Hello everyone, my name is Telisha Ynclan
and today I am going to be discussing Module
8, chapter 18 that covers the Symbolic Convergence
Theory.
To begin, I would like to present a short
definition of the theory, followed by a description
of the theory highlighting its components
by providing examples from my personal experiences.
I will also follow up with more real world
applications of the symbolic convergence theory.
To conclude, I will summarize how we have
gained a new perspective on situations through
the use of the symbolic convergence theory.
According to the text, Bormann defines the
main principle of the symbolic convergence
theory as the “sharing group fantasies creating
symbolic convergence.” For my example, I
am going to use an example from my job.
I work at a New York style Coal-Brick oven
pizzeria. When we cook pizzas, we place the
topping pizza on a paddle, which is then used
as a tool to project the pizza deep into a
15-foot coal brick oven. Occasionally when
a pizza is thrown into the oven, pizza toppings
can fall off of a pizza onto another pizza.
This is particularly common with rounder toppings
such as meatballs or sausage.
The text defines a dramatized message as imaginative
language by a group member describing past,
future or outside events; creative interpretations
of then and there. Dramatizing message contains
pun, wordplay, or figure of speech.
At my job, we have a pizza cook named Thomas
Lane, about two years ago, was diagnosed with
testicular cancer. He underwent chemotherapy
and ultimately ended up having one testicle
removed. One day, when Thomas was working
a plain cheese pizza had come out of the oven
with a single meatball on it, which had come
off of another pizza. Thomas saw the humor
in the similarities between him and the pizza
and decided to name the pizza after himself
titling it “The Thomas Lane Special”
This dramatizing message quickly caught on
and spread throughout the staff creating a
fantasy chain. The text defines a “fantasy
chain” as a symbolic explosion of lively
agreement within a group in response to a
group members dramatizing message. Since then,
every pizza that comes out of the oven with
a single meatball on it spurs the re-emergence
of the fantasy coined as the “Thomas Lane
Special” The text describes this as symbolic
cues or “An agreed upon trigger that sets
off group members to respond as they did when
they first shared the fantasy. These discussions
of sharing of dramatizing messages, fantasy
chain, and symbolic cues are all separate
pieces which make up the symbolic convergence
theory which as stated previously is the “sharing
of group fantasies”
Per the example I have provided along with
its components, you should now have a better
understanding of that the symbolic convergence
theory is as well as what it is composed of.
The real world application of the symbolic
convergence theory is clearly shown. Now that
I have drawn examples from my own personal
experiences I will now make some inferences.
The experience of my co-worker having testicular
cancer was obviously a negative one in which
we all felt for him. By drawing an image of
him through the use of a pizza we were able
to use humor as an outlet to make light of
a negative situation as well as grow closer
together as a staff.
Now that I have made some inferences, and
I will discuss how these inferences can be
transferred to other situations. The symbolic
convergence theory can be used in numerous
other parts of life. We can continue to create
fantasy chains based off of other aspects
of our work at a pizzeria such as fantasy
chains involving difficult customers or corporate
visits, which could negative experiences where
the practice of the symbolic convergence theory
could allow us to find humor as a group. Outside
of work, the symbolic convergence theory could
be used in a vast array of areas of life such
as family get together, church retreats, or
even in school. The Symbolic Convergence theory
has been described as being the “cookie
cutter” approach to group analysis and therefor
can be valid in a vast array of situations.
In conclusion, the language from the text
allows us to create a new social reality by
taking a dramatized message, interpreting
it into a fantasy, and passing it through
the fantasy chain. Through this experience,
we are able to gain a common understanding
or interpretation of the dramatized message.
Through symbolic convergence, we are able
to experience a range of implications such
as the benefits of humor through inside jokes,
or even formation of bonds within a group.
To summarize, the symbolic convergence theory
dramatizes a message, creating fancy which
is then passed through a fantasy chain.
Thank you so much for watching.
