Symbols, Selves, and Social Reality


Book Description

Sociologists Sandstrom (U. of Northern Iowa), Daniel D. Martin (U. of Minnesota-Duluth), and Garl Alan Fine (Northwestern U.) offer a textbook for a social psychology course within their discipline. It is designed to introduce students to the perspective of symbolic interactionism in only one semester. No date is noted for the first edition; the se




Symbols, Selves, and Social Reality


Book Description

The fourth edition of Symbols, Selves, and Social Reality provides students with a succinct, engaging, and affordable introduction to symbolic interactionism--the perspective that social reality is created, negotiated, and changed through the process of social interaction. Focusing on how elements of race and gender affect identity, the authors use real-world examples to discuss the personal significance of symbolic interactionism, its expanding theoretical scope, and its relationship to other prominent perspectives in sociology and social psychology. They skillfully cover empirical research topics that are inherently interesting to students, such as the dynamics of self-development, impression management, identity transformation, gender play, rumor transmission, and collective action.




Symbols, Selves, and Social Reality


Book Description

The Second Edition of Symbols, Selves, and Social Reality introduces students to the symbolic interactionist perspective in sociology. This book differs from other texts on interactionism in several important respects. First, it offers a stronger empirical focus, linking discussions of the central ideas and premises of symbolic interactionism to pertinent research, including ethnographic studies conducted by each of the authors. Second, the book emphasizes topics that are inherently interesting to students, such as the dynamics of self-development, impression management, identity transformation, gender play, rumor transmission, and collective action. Third, it includes an analysis of the changing nature and experience of selfhood in contemporary society. Fourth, the authors provide a useful set of pedagogical tools at the end of each chapter, including a summary of key points and concepts, a glossary of key terms, a list of suggested readings, and questions for reflection and discussion. Finally, Symbols, Selves, and Social Reality offers a discussion of the personal relevance of symbolic interactionism, its salience for social policy, its broadening theoretical scope, and its relationship to new and increasingly prominent perspectives emerging within sociology. The new edition covers an even broader range of ideas and topics than the First Edition. It also features several updated sections and boxed inserts. These address such topics as: * The impact of postmodernity on students' experiences of self. * The dynamics of mass panics. * Status passages experienced by students. * Ethnomethodology and the construction of reality. * The necessity of language. * Internet technologies and their effects on interaction. * New methods of ethnographic analysis. * The dramatic elements of social movements. * The value and future of interactionism.







Illusions of Reality


Book Description

Some psychologists think it is almost always wrong to deceive research subjects, while others think the use of deception is essential if significant human problems are to receive scientific study. Illusions of Reality shows how deception is used in psychological research to create illusions of reality—situations that involve research subjects without revealing the true purpose of the experiment. The book examines the origins and development of this practice that have lead to some of the most dramatic and controversial studies in the history of psychology. Social psychology may be the only area of research where the research methods sometimes are as interesting as the results. The most impressive experiments in this field produce their impact by creating situations that lead research subjects to believe that they are taking part in something other than the true experiment, or situations where subjects are not even aware that an experiment is being conducted. These illusions of reality are created by using various forms of deception, such as providing false information to people about how they perform on tests or by using actors who play roles. The research described in Illusions of Reality includes significant and controversial experiments in the history of psychology that sometimes took on the characteristics of dramatic stage productions. The ethical issues raised by this research are discussed, and the practice of using deception in research is placed in the context of American cultural values.




Contemporary Social Psychological Theories


Book Description

This text, first published in 2006, presents the most important and influential social psychological theories and research programs in contemporary sociology. Original chapters by the scholars who initiated and developed these theoretical perspectives provide full descriptions of each theory and its background, development, and future. This second edition has been revised and updated to reflect developments within each theory, and in the field of social psychology more broadly. The opening chapters of Contemporary Social Psychological Theories cover general approaches, organized around fundamental principles and issues: symbolic interaction, social exchange, and distributive justice. Following chapters focus on specific research programs and theories, examining identity, affect, comparison processes, power and dependence, status construction, and legitimacy. A new, original piece examines the state and trajectory of social network theory. A mainstay in teaching social psychology, this revised and updated edition offers a valuable survey of the field.




Social Psychology of the Self-concept


Book Description

Includes such contents as: Constituents of the Self-Concept; Principles of Self-Concept Formation; Social Identity & Social Context; Social Institutions; Deviance; and, Defense Mechanisms.




Studyguide for Symbols, Selves, and Social Reality


Book Description

Never HIGHLIGHT a Book Again Includes all testable terms, concepts, persons, places, and events. Cram101 Just the FACTS101 studyguides gives all of the outlines, highlights, and quizzes for your textbook with optional online comprehensive practice tests. Only Cram101 is Textbook Specific. Accompanies: 9780872893795. This item is printed on demand.




Social Representations


Book Description

Serge Moscovici first introduced the concept of social representations into contemporary social psychology nearly forty years ago. Since then the theory has become one of the predominant approaches in social psychology, not only in Europe, but increasingly in the United States as well. While Moscovici's work has spread broadly across the discipline, notably through his contributions to the study of minority influences and the psychology of crowds, the study of social representations has continued to provide the central focus for one of the most distinctive and original voices in social psychology today.




Symbolic Interactionism


Book Description

This is a collection of articles dealing with the point of view of symbolic interactionism and with the topic of methodology in the discipline of sociology. It is written by the leading figure in the school of symbolic interactionism, and presents what might be regarded as the most authoritative statement of its point of view, outlining its fundamental premises and sketching their implications for sociological study. Blumer states that symbolic interactionism rests on three premises: that human beings act toward things on the basis of the meanings of things have for them; that the meaning of such things derives from the social interaction one has with one's fellows; and that these meanings are handled in, and modified through, an interpretive process.