The exchange is usually short (money paid for material objects, knowledge or personal services) and both parties are self-interested. Their generalized others will have fewer long-term relationships and rely on a constant influx of new exchangers. Oppressive othering penetrates the generalized other of Mead and indicates that people may promote or justify their positions in society by providing looking glass-self messages to others that they are inferior, inept, unworthy or otherwise inferior to themselves. However, a weak norm of generalized reciprocity (i.e., restricted exchange) will create weaker social bonds. Schwalbe et al.s (2000) view of blockages goes beyond Merton to state that higher elites impose oppressive othering on low status people through emotion, discrimination, and self-processes of internalization or counter-othering. The middle category of high and low status persons could move up or down depending on the circumstances. However, this negotiation is rather loose and not involved with a formal assessment of power. The two types of behavior have two different types of exchange. The end result is a more nuanced and extended theory of power in society with elements of motivation at the individual and group level. Medical doctors rising above homeopaths with the Flexner Report are a good example, but the process also applies to nurses seeking bachelors degrees to promote the status of RNs (Larson 1977; Abbott 1988). Among her husbands business associates, it consists of being the life of the party and maintaining long-term friendships with business associates. But Athens does point to a critical weakness of symbolic interactionism as he comes up with a contrary view of the good socialization process described by George Herbert Mead, which is the process of violentization thesis. It is also discussed in a rather ethnomethodological form in Josh Pacewiczs Partisans and Partners (2016), though the gift relationship large resembles these other generalized exchange forms. After a successful business and political career, he promoted his sons as politicians. Power in Symbolic Interactionism via Social Exchange Theory. Economists would like to apply restricted exchange to all types of social exchange (e.g., Gary Beckers rational account of marriages and partnerships, and also sociobiological theories that see couples maximizing their gene pools for reproduction). Authors Alex Dennis 1 , Peter J Martin Affiliation 1 School of English, Sociology, Politics and Contemporary History, University of Salford, UK. These people are very self-confident and quite connected. But it doesn't just stop there. These reactions will also relate to the processes of positive, negative, and neutral generalized others discussed in the previous section. In row 4 (items 10, 11 and 12), people with low rank view their social position due to their lack of ability, and they engage in accepting the other imposed upon them by higher ranking people. Helen Hilton engaged in the least bridging capital to higher social classes. Theories of Exchange in Social Psychology. We will refer to those who operate with more restricted exchange as opportunists in the next chapter on citizen selves. Although the favored Joe Jr. died in World War II, Joseph Kennedys sons John F., Robert and Ted Kennedy had peak political careers. [1] This theory is elaborated by Samuel Bacharach and Edward Lawler (1980, 1981; Cook and Rice ) as power being the inverse of the number of valued alternatives that one may have in the sense of not being dependent on the relationship with the other. They will develop positive generalized others with the subcultures that they may produce. Following Goffman and bridging Mead and Athens, there seem to be two modes of behavior: (1) a general form of sociation where people generally intend to get along with each other as friends and associates, and (2) a strategic form of interaction that looks more like bargaining behavior where one has a sense of seeking specific monetary or other gains. Their chances of positive mobility are greater. Schwalbe et al.s (2000) view of blockages goes beyond Merton to state that higher elites impose oppressive othering on low status people through emotion, discrimination, and self-processes of internalization or counter-othering. Reading across the tables columns, the first three rows represent higher status persons, and the latter three rows are lower status persons. But again, the social mobility boundary is fought most between row 3 of the vulnerable high-status people, and row 6 of the discriminated against but talented low-status persons. The first type is restricted exchange that is best characterized by market exchange whereby one gives money for some goods or services. Oppressive othering penetrates the generalized other of Mead and indicates that people may promote or justify their positions in society by providing looking glass-self messages to others that they are inferior, inept, unworthy or otherwise inferior to themselves. However, if a family member ignores his brothers and sisters, he will need to make up for bonding capital with an extensive focus on bridging capital to a higher social class. In table 5.1, I present eleven different exchange relationships divided between restricted and generalized exchange, but I will only go over the main points. How does symbolic interaction theory explain inequality? [2] Second, there are individual to group exchanges whereby a group might give a loan to an individual, and then the group expects payment by a particular date. Social exchange is more generalized exchange as one might pursue in ones family or friend network. Michael Schwalbe and five others present a theory of critical interactionism on how inequalities are created in society, and these can also be related to social mobility. This is when direct reciprocity is not expected except in a rather indirect way. However, Strauss does not go far with this conception of bargaining as it might appear in political action. Relative power is the difference between your dependencies as compared to the other, and the others dependencies on you. The exchange is usually short (money paid for material objects, knowledge or personal services) and both parties are self-interested. Social exchange is more generalized exchange as one might pursue in ones family or friend network. These can be seen in birthday parties in a family (group to individual that is closed by family members) or birthday parties at work where the exact people in the group may be constantly changing as employees come and go. Social exchange theory and symbolic interactionism are often thought of polar opposites, and in some ways they are. One could make a similar comment about the Bush family as a political dynasty (Baker 2008). Their chances of positive mobility are greater. The grandmother mentions the specific dress that the young girl wants at the most expensive boutique in town, and the scion she works for says, I know the owner of the store; I can talk to her. The grandmother then tells her granddaughter that the dress has been marked down by 70% of the original price so that it is the same price as the department store dress. One might say that this looks a bit like Robert Mertons theory of deviance (1938); however, the big difference is that Merton focused on blockages that exist but said little about the motivation and process by which they are accepted or overcome, and nothing about the emotions that they generate. The second type of exchange is generalized exchange. The interactionist perspective on inequality looks at how certain social roles have more power or authority than others. In table 5.1, I present eleven different exchange relationships divided between restricted and generalized exchange, but I will only go over the main points. Restricted and generalized exchange relate to how generalized others are constructed. This involves two aspects of networking. While the women largely stay at home, the male members of this kin group help each other to gain high paying jobs within the same industry as her husband with one becoming quite wealthy. Symbolic Interactionism, Inequality, and Emotions. Symbolic interaction has a particular weakness concerning a concept critical to political sociology and that is the concept of power. In every day go along with the flow and follow established norms of proper conduct, citizens pursue a form of generalized exchange whereby the good of the community is pursued. Or if the exchange is to take place over a long period of time, perhaps for loans and bond purchases, the arrangement is firmly structured with a contract that covers many different aspects of the exchange. While they may have their differences, they show a lot of similarities when comparing certain traits within a certain theory including the economic inequality, deviance and gender as discussed above. She informally entertains family and friends in a manner that reflects her idea of prevailing respectable social norms of her communitynothing more and nothing less. And the subordinates react to oppressive othering in a number of different ways. Consequently, it is also important to focus on the higher status persons who are subject to downward mobility because they will also be highly defensive, resistant and even violent. Generalized exchange is more community and group interested rather than self-interested. Oppressive othering has been largely ignored as a general social process though labeling theory comes close to it. In one way or another, George convinces his three brothers and one sister to also become personal injury lawyers. Ones and the others alternatives are measured by the number of alternatives times their value, which is the value of the alternative times its probability. George Herbert Mead does not say much about power in his social psychological theory, and when encountering the topic, the authoritative symbolic interactionist text by Sandstrom, Lively, Martin and Fine (2014: 177-184) after a very brief review of the concept largely embraces the social exchange theory of Richard Emerson (1962) that sees power as dependency. He questions George Herbert Mead's predication of symbolic interaction as being based on "sociation," which is the general consensual pursuit of cooperate social relations. Gender inequality is almost always prominent towards a female rather than towards a male. In every day go along with the flow and follow established norms of proper conduct, citizens pursue a form of generalized exchange whereby the good of the community is pursued. 2000; Sandstrom et al. Fourth, there are two kinds of group-to-group exchange. The way inequalities contribute to social differences and perpetuate differences in power: Symbolic Interactionism : Micro: One-to-one interactions and communications: . It argues that reality is simply what people make it to be through their interpretation of interactions.. Constructivists believe that people have created social constructs based on their relationship to others, and the social constructs that have lasted over time are now the symbols . Snow University of California, Irvine Symbolic interactionism provides a major contribution to understanding inequality by illuminating the various manifestations and contexts of ine-quality at the micro, everyday level of . This section interrogates the concept of power and its weak presence in symbolic interactionist theory, and then goes into the theory's conceptions of inequality. While her husbands father dies soon after they are married, she entertains guests with the purpose of advancing her husbands sales career in business machines. Trust may develop. Generalized exchange is more community and group interested rather than self-interested. George Herbert Mead does not say much about power in his social psychological theory, and when encountering the topic, the authoritative symbolic interactionist text by Sandstrom, Lively, Martin and Fine (2014: 177-184) after a very brief review of the concept largely embraces the social exchange theory of Richard Emerson (1962) that sees power as dependency. Their internalizations are highly manipulative and can often be violent because they are located closest to the boundary between high and low status, and they know it. It is a form of group exchange where one person gives to another, who then in turn gives to a third person. Symbolic interactionism concentrates on individuals who assign, share and agree on symbolic meanings and mannerisms. Relative power is the difference between your dependencies as compared to the other, and the others dependencies on you. As we have seen with the Trump-base, many of these people state I want my country back and Make America Great again. While one might self-righteously declare them as unjustified, they do not agree, and they are a political force to be reckoned with. The study found that when the self or other became an object of reflection, emotions and behavior were discussed . George Herbert Mead does not say much about power in his social psychological theory, and when encountering the topic, the authoritative symbolic interactionist text by Sandstrom, Lively, Martin and Fine (2014: 177-184) after a very brief review of the concept largely embraces the social exchange theory of Richard Emerson (1962) that sees power as dependency. The firm of Wilson and Wilson become quite successful, and eventually the younger brothers and two children who become lawyers then expand the business to six other states. In row 5 (items 13, 14, and 15) people may be of low rank because of accidents or bad luck. And lastly, Joseph P. Kennedy was the son of a successful Irish businessman. Economists would like to apply restricted exchange to all types of social exchange (e.g., Gary Beckers rational account of marriages and partnerships, and also sociobiological theories that see couples maximizing their gene pools for reproduction). Her idea for social mobility is to work herself at the telephone company and maintain kinship and neighborly social relations. We do not have to trade caring for power, and for the most part, we can see these two forces as being consubstantial in society. Power and Inequality in Symbolic Interaction, Quantitative Initiative for Policy and Social Research (QIPSR), Social Psychology of Citizens and Subjects: Generalized Others and the Pathways to Inequality and Social Structure, Symbolic Interactionist Theory Revised for Political Sociology, Interactional Ritual Chains and Differential Association, From Generalized Others to Social Networks and Groups to Social Structure and Culture. Communicationthe exchange of meaning through language and symbolsis believed to be the way in which people make sense of their social worlds. (2000) provide a more nuanced view of oppressive othering by viewing different attributions with external and internal reactions from generalized others. This means that for those who go upward on the social scale, some will go downward. Power in Symbolic Interactionism via Social Exchange Theory. Exclusive group negotiations may be harder to maintain than overlapping negotiations. A symbolic interactionist who does directly confront symbolic interactionism on questions of power is Lonnie Athens (1992, 1997). According to Macionis, symbolic interactionism is "a framework for building theory that sees society as the product of everyday interactions . Symbolic Interactionism. For instance, Anselm Strauss (1978; Strauss et al. Generalized exchange is more community and group interested rather than self-interested. The two types are when the groups overlap or they do not. (2000) provide a more nuanced view of oppressive othering by viewing different attributions with external and internal reactions from generalized others. For example, the word 'dog' is just a series of letters. In a sense, they are saying I want my social mobility back or I dont want others to be rising above me with their own social mobility. On the other hand, those on the bottom may make the claim that upward mobility has no effect on others at the top, but relationally, this is not the case. [3] Also, similar processes can develop with a tight knit group of friends from high school or college. In every day go along with the flow and follow established norms of proper conduct, citizens pursue a form of generalized exchange whereby the good of the community is pursued. While it might seem like a big name, symbolic interactionism is how your experiences add subjective meanings to symbols and letters. While this more or less goes back to Thomas Hobbes and the war of all against all, we do not have to flip flop on the basic motivations of humans and see that we all are motivated by both love and hate, cooperation or conflict, or caring and violence. There are two types of exchange that can be applied to symbolic interactionism. They will develop positive generalized others with the subcultures that they may produce. Sometimes these exchanges are made more long-term, but they are carefully guarded by contracts assuring each partys interests are protected. 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