete

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