There are three core principles of symbolic interactionism: Meaning, Langauge, and Thought.
People act toward others and objects on the meanings they assign to those people or things. Whatever the object is, people name it and create a universal meaning for it. It all depends on where you are at at that certain time. If you go over to France, their word for yes is "Oui." They have a different meaning for that word than we do, and that is what they undrstand.
Meaning comes from the social interaction that people notice between each other. If a group decides that the code word for a teacher coming to the classroom is hot, that is the meaning assigned to that word. Someone that did not here the meaning would not understand, and be seen as being different. People name items whever they are, and the group sees it as being right.
Also called minding, it's your own meaning of symbols that are modified by your thought process. Whatever you think of before reacting to an action or responding to a phrase is your thought. The two seconds, more or less, is a practiced technique that you do all the time without knowing or realizing it. It is your own personal meaning that you put on words.
To see another research report, click here.Miranda's page
To see an applications page, click here.Laura's page
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To see a critique, click here.Kevin's page
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To visit a site that shows the original researchers and some current lectures, click here
To learn key words in symbolic Interactionism and find out where to get books on this subject, click here
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This page was last updated on 7:26 PM 3/14/00.
Meaning---the construction of social reality.
Language---the source of meaning
Thought---taking the role of the other
