Symbolic Interactionism is the perspective that focuses on how people and societies use symbols such as language and gestures during social interaction. Individuals are able to assign meaning to these symbols in order to understand the social world. Theorists believe that it is through our interactions with others that we come to understand ourselves. Throughout this paper we will look both George Herbert Mead and Erving Goffman’s different perspectives and how they demonstrate the basic tenets of social interactionism.
George Herbert Mead was one theorist who focused on the concept of the “self”, According to Mead, the self does not inertly respond to the environment but rather the self creates the conditions in which it responds (Schneider, 2006). Mead argued that through the use of language and gestures individuals come to anticipate how others will respond to them. We learn to see ourselves through the eyes of others. In developing the “self”, we are often playing out a scenario in our own heads in order to understand how others will respond to us. Of this internal conversation is one that takes place rather instinctively and quickly within our brains during any social interaction. According to Mead, the self can be broken down in to two phases, an “I” and a “me” (Schneider, 2006). The “I” is the “self” who is in the moment, the “I” is not self-conscious in social interaction, while the “me” reacts to the “I”. The “me” is the part of the self, which takes count of everything the “I” does and inherently becomes self-conscious as it reflects on the interactions that have taken place and how others perceive the “self”. As individuals it is important to understand the “me” and the “I”, in order to then understand our “self” because as the “I” is engulfed in social interaction the “me” is then figuring out if there is any changes that need to be made to the “I’s” performance next time the “self” is in a similar situation. In thinking about the concept of the “self” and symbolic interactionism, I can see how a person interacts with others will affect how they see themselves. For instance, lets take for example a person who is going in for an interview for a new job, they are likely going to internalize how the conversation will go prior to their meeting in hopes to give off the best impression to the others. It is then likely that when the interaction is over, they will play back the whole scenario in their head to figure out if there is anything that they could have said or done wrong. This is why language and gestures are important during the course of social interaction because as a society there is often symbolic meaning behind certain words and gestures that we can take count of in order to understand how well a particular interaction has gone.
Erving Goffman’s ideas on presenting the self were a different than Mead’s. Goffman, who developed the Dramaturgical approach to sociological inquiry, looked at social interaction as though it was a theatrical performance and each individual is actor on his or her own stage in life (Segre 2014). He believed that individuals conduct themselves in a different manner whether they are in public or alone. He called this Impression management and he called being in public an individual’s front stage, while back stage is when an individual is alone. Goffman’s approach demonstrates many of the key components of social interactionism. In viewing people as actors, Goffman saw that individuals fulfill many different roles in society by manipulating the way they dress, how they speak, and the gestures they use. The idea that we are all actors and that life is a performance is an interesting concept. We as individuals always want to present ourselves in the best way possible so I can see how we use impression management on a daily basis even if it is on some sort of unconscious level. Each person has a different role in society and different types of people who we interact with on a daily basis so it’s easy to see how we manipulate how we present ourselves to others. In other words, we want to give off the most acceptable image of ourselves based on the social norms of society in any given social interaction. For example, lets say a person is at their job they are going to give off a professional image by dressing professionally and using only professional language (i.e. no cussing) however when they are with a group of friends at a local bar they generally much more relaxed and will likely speak and dress in an entirely different manner than compared to their work environment. This can also be described as the definition of the situation, another important concept of Goffman’s work. This is the idea that a person’s behavior is not involuntary but rather it is based on the meaning attached to the situation itself.
Based on Goffman’s perspective, I do not think it is reasonable to state that an individual does not have an immutable unchanging self. I think that individuals have an ever-changing self especially given Goffman’s concepts of impression management and definition of the situation. We as individuals have unique personalities and qualities and these are what make up self but you can definitely see how people can manipulate a situation and use those qualities to our own advantage in interacting with others. We want to always give off the best impression of ourselves and will often show off our best qualities to others in order for them to like us or accept us. I think for most people the goal is to be accepted by others in our life. For me, as a stay at home mom, I have come to be part of many social mom groups or play groups with my children. These types of groups can sometimes be a little judgmental of how other are raising their children so for me it is important to show my best self as a mother. I know that I am a great mother and that I am raising my children right but that doesn’t mean that I do not get self conscious of the way others view me. I think Goffman had great points on the presentation of self because we all want to be the best version of ourselves and present ourselves in a manner that is socially acceptable no matter what. Of course there will always be people who like to go against the grain of social norms but does not mean they are not still being the best version of themselves.
It is important to understand both Mead and Goffman’s perspective on the image of self. Both had their individual ideas on how the self is presented in every day life, however both use the basics tenets of symbolic interactionism. It is important to understand the how and the what; how being how an individual presents themselves and the what is what they use in order to present a certain way. This is why language and gestures are extremely important in every day life because without them it would be very hard to interact socially with others.