SOCPSY 2YY3 Chapter Notes - Chapter 2: Thomas Theorem, Psy, System On A Chip

• School: McMaster University
• Department: Social Psychology
• Course: SOCPSY 2YY3
• Professor: Kathleen Steeves

Document Summary

Social psychologists don"t try to predict the conditions under which a particular individual behaves a certain way. They study why people generally do the things they do or how they experience certain emotions or problems. Symbolic interactionism helps us understand the social processes that influence our understanding of the world. We construct meanings about things that are important in our own lives and in our society. From an interactionist perspective, society exists as the network of interactions btwn people. The individual and society can"t be separated from each other: individuals continually create and are molded by society. It"s impossible to study the individual w/out incorporating the study of society and vice versa. Society is composed of complex series of relationships that people analyze and negotiate. When enough individuals in society begin to change the way they think, feel, or talk about an issue, society as a whole changes.