Brief introduction of symbolic interaction theory
Symbolic interaction theory, also known as symbolic interaction theory, is a theoretical school that focuses on studying society from the perspective of psychology. According to this theory, society is composed of interacting individuals, and the explanations of various social phenomena can only be found from this interaction. As a sociological theory concerned with individual behavior, symbolic interaction theory came into being in 1930s.
It emphasizes the theoretical premise of human subjectivity and the empirical research orientation of paying attention to the interaction between individuals. American sociologist G.H. Meade is regarded as the pioneer of symbolic interaction theory. Besides Meade, Thomas, Cooley and others also made important contributions to the theory of symbolic interaction.
Later, brummer and M. Kuhn developed Mead's "Symbolic Interaction Theory" and formed the Chicago School headed by brummer and the Iowa School headed by Kuhn. They formed different views on research methods and other issues.
The theory of symbolic interaction opposes positivistic sociology's social structure determinism that belittles the subjective initiative of actors, and puts forward the theoretical proposition that the cognition, action and interaction of actors constitute society. Meade, the founder of his thought, tried to explore the relationship between individual thought and behavior, developed social psychology and explained individual consciousness with social behavior.
Mead absorbed the empirical relevance of truth in the objective research methods of consciousness in pragmatic philosophy and behavioral psychology, and put forward a generalized behaviorism method, which studied individual experiences according to individual actions, especially those that could be observed by others, and put the understanding of individual behaviors and experiences in the overall social background, and developed a "social behaviorism" method.
After Meade, brummer put forward a micro-sociological theory based on "symbolic interaction", the core of which is still the relationship between situational knowledge such as meaning and self and social organization.