Interactionist Perspective

Interactionism is a theoretical perspective in sociology that focuses on the everyday interactions between individuals as the basis for the development of society. Interactionism focuses on humans as social actors rather than just focusing on the role of society.

For example, suppose that we were driving along a road when a truck speeds by us going 20 miles per hour over the speed limit. We would interpret that behavior as being wrong and illegal since the car was breaking the speed limit. Now let's say that we heard a siren and saw that the truck was actually a red fire truck going to put out a fire. Then we would interpret this behavior as acceptable given the fact that the fire truck has a good reason for breaking the speed limit.

Interactionism is also concerned with the social context in which our interactions take place. The social context not only plays an important role in the way in which we interpret others' behavior but also how we choose to behave ourselves at any given moment.