symbolic

Examples of symbolic in the following topics:

• Religious Symbols

  • The Star of David is a Jewish religious symbol that represents Judaism.
  • Religious symbolism is the use by a religion of symbols including archetypes, acts, artwork, events, or natural phenomena.
  • Religions view religious texts, rituals and works of art as symbols of compelling ideas or ideals.
  • The symbolism of the early Church was characterized as being understood by initiates only.
  • Religious symbolism is effective when it appeals to both the intellect and the emotions.

• The Symbolic Nature of Culture

  • Although language is perhaps the most obvious system of symbols we use to communicate, many things we do carry symbolic meaning.
  • Other gang members use these symbolic sartorial signals to recognize enemies and allies.
  • According to Max Weber, symbols are important aspects of culture: people use symbols to express their spirituality and the spiritual side of real events, and ideal interests are derived from symbols.
  • Cultures are shared systems of symbols and meanings.
  • Alphabets are one example of a symbolic element of culture.

• The Symbolic Interactionist Perspective

  • Symbolic interactionists view the family as a site of social reproduction where meanings are negotiated and maintained by family members.
  • Symbolic interactionism is a social theory that focuses on the analysis of patterns of communication, interpretation, and adjustment between individuals in relation to the meanings of symbols.
  • This emphasis on symbols, negotiated meaning, and the construction of society as an aspect of symbolic interactionism focuses attention on the roles that people play in society.
  • Symbolic interactionists also explore the changing meanings attached to family.
  • Symbolic interactionists explore the changing meanings attached to family.

• Symbols and Nature

  • Language is a symbolic system of communication based on a complex system of rules relating spoken, signed, or written symbols.
  • A sign is a symbol that stands for something else.
  • Signs can consist of sounds, gestures, letters, or symbols, depending on whether the language is spoken, signed, or written.
  • Language is based on complex rules relating spoken, signed, or written symbols to their meanings.
  • Parrots mimic the sounds of human language, but have they really learned the symbolic system?

• Defining Boundaries

  • One important factor in how symbolic boundaries function is how widely they are accepted as valid.
  • Symbolic boundaries are a "necessary but insufficient" condition for social change.
  • He saw the symbolic boundary between the sacred and the profane as the most profound of all social facts, and the one from which lesser symbolic boundaries were derived.
  • Rituals, whether secular or religious, were for Durkheim the means by which groups maintained their symbolic and moral boundaries.
  • Mary Douglas has subsequently emphasized the role of symbolic boundaries in organizing experience, private and public, even in a secular society.

• Symbolic Interactionism

  • The basic notion of symbolic interactionism is that human action and interaction are understandable only through the exchange of meaningful communication or symbols.
  • According to symbolic interactionism, the objective world has no reality for humans, only subjectively-defined objects have meaning.
  • It should also be noted that symbolic interactionists advocate a particular methodology.
  • Thus, symbolic interaction tends to take two distinct, but related methodological paths.
  • Symbolic Interaction arose through the integration of Structural Functionalism and Conflict Theories.

• The Symbolic Interactionist Perspective

  • The basic notion of symbolic interactionism is that human action and interaction are understandable only through the exchange of meaningful communication or symbols.
  • The main principles of symbolic interactionism are:
  • The child learns that the symbol of his/her crying will elicit a response from his/her parents, not only when they are in need of necessities, such as food, but also as a symbol to receive their attention.
  • It should be noted that symbolic interactionists advocate a particular methodology.
  • Some symbolic interactionists, however, would counter that the incorporation of role theory into symbolic interactionism addresses this criticism.

• Cooley

  • Using computer technology, people can create an avatar, a customized symbol that represents the computer user.
  • By selecting certain physical characteristics or symbols, the avatar reflects how the creator seeks to be perceived in the virtual world and how the symbols used in the creation of the avatar influence others' actions toward the computer-user.
  • The child learns that the symbol of his/her crying will elicit a response from his/her parents, not only when they are in need of necessities, such as food, but also as a symbol to receive their attention.
  • Using computer technology, people can create an avatar, a customized symbol that represents the computer user.
  • By selecting certain physical characteristics or symbols, the avatar reflects how the creator seeks to be perceived in the virtual world and how the symbols used in the creation of the avatar influence others' actions toward the computer user.

• The Interactionist Perspective

  • From a symbolic interactionist perspective, gender is produced and reinforced through daily interactions and the use of symbols.
  • Symbolic interactionism aims to understand human behavior by analyzing the critical role of symbols in human interaction.
  • The meanings attached to symbols are socially created and fluid, instead of natural and static.
  • Because of this, we act and react to symbols based on their current assigned meanings.
  • The woman in this picture blurs the boundaries between the symbols that are traditionally considered masculine or feminine.

• The Symbolic Interactionist Perspective

  • The symbolic interactionist perspective posits that age is socially constructed and determined by symbols resembling social interactions.
  • According to the Symbolic Interactionist Perspective, old age, and aging, are socially constructed and determined by symbols that resemble aging in social interactions.
  • While aging itself is a biological process, the Symbolic Interactionist Perspective posits that the meaning behind being "young" or "old" is socially constructed.