MCAT Psychological, Social, and Biological Foundations of Behavior: Passage 7 — Flashcards

Use the following passage to answer questions:
 

Symbolic interactionism is a sociology theory based on ways of understanding the workings of the world in relation to oneself. It emphasizes the language and symbols that give meaning to how people see themselves, the world, and the relationships between them. As people interact with the world, they often change the way they behave based on how they define those interactions. They spend time thinking about what to do next depending on how they believe others view them.
Social interactionists believe that communications and interactions form the reality each individual identifies with. People create these realities based on external interactions and perceptions; thus, each person's reality is unique. Reality, according to this belief, is socially constructed, or created by thoughts, conversations, and ideas. Individuals both create and shape society, and the change occurring is constant and ongoing. Social interactionists are interested in the patterns created by people's interactions and how an individual's reality shapes his or her daily existence.
To better understand how social interactionists view the world, let's consider a specific example. Imagine two men who have worked in the same department of the same company for many years. They have been rivals, both at times attempting to score a big promotion. One of the men (Colleague A) is resentful of the other (Colleague B) because he perceives Colleague B as pointing out his weaknesses in front of colleagues and making jokes about him when all of the employees are out for happy-hour drinks. Through such interactions, Colleague A develops a negative viewpoint of Colleague B. Events will also be symbolic to Colleague A, and the man subjectively misperceives them. For instance, Colleague B gets married and receives the promotion they had both been trying to acquire. He perceives Colleague B's good fortune as a fact that he always gets what he wants and that all the good things happen to him. However, later in the year, Colleague B is fired and comes to Colleague A for support. Colleague A then feels needed and is able to be helpful to Colleague B. He no longer sees Colleague B as a threat but rather as a friend.
Symbolic interactionists would look at the example above and note how one man's view of the other shaped his reality of the situation. Before his colleague lost his job, Colleague A held one version of reality in his mind. He symbolically saw his colleague as having an unfair advantage in the world. When the dynamic shifted and the man played a role of support to his colleague, the meaning he gave to his relationship with him changed. All of this is based on the social interactions that occur, the language used to communicate, and the symbolic meaning given to these events and thoughts.