symbolic interactionism takes a small-scale view of society it focuses on a small scale perspective of the interactions between individuals like when you hang out with a friend instead of looking at large-scale structures like education or law by looking at the small scale symbolic interactionism explains the individual in a society and their interactions with others and through that it can explain social order and change the theory was compiled from the teachings of George Herbert Mead in the early 20th century he believed that the development of the individual was a social process as were the meanings individuals assigned to things people change based on their interactions with objects events ideas other people and they assign meaning to things in order to decide how to act for example if I had sat under the shade of trees all my life and I was on a long walk today and spotted a big tree I might want to sit under it the tree means shade on a hot day to me Herbert Blumer continued Meads work and actually coined the term symbolic interactionism to describe this theory of society he proposed three tenets to explain symbolic interactionism let's say I do decide to sit under that tree on my long walk today I step off the path and sit down and lean back against the trunk bloomers first 10 was that we act based on the meaning we have given something I considered the tree as a place to rest so I'll go lean against it as I'm sitting there another person stops to warn me that all trees are infested with ants bloomers second tenet was that we give meaning to things based on our social interactions the same thing can have a different meaning for different people for the person talking to me the tree is a breeding ground for creepy crawlies and they are going to avoid it but I'm quite happy with my seat in the shade and I haven't been bothered by any ants so I'm content just to sit we have different views of the tree and so we act differently as I'm sitting there talking to this lovely person I feel something tickle my shoulder and suddenly I jump up as something bites my back turns out the tree was infested with ants now that I have been bitten under tree I might not sit under the next one I find because it might also be infested with ants bloomers third tenant was that the meaning we give something is not permanent it can change due to everyday life the meaning I give to trees has changed after my interaction with the infested tree a big tree now means shade on a hot day with a potential for getting bit so let's sum up the three central ideas of symbolic interactionism they are that action depends on meaning that different people assign different meanings to things and that the meaning of something can change but there are some criticisms to symbolic interactionism as a theory because it doesn't ask the same questions as the large-scale sociology theories do it is sometimes considered as supplemental rather than a full theory because it is restricted to studying small interactions between individuals while this is true symbolic interactionism gives a different perspective to sociology that is necessary for fully understanding a society it is capable of explaining how aspects of society can change as they are created and recreated by social interactions it examines society on a small scale and gives the individual the same importance as the society as a whole and as a necessary view when studying a society