Abstract

CARVALHO, Virgínia Donizete de; BORGES, Livia de Oliveira  and  REGO, Denise Pereira do. Symbolic interacionism: origins, assumptions and contributions to Social Psychology Studies. Psicol. cienc. prof. [online]. 2010, vol.30, n.1, pp.146-161. ISSN 1414-9893.

The current study addresses the theoretical perspective named symbolic interactionism, aiming at the description of its roots, consolidation, main assumptions and contributions to the field of social psychology. Using literature review, conceptions of some scholars known as pioneers to that approach are examined, emphasizing the work of George Mead. The initial landmarks of the symbolic interactionism movement’s consolidation (whose name and main assumptions were established by Herbert Blumer) and the different possibilities to work on that concept, represented by the methodological and conceptual divergences between the chicago and Iowa Schools, constitute the major points of focus. Approaches from scholars like Strauss, Shibutani, Berger and Luckmann, and Stryker are shortly discussed for the purpose of identifying the main developments derived from the interactionist conceptions. Lastly, based on this review, which provided distinct points of view regarding the symbolic interactionism approach, we conclude that its evolution and strengthening along the time have contributed to its permanence as a theoretical perspective with broad applicability in social life studies.

Keywords : Symbolic interactionism; Theoretical assu; Methodological perspectives; Social psychology studies.

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