Symbolic Interactionism and Related Concepts Flashcards

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False consciousness

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A condition where people accept and support an oppressive system because they fail to recognize their own dominance or exploitation. It prevents collective action to change inequitable social arrangements.

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Symbolic interactionism

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A microsociological perspective that sees society and its structures as created through ongoing interactions among active individuals. It emphasizes the meanings people assign to symbols and how those meanings shape behavior.

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Thomas theorem

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The principle that if people define situations as real, those definitions have real consequences. Beliefs or perceptions can produce outcomes as if they were objectively true.

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Verstehen

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A Weberian approach meaning empathetic understanding of social actors' meanings and intentions. It involves interpreting actions from the actor's perspective to appreciate their motives.

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Sympathetic introspection

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Cooley's idea of trying to put yourself in another person's shoes to see their perspective. It is a method for understanding others' experiences and meanings.

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Looking-glass self

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Cooley's concept that we develop our self-image through the reactions and cues we receive from others. Our sense of self is shaped by how we imagine we appear to others and their judgments.

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Self-fulfilling prophecy

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A prediction or belief that causes behaviors that make the prediction come true. Expectations influence actions that produce the expected outcome.

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Manifest functions

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Merton's term for the intended and recognized consequences of social actions or structures. These are deliberate outcomes that serve explicit purposes.

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Latent functions

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Merton's term for unintended or unrecognized consequences of social actions or structures. They can be beneficial, neutral, or harmful but are not the stated purpose.

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Microsociology

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The study of small-scale social interactions and individual agency in constructing social reality. Symbolic interactionism is a primary microsociological approach.

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Meaning change

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The idea that meanings assigned to symbols or situations can be modified through self-interpretation and interaction. Changing interpretations can alter social behavior and outcomes.

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Capacity for thought

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A principle of symbolic interactionism that humans can think and interpret symbols, which shapes their actions. Thought mediates how social interactions influence behavior.

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Social interaction

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The process through which individuals communicate and create shared meanings. For symbolic interactionists, social interaction is the primary source of social structures.

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Culmination of patterns

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The concept that repeated interactions and shared meanings accumulate into broader social patterns and institutions. Society emerges from these patterned relations.

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Definition of reality

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How people label or interpret a situation, which then guides their behavior; per the Thomas theorem, these definitions have consequential effects. Social reality is thus constructed through perception.

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Interpretive understanding

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An approach that emphasizes grasping the meanings actors attach to their actions, central to Weber's and Cooley's methods. It contrasts with purely objective or structural analyses.