Emotion management is a daily routine for most; everybody memorizes and follows cultural scripts in order to maintain social norms that make emotions easier to deal with. Because emotion management is so significant, innumerable sociological theories examine this phenomenon. Even though emotion management is under the feminist theory in the textbook and all the major theories can explain emotion management well, symbolic interactionism explains this concept superlatively. Symbolic interactionism exhibits how emotion management involves understanding symbols, adopting roles, and connecting symbols and roles to take part in role-playing, thereby explaining how emotion management assists communication.
Due to its prevalence, if asked, anyone …show more content…
Primarily, symbolic interactionism focuses on understanding symbols. Every culture and society has specific gestures, signs, and language that symbolize a specific emotion. (Brym and Lie 2012) People use these emotional cues as symbols to represent something they feel. For example, if somebody is pleased, they smile to show their pleasure. Likewise, if somebody smiles, others will know the smiling person is feeling pleasure, happiness, or delight. In order for humans to be able to engage in emotion management, they would first need to understand what emotions signify, and what symbolic cues are associated with which emotions. In this way, I knew a frown is associated with sadness, and silence is associated with confusion; due to this knowledge of symbols, I knew how to convey sadness in facial and bodily expression, allowing me to act appropriately for the situation. Emotion management is precisely that: using symbolic expressions (in my case a frown) to convey the “managed” emotion (sadness) which replaces the actual emotion …show more content…
As people learn to recognize symbols, they connect them to roles, allowing them to understand how they should act. Goffman’s dramaturgical analysis exhibits this concept well, explaining that people continuously engage in role-playing, especially when in the “front stage” where people constantly use props, gestures, and rehearsed lines to “act a part”. (Brym and Lie 2012) During the funeral service, I was expected to dress in black, convey sadness, and say “I’m sorry for your loss” and “my condolences” to play the part of a grieving person. I connected symbolic emotions with roles appropriate for the situation to “become” a grieving
Due to its prevalence, if asked, anyone …show more content…
Primarily, symbolic interactionism focuses on understanding symbols. Every culture and society has specific gestures, signs, and language that symbolize a specific emotion. (Brym and Lie 2012) People use these emotional cues as symbols to represent something they feel. For example, if somebody is pleased, they smile to show their pleasure. Likewise, if somebody smiles, others will know the smiling person is feeling pleasure, happiness, or delight. In order for humans to be able to engage in emotion management, they would first need to understand what emotions signify, and what symbolic cues are associated with which emotions. In this way, I knew a frown is associated with sadness, and silence is associated with confusion; due to this knowledge of symbols, I knew how to convey sadness in facial and bodily expression, allowing me to act appropriately for the situation. Emotion management is precisely that: using symbolic expressions (in my case a frown) to convey the “managed” emotion (sadness) which replaces the actual emotion …show more content…
As people learn to recognize symbols, they connect them to roles, allowing them to understand how they should act. Goffman’s dramaturgical analysis exhibits this concept well, explaining that people continuously engage in role-playing, especially when in the “front stage” where people constantly use props, gestures, and rehearsed lines to “act a part”. (Brym and Lie 2012) During the funeral service, I was expected to dress in black, convey sadness, and say “I’m sorry for your loss” and “my condolences” to play the part of a grieving person. I connected symbolic emotions with roles appropriate for the situation to “become” a grieving