Related Theories
As mentioned above, symbolic behavior perspective has strong roots in symbolic interactionism perspective. SI described as a movement is devoted to exploring ways people come together, or come to share meaning. Philosopher Susan Langer created the Symbol Theory which posits symbolism to be the central concern of philosophy because it underlies all human knowing and understanding (Littlejohn & Foss, p. 105). Langer believes that while all animal life is dominated by feeling, human feeling is mediated by conceptions, symbols and language. Animals respond to signs, but humans' stimulus from a sign is significantly more complex. The perspective is also associated with symbolic communication where animal societies are studied to help understand how symbolic communication affects the conduct of members of cooperating group. Symbolic behavior is also linked to the work of American anthropologist Leslie Alvin White (1940) who stated that “all human behavior originates in the use of symbols.” He believed human behavior and symbolic behavior to be synonymous with one another. Symbolic behavior perspective is also closely related to organizational communication and interpersonal relationships which involve interaction between two or more people and how they work together to achieve goals.
Read more about this topic: Symbolic Behavior
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