SYMBOLIC INTERACTIONALISM⚫ Symbolic interactionism sees society as the product of the everyday interactions of individuals.⚫ For symbolic interactionists, society does not exist as something external to people. They believed that society is the shared reality that people construct as they interact.⚫ “Reality” is simply how we define our surroundings.⚫ Symbolic interactionism advocated “understanding” by grasping the meaning of social action and interaction rather than in explaining what forces external to people cause them to act the way they do.