Buzoida (2014) The Semiology Analysis in Media Studies
Buzoida (2014) The Semiology Analysis in Media Studies
Buzoida (2014) The Semiology Analysis in Media Studies
REFERENCES
Linked references are available on JSTOR for this article:
http://www.jstor.org/stable/4104998?seq=1&cid=pdf-reference#references_tab_contents
You may need to log in to JSTOR to access the linked references.
JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide
range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and
facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected].
Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at
http://about.jstor.org/terms
Taylor & Francis, Ltd. is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to
The Sociological Quarterly
This content downloaded from 154.59.124.38 on Tue, 17 Apr 2018 20:44:32 UTC
All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms
The Self and Political Role: A Symbolic
Interactionist Approach to Political Ideology
This content downloaded from 154.59.124.38 on Tue, 17 Apr 2018 20:44:32 UTC
All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms
The Self and Political Role 23
Preliminary Definitions
Political acts are social acts, and all social acts are directed toward ob-
jects." Therefore, "political behavior" may be defined as that part of
human activity directed toward the social object government. Much po-
litical behavior is institutional behavior, that is to say, it is role per-
formance within a well-defined interactional network or social system.
But political behavior sometimes takes the form of activity directed
toward changing or preventing change in the social system. In this case
it lies within the field of what is called collective behavior."
The self refers to the individual's view of himself in all of the statuses
and roles which organize and direct his behavior toward all of the ob-
jects of his experience; "political self identification" refers to the indi-
vidual's view of himself in the single status-role of political participant
or actor. An individual's perception of his political role consists of all the
norms attached to his view of himself in the status of political actor.
It is his beliefs concerning the appropriate ways of acting toward the
social object government.
As used in this paper, the term "ideology" is linked with the indi-
vidual's perception of his political role. It is a set of political norms
incorporated into the individual's view of himself. However, it should
be noted that many political roles are non-ideological. In ordinary usage,
a political role is not considered ideological unless the individual assigns
importance to it relative to other roles. All members of a nation-state do
not interact with respect to political objects and, consequently, do not
incorporate the status of political participant into their views of them-
selves. In the United States, for example, a large segment of the popula-
tion is politically apathetic.7 For many persons, politics is a minor part
of their lives; they define the political role as subordinate or peripheral
to other roles. For some, politics is a central life role.8 Hence, political
ideology, from the standpoint of the individual, may be defined as any
set of beliefs about appropriate ways of acting toward the political insti-
tution which have been saliently incorporated into the individual's view
of himself. While this definition excludes those who are politically apa-
thetic, it is broad enough to include "moderates" and "middle-of-the-
roaders" as well as extremists of the left and the right.
5 For discussions of "the act" as the unit of analysis in symbolic interaction theory,
see Bernard N. Meltzer, The Social Psychology of George Herbert Mead (Kalamazoo,
Michigan: Western Michigan University, 1959), pp. 23-25; and Elsworth Faris, "The
Retrospective Act and Education," Journal of Educational Sociology, 14:79-91 (Octo-
ber, 1940).
' Ralph H. Turner and Lewis M. Killian, Collective Behavior (Englewood Cliffs,
New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, 1957), p. 308.
7 Lester W. Milbrath, Political Participation (Chicago: Rand McNally, 1965).
8 Kornhauser, op. cit.
This content downloaded from 154.59.124.38 on Tue, 17 Apr 2018 20:44:32 UTC
All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms
24 THE SOCIOLOGICAL QUARTERLY
Hypothesis
The hypothesis tested in this research is that the differences in left-wing
and right-wing political role perceptions are related to the manner in
which individuals identify themselves with respect to the major institu-
tions of society. Specifically, it is hypothesized that right-wingers pri-
marily view themselves as acting within these institutions. They tend to
anchor themselves and center their lives within societal and communal
institutions such as the family, occupation, church, and state. They of
course interact and identify themselves within other groups and play
other roles, but these latter tend to be peripheral. Reciprocally, it is
expected that political left-wingers will identify themselves as acting
within these same institutions, to be sure, but they more often view them-
selves as acting against or toward them as well as within them. They may
also tend to identify themselves more and organize a larger part of their
activity within other groups. They identify themselves in a wider variety
of statuses and roles."
Differences in behavior stemming from differential interaction and
identification are probably in the direction of acceptance of the prevail-
ing norms of the groups or systems within which the interaction occurs.
And the prevailing norms in any group may include those that are rele-
vant to supporting or maintaining the group. Individuals who interact
primarily within the family, occupational group, church, and state acquire
norms directed toward supporting these institutions. Individuals who in-
teract within many groups in addition to the major institutions are more
likely to acquire norms in conflict with the status quo.
Method
The data for this research were gathered over a period of three years
(1964 through 1966), and the 254 respondents in the "sample" were se-
lected because they were assumed to be ideologues (individuals who
have internalized ideological political roles). The interviewing was con-
ducted by persons trained for this specific project, and the respondents
were selected by the interviewers on the basis of preset criteria.10 Briefly,
these criteria included such things as reputation as left- or right-winger,
level of political activity, and demographic and status criteria. The 254
9 Ibid., found that radicals had less commitment to family and occupational roles
than liberals. It is also interesting to note a similarity between the hypothesis tested
in this paper and a point in Marxism. According to Marx, the "forces of production"
are dynamic while the "relations of production" tend to be static. The latter tends
to be static because the dominant class resists the changes required by the "forces
of production." That is, individuals who are anchored in the social system support
the status quo.
10 In this study, "reputation" is from the standpoint of individuals in the respond-
ents' home communities. The respondents were located by graduate students and
This content downloaded from 154.59.124.38 on Tue, 17 Apr 2018 20:44:32 UTC
All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms
The Self and Political Role 25
This content downloaded from 154.59.124.38 on Tue, 17 Apr 2018 20:44:32 UTC
All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms
26 THE SOCIOLOGICAL QUARTERLY
(Left)
1 18 12 All ten items
2 22 22 2 through 10
3 22 11 3 through 10
4 20 16 4 through 10
5 27 25 5 through 10
6 38 47 6 through 10
7 13 8 7 through 10
8 15 12 8 through 10
9 33 44 9 through 10
10 31 31 10
11 15 4 None of the items
(Right)
Total 254 232
C. R. = .91.
This content downloaded from 154.59.124.38 on Tue, 17 Apr 2018 20:44:32 UTC
All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms
The Self and Political Role 27
ments Test, also known as the TST or the "Who am I?" This test was
developed at the State University of Iowa by Manford H. Kuhn.12 It is
used in the present research to measure the individuals' identifications
of themselves with respect to the major social institutions. The TST is
a simple, open-ended, relatively unstructured test and is administered
by giving the respondent a sheet of paper with twenty numbered blank
spaces on it and asking him to make twenty different statements about
himself in answer to the question, "Who am I?"
There are several methods for the analysis of the TST responses, and
some of these are based on form and structure and ignore the content
of the statements.l3 But the method used in the present paper was de-
veloped for this specific research and is based on the literal content of
the statements.
The basic rule in the present method of scoring the TST was to count
the number of mentions of the major social institutions: the family, the
occupational or economic institution, the church or religious institution,
the state or governmental or political institution, and civic and service
organizations.'4 However, two important exceptions to this rule should
be noted. In the first place, a distinction was made between acting within
an institution and acting against or toward it. For example, "I am a
liberal," "I am a Democrat," and "I am nonpartisan" were counted as
political mentions, for they seem to identify the individual as acting
or playing a role in the political system. "I dislike politics" and "I am a
radical" were not counted as major institutional mentions because they
seem to identify the individual as playing a role toward or against the
state rather than within it. The second exception to the rule was the
counting of physical self-identification statements as implied references
to major institutions. This included statements such as the following: "I
am a blond," "I am overweight," "I own an automobile," and "I live on
College Street." While these statements do not mention major social in-
stitutions, they are examples of what Kuhn and McPartland call "locus"
or "consensual" references and indicate "anchorage or self-identification
in a social system." 15
The 254 respondents gave a total of 4083 statements on the TST. Of
12 Manford H. Kuhn and Thomas S. McPartland, "An Empirical Investigation
of Self-Attitudes," American Sociological Review, 19:68-76 (February, 1954). For
a criticism of the TST see Charles W. Tucker, "Some Methodological Problems of
Kuhn's Self Theory," The Sociological Quarterly, 7:345-58 (Summer, 1966).
13 "'Manual for the Twenty-Statements Problem," Department of Research, The
Greater Kansas City Mental Health Foundation, Rev. mimeograph (January, 1959).
14 In addition to mentions of the family, occupation, church, and state, references
to local community groups, service organizations, and "civic duties and responsibilities"
are counted as major institutional mentions.
15 Kuhn and McPartland, op. cit., p. 70. The "physical self-identification" state-
ments of this research are quite similar to the category "A" statements in Thomas
S. McPartland, John H. Cumming, Wynona S. Garretson, "Self-Conception and Ward
Behavior in Two Psychiatric Hospitals," Sociometry, 24:111-24 (June, 1961); and
the "possession or location" statements in Couch, op. cit. Self-identification statements
This content downloaded from 154.59.124.38 on Tue, 17 Apr 2018 20:44:32 UTC
All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms
28 THE SOCIOLOGICAL QUARTERLY
Findings
The findings, presented in Tables 2, 3, and 4, support the hypothesis.'"
Table 2 shows an increase in the average number of mentions of major
N No. X No. X
of this kind are quite clear and unambiguous, and others know how to behave con-
sistently toward persons who identify themselves in this manner. According to
McPartland, statements of this kind "refer to a more concrete level than that on
which social interaction ordinarily is based. They contain information about the self
which can be validated with a mirror, a yardstick, or a scale; .. ." "Manual for the
Twenty Statements Problem," p. 6.
16 Tables 1 and 3 present the data by political scale type; but in Tables 2 and
4, scale types 1 and 2 have been collapsed into the category "Left," 3 and 4 into
"Left of Center," 5, 6, and 7 into "Center," 8 and 9 into "Right of Center," and 10
and 11 into "Right."
This content downloaded from 154.59.124.38 on Tue, 17 Apr 2018 20:44:32 UTC
All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms
The Self and Political Role 29
Discussion
This content downloaded from 154.59.124.38 on Tue, 17 Apr 2018 20:44:32 UTC
All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms
30 THE SOCIOLOGICAL QUARTERLY
self with respect to the major societal institutions. In answer to the sec-
ond criticism, it should be noted that political ideology falls within the
scope of the phrase "broad, societal phenomena"; and although this re-
search is basically microsociological, it deals with intra- and interper-
sonal relations within the context of institutions and social systems. For
the independent variable in this study is the way the individual views
himself as an actor within the larger social system.
A number of recent studies have approached political ideology as a
product of inconsistent or poorly crystallized status.19 Because of the
difference in orientation, it is interesting to contrast these studies to the
symbolic interaction approach. This contrast is most apparent in the ap-
proach to status. In the status crystallization studies, status is assigned
objectively by the observer on the basis of the subject's rank or member-
ship in income, occupation, education, or ethnic categories. In symbolic
19 Gary B. Rush, "Status Consistency and Right-Wing Extremism," American
Sociological Review, 32:86-92 (February, 1967); Irwin W. Goffman, "Status Con-
sistency and Preference for Change in Power Distribution," American Sociological
Review, 22:275-81 (June, 1957); Emile Benoit-Smullyan, "Status, Status Types, and
Status Interrelation," American Sociological Review, 9:289-94 (April, 1944); Gerhard
E. Lenski, "Status Inconsistency and the Vote: A Four Nation Test," American
Sociological Review, 32:296-301 (April, 1967). Gerhard E. Lenski, "Social Par-
ticipation and Status Crystallization," American Sociological Review, 21:458 (August,
1956). Gerhard E. Lenski, "Status Crystallization: A Non-Vertical Dimension of So-
cial Status," American Sociological Review, 19:412 (August, 1954).
This content downloaded from 154.59.124.38 on Tue, 17 Apr 2018 20:44:32 UTC
All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms
The Self and Political Role 3
interaction theory, an individual's statuses are his own view of his loca-
tions in various social systems, and the assignment is made by the indi-
vidual himself in the process of interacting with others. That is, a person's
status is not determined by the position he "really" occupies in a social
category, it results from the way others behave toward him and the way
he interprets that behavior. Status, in this view, reflects identification with
significant others or reference groups, not mere membership in a group
or collectivity. Income, occupation, education, and ethnic group are rel-
evant to his behavior in a given status if, and only if, the individual
incorporates them into his view of himself. The Twenty Statements Test
is a projective instrument which permits the investigator to make an
assessment of the subject's own interpretation of his statuses.
From the point of view of symbolic interaction, the status crystalliza-
tion research seems to either omit "definitions of the situation" or assume
a correspondence between "objective" status and perceived status. In
the words of Herbert Blumer, "Human beings interpret or 'define' each
other's actions instead of merely reacting to each other's actions."20
They do not respond to or organize their activities in terms of what the
situation or world "really" is, but to what they interpret it to be or be-
lieve it is. To see a pin and pick it up is to engage in activity. If the
pin turns out to be an optical illusion, one gets the exercise nevertheless.
This content downloaded from 154.59.124.38 on Tue, 17 Apr 2018 20:44:32 UTC
All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms