LAUREN STUDY GUIDE EXAM 2 Chapter 5 symbolic interaction theory SIT SIT s Key Concepts Mind Self Society Goal of SIT To explain how humans through interaction with one another create symbolic worlds and how these worlds affect behavior o Use of symbols o Interaction as a social event Assumption regarding meanings and behavior People act based on symbolic meanings created between them o Meaning is created through interaction between people o Meaning is modified through an interpretive process o Created meaning affects behavior Concept of Mind Defined the ability to use symbols that have common social meanings Explained we cannot interact with others until we learn language Language a shared system of verbal and nonverbal symbols organized in patterns to express thoughts and feelings Language uses significant symbols symbols with shared meaning Through language we o Share meanings o Anticipate responses of others Mind reflects and creates society o Use language to learn norms of society o AND to change norms Mind allows thought inner conversation o Without social interaction we can t think o Thought allows role taking taking the perspective of others AND Role taking the ability to put oneself in another s place leads to o Empathy o The development of self Concept of Self imagining how we look to another person Defined Ability to reflect on ourselves from the perspective of others Explained Self develops from role taking taking perspective of others o Looking glass self cooley 1912 our ability to see ourselves as others see us o Pygmalion effect living up to or down to another s expectations of us refers to the expectations of others governing one s actions Concept of Society Everything happens through social interaction Defined The web of social relationships humans create and respond to Explanation o Exists prior to individuals o Created by individuals interacting o Creates individual selfs Particular others significant others refers to the individuals who are significant to us Generalized others society as a whole the attitude of the whole community refers to the viewpoint of a social group of the culture as a whole Research Related to SIT o Chicago School Mead and Blumer o Iowa School Manford Kuhn 20 statement tests o New Iowa Schools Carl Couch How do symbolic interactionist theorists define communication Relate to issues involved in defining communication Evaluation of SIT Main Criticisms Scope Too broad to be useful Utility the second area of criticism concerns the theory s utility Symbolic Interaction Theory has been faulted as not as useful as it would be for two reasons First it focuses too much on the individual and second it ignores some important concepts that are needed to make the explanation complete Testability with regard to testability critics comment that the theory s broad scope renders its concepts vague When so many concepts are nominal not directly observable it is difficult to test the theory Precision ignores important concepts Self esteem evaluation of self What are SIT s metatheoretical assumptions Ontological Epistemological Axiological o Ontological Make choices social communication context matter o Epistemological knowledge isn t certain qualitative testing o Axiological values matter Is SIT a good theory SIT has been a powerful theoretical framework for over sixty years It provides striking insights about human communication behavior in a wide variety of contexts The theory is well developed beginning with the role of the self and progressing to an examination of the self in society Yet the theory is not without its critics Chapter 6 Coordinated Management of Meaning CMM Goal Purpose of CMM o To explain how people co create meaning in conversation o Interested in the creation of meaning between people how this meaning affects behavior CMM focuses on the self and its relationship to others it examines how an individual assigns meaning to a message The theory is especially important because it focuses on the relationship between an individual and his or her society Explanation of CMM o People use rules to create and interpret meaning o Use different rules get different meaning o Meaning is constantly coordinated Assumptions Guiding CMM People create systems of meaning using rules Human beings live in communication CMM theorists believe that social situations are created by interactions Because individuals create their conversational reality each interaction has the potential to be unique CMM theorists call for a reexamination of how individuals view communication o Organize meaning hierarchically by structure levels of meaning o Temporarily by time we impose time on communication transactions People co create a social reality human beings co create a social reality o Communication is a social endeavor o Create a symbolic world Social constructionism the belief that people co construct their social reality in conversations Behavior is not interpretable except in context of a larger system o Information transactions depend on personal and intrapersonal meaning AS DISTIUISHED BY DONALD CUSHMAN FORDON WHITING o Personal meaning the meaning that the individual has in the interaction is derived from the experiences people have with one another o Interpersonal meaning the result when two people agree of each others interpretations of an interaction o NOT A SYSTEMS THEORY Rules Theory o Look at the interaction as a whole Relates to the manner in which people control conversations Hierarchy of Meaning according to the CMM theorists human beings organize meanings in a hierarchical manner o Content the conversion of raw data into meaning o Speech acts action we perform by speaking e g questioning complimenting or threatening o Contract relationships are like contracts which set guidelines and often prescribe behavior as well as suggesting a future o Episodes refer several times to the fact that communication is transactional yet we give a beginning middle and end to give time communication routines that have definable beginnings middles and endings In a sense episodes describe contexts in which people act At this level we begin to see the influence of context on meaning o Life scripts clusters of past and present episodes that create a system of o Cultural patterns very broad images of the world and a persons relationship manageable meanings with others to it according to Pearce and Cronen The coordination of Meaning Exists when people attempt to make sense of
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