The Social Mirror: Symbolic Interactionism’s Impact on Self-Perception
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Symbolic interactionism is a sociological theory that provides a lens through which to examine the dynamics of human behavior (Blumer 1969:79). It explores how people create and interpret symbols to communicate meaning, shapes their interactions, and shapes their identities within social structures (Blumer 1969:79). According to George Herbert Mead and Herbert Blumer, this theoretical framework argues that people’s actions are determined by the meanings they assign to objects and that social interactions act as a catalyst for the construction of these meanings (Blumer 1969:82).
This theory revolves around the idea of the “generalized other,” an internalized viewpoint of social norms and expectations that shape both individual and group behavior (Longhofer and Winchester 2016:460). Mead emphasizes the dynamic process of identity formation through social interaction and cultural internalization in his dualistic view of the self, which is composed of the “I” and the “Me” (Longhofer and Winchester 2016:465).
