Symbolic Interactionism

Understanding human behavior Sociologist use two broad perspectives Macro Micro

Macro perspective Behavior is influenced by social context Durkheim’s study of suicide Study social patterns

Micro perspective – Focus on interaction Symbolic interaction theory analyzes society by addressing the subjective meanings that people impose on objects, events, and behaviors. Subjective meanings are given primacy because it is believed that people behave based on what they believe and not just on what is objectively true. Thus, society is thought to be socially constructed through human interpretation. People interpret one another’s behavior and it is these interpretations that form the social bond.

Micro perspective – Focus on interaction Although symbolic interactionism traces its origins to Max Weber's assertion that individuals act according to their interpretation of the meaning of their world, the American philosopher George Herbert Mead introduced this perspective to American sociology in the 1920s.

Symbolic Interactionism This approach to studying the social world was outlined by Herbert Blumer in his book Symbolic Interactionism in 1937. In it, Blumer outlined three tenets of this theory: We act toward people and things based on the meaning we interpret from them. Those meanings are the product of social interaction between people. Meaning-making and understanding is an ongoing interpretive process, during which the initial meaning might remain the same, evolve slightly, or change radically.

Symbolic Interactionism https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DWynJkN5HbQ What kind of Asian are you? Credits Video and text: http://sociology.about.com/od/Sociological-Theory/ss/Applying-Symbolic-Interaction-Theory-to-Issues-of- Race-and-Gender.htm#showall

Symbolic Interactionism We act toward people and things based on the meaning we interpret from them. Example - physical appearance of her face, hair, and skin color serves as a set of symbols that communicate this to us. The man seems to also confer upon the woman an immigrant status due to her race, which leads him to ask her the question, "Where are you from?"

Symbolic Interactionism Meanings are the product of social interaction between people.  Man interprets the race of the woman is itself a product of social interaction. Assumptions – Asian Americans are immigrants White social circles and segregated neighborhoods socio-economic circumstances that lead first generation Asian American immigrants to work in shops and restaurants where they might be the only Asian Americans that the average white person interacts with. As such, interpreting an Asian American as an immigrant is the product of these social interactions.

Symbolic Interactionism In the video, and in countless conversations like this that occur in everyday life, through interaction the man is made to realize that his interpretation of the meaning of the woman based on the symbol of her race was wrong. It is possible that his interpretation of racially Asian bodies might shift overall, because the interaction itself is a learning experience that has the power to alter our understanding of people in the world. Credits Video and text: http://sociology.about.com/od/Sociological-Theory/ss/Applying-Symbolic-Interaction-Theory-to-Issues-of- Race-and-Gender.htm#showall

Applying Symbolic Interactionism to Race and gender Some fundamental aspects of our social experience and identities, like race and gender, can be understood through the symbolic interactionist lens. We use socially constructed meanings of race and gender to help us decide who to interact with, how to do so, and to help us determine, sometimes inaccurately, the meaning of a person's words or actions.

Implicit bias The study, was conducted by professors Katherine L. Milkman, Modupe Akinola, and Dolly Chugh, and published on the Social Science Research Network, measured email responses of 6,500 professors across 250 of the U.S.’s top schools, to messages sent by “students,” impersonated by the researchers. In 2014, researchers conclusively documented this phenomenon in a study of how perceptions of race and gender factor into whether or not professors respond to students who are interested in working with them.

Implicit bias All messages had the same content and were well written, but varied in that they were sent from a variety of “people” with names typically associated with specific racial categories. For example, names like Brad Anderson and Meredith Roberts would typically be assumed to belong to white people, whereas names like Lamar Washinton and LaToya Brown would be assumed to belong to black students. Other names included those associated with Latino/a, Indian, and Chinese students.

Implicit bias Findings: Disappointingly, the study found that women and racial minorities were far less likely to receive responses from professors (and positive ones) regardless of the professor’s race or gender. Key findings include that Asian students experienced the most bias, that gender and racial diversity among faculty does not reduce discrimination, and that there are big differences between academic departments and types of schools. The researchers found greater discrimination at private schools, and amongst the natural sciences and business schools, and overwhelmingly found that as faculty pay rises, so too does the occurrence of discrimination.

Findings At business schools, women and minorities were ignored by professors more than twice as frequently as were white males, and even within the humanities, women and racial minorities were ignored 1.3 more times than white males.  These findings are hugely significant, and deeply damning, showcasing how discrimination exists even within the academic elite, who are often perceived as liberal and progressive, as compared to the general population.