Why Symbols Matter: Understanding Human Behavior with Symbolic Interactionism
Symbolic interactionism is a theory in sociology that explains how people understand the world through interactions and symbols.
- Interaction means how people talk, act, and respond to each other.
- Symbols are things that have meaning — like words, gestures, facial expressions, or objects.
The main idea is this:
We give meaning to things through social interaction. And those meanings guide how we act.
A Quick Example:
Imagine someone gives you a thumbs up.
In many cultures, this means “good job” or “okay”. But in other places, it might be seen as rude. The gesture (thumbs up) is just a symbol what it means depends on how people in a society agree to see it.Same with a wedding ring. It’s just a circle of metal, but in many cultures, it symbolises love, commitment, and marriage. You treat someone wearing a ring differently because of that symbol.
Key Thinkers Behind Symbolic Interactionism.
Key Thinkers Behind Symbolic Interactionism
1. George Herbert Mead
He’s considered the father of symbolic interactionism, even though he never wrote a book on it himself. His students took notes from his lectures and later published them.
What he believed:
Mead said that who we are our sense of self comes from interacting with others. We learn how to see ourselves by seeing how other people see us.
Example:
Think about when someone laughs at your joke. You might start to see yourself as funny. That’s Mead’s idea in action you build your identity through feedback from others.
2. Herbert Blumer
He was a student of Mead and actually came up with the name “symbolic interactionism.”
What he added:
Blumer summed up the theory in three simple ideas:
- People act based on the meanings things have for them.
- Those meanings come from social interaction.
- Meanings can change as people interpret and re-interpret them.
Example:
The word “home” might mean comfort and safety to you but to someone else, it might bring up stress or bad memories. The meaning is based on each person’s experiences and interactions.
3. Erving Goffman
Goffman wasn’t part of the original theory, but he expanded on it in an interesting way. He said that life is like a stage, and people are like actors, performing different roles depending on where they are and who they’re with.
Example:
You probably act differently at school, at home, and with friends. You’re still you but you “perform” differently in each setting. That’s Goffman’s idea.
Why Symbolic Interactionism Matters
You might be thinking,
“Okay, I get the idea. But why should I care about symbolic interactionism?”
Here’s why it actually matters maybe more than you realise:
1. It explains how we build society, one interaction at a time.
Society isn’t just a big system floating in the air it’s made up of millions of tiny moments where people talk, respond, and give meaning to things.
From a handshake to a text message to the way someone looks at you all of it shapes how people understand the world and their place in it.
If you’ve ever changed your opinion based on a conversation, you’ve experienced this firsthand.
2. It helps us understand human behaviour.
Why do people act the way they do?
Symbolic interactionism says it’s because of the meanings they’ve learned through social interaction.
Example:
If a child grows up being praised for being quiet, they might see being quiet as a good thing and act that way as an adult. Another child might get attention for being loud and funny and carry that behaviour forward too.
3. It shows how flexible meaning is.
The same word, symbol, or gesture can mean totally different things depending on:
- Who is using it
- Where they are
- What their past experience is
This makes symbolic interactionism really useful in understanding things like:
- Cultural differences
- Miscommunication
- Social norms
- Identity and self-image
Real-World Examples of Symbolic Interactionism
To really understand symbolic interactionism, you need to see how it shows up in everyday life. These examples will help you see how we give meaning to things through interaction and how those meanings shape our behaviour.
1. Funerals
A funeral is more than just a ceremony it’s full of symbols.
- People wear black and white to show respect or mourning.
- Flowers, prayers, and even silence carry special meanings.
- Everyone behaves in a calm, quiet way not because it’s a rule, but because that’s what society has agreed feels right at a funeral.
Symbol: Black, white clothing, silence, ceremony
Meaning: Respect, grief, honour
Behaviour: People speak softly, dress in black, act serious
But these symbols can be different in other cultures. For example, in some parts of Asia, white is the mourning colour not black. The symbols are different, but the idea is the same: we use shared meanings to guide behaviour.
2. Traffic Lights (Colour Lights)
Traffic lights are a perfect example of how colours can act as symbols that control behaviour.
- Red means stop
- Green means go
- Yellow means slow down or be cautious
These meanings aren’t built into the colours themselves they’re something we’ve all learned through social interaction and shared rules.
Symbol: Red, yellow, green lights
Meaning: Stop, caution, go
Behaviour: Drivers follow the signals without needing words
Imagine if you visited a place where blue meant “go” you’d be confused, right? That’s because the meaning of colour is not natural, it’s learned.
Criticisms of Symbolic Interactionism
Symbolic interactionism is helpful for understanding small, everyday social interactions but it’s not perfect. There are some important things this theory doesn’t explain well.
Let’s look at the main criticisms.
1. It ignores the bigger picture
Symbolic interactionism focuses on small, face-to-face interactions like conversations, gestures, and personal meanings.
But what about big social problems like poverty, racism, or inequality?
This theory doesn’t really explain those larger structures or systems. It’s not designed to look at how power, money, or government influence society on a wide scale.
For example:
It can help explain how a teacher talks to a student but it doesn’t explain why some schools get more funding than others.
2. Meanings aren’t always created equally
Symbolic interactionism says people create meaning together.
But in real life, some people have more power to decide what meanings are accepted like governments, media, or people in authority.
For example:
A government might define what counts as “criminal behaviour,” and that label can shape how people are treated even if the individual disagrees.
So, it’s not always a fair or equal process. Not everyone has the same voice in shaping meaning.
3. It can be too subjective
Because it focuses on personal meanings, symbolic interactionism is sometimes criticised for being too individual and too hard to measure.
For example:
Two people might see the same symbol (like a flag) in completely different ways so how do you study that in a consistent, scientific way?
Why Symbolic Interactionism Still Matters Today
Even with its limits, symbolic interactionism is still a powerful way to understand human behaviour.
Why?
Because so much of life comes down to meaning and meaning doesn’t come from nowhere. It’s built through interaction.
- Why do you shake hands in a job interview?
- Why do red lights make you stop?
- Why does a funeral feel serious, even without anyone saying a word?
All of these moments are shaped by shared symbols and the meanings we’ve learned through everyday social life.
Symbolic interactionism helps you zoom in and see how people make sense of the world, one moment at a time. And in a world full of miscommunication, culture clashes, and identity shifts, that kind of insight still matters maybe now more than ever.
Dr. Darshana Ashoka Kumara,
Senior Lecturer, Department of Social Sciences,
General Sir John Kotelawala Defence University,
Sri Lanka.