Symbolic Convergence Theory (SCT)
Symbolic Convergence Theory (SCT) is a communication theory developed by Ernest G. Bormann, drawing from the works of Erving Goffman and Robert Freed Bales. SCT posits that shared fantasies or symbols among individuals or groups create a sense of collective identity or convergence, referred to as shared group consciousness. This theory is based on two core assumptions: that communication shapes reality and that symbols engender meanings that can amalgamate into a shared understanding. Dramatization plays a key role in SCT, where a group member expresses thoughts through engaging narratives or inside jokes, fostering a unique connection that may be opaque to outsiders.
The concept of 'fantasy' within SCT relates to creative interpretations of experiences that fulfill psychological or rhetorical needs, leading to increased interaction and diminished self-consciousness among participants. SCT is applicable to both small group dynamics and larger audiences, such as during speeches or mass media events, and it helps explain the rise and fall of popular movements, including political and social campaigns. The theory illustrates how collective communication can enhance emotional bonds within groups, creating what Bormann describes as "rhetorical visions" that resonate deeply with members, thereby influencing their perceptions and actions.
Symbolic Convergence Theory (SCT)
Building on the work of Erving Goffman and Robert Bales, Ernest G. Bormann developed the Symbolic Convergence Theory (SCT) of human communication. According to SCT, sharing fantasies or symbols creates convergence. Convergence means shared group consciousness. SCT is based on two assumptions: 1) communication creates reality, and 2) symbols create reality, and meanings for symbols can merge to form a shared reality also known as community consciousness. Dramatization is when a group member expresses him/herself through overstatements, inside jokes, or expressing feelings. This symbolic language creates a shared experience and connection, which an outsider may not understand. Fantasy is creative and imaginative shared interpretation of events that fulfills a group’s psychological or rhetorical needs. When a group embraces fantasy, conversation and volume increase and participants forget their self-consciousness. SCT applies to small groups, as well as large audiences influenced by speeches and mass media. SCT explains why popular movements come and go. Examples of popular movements include political campaigns and religious movements.
Background
Symbolic Convergence Theory (SCT) was the result of years of sociological and ethnographic research. Three scientists who directly contributed to this theory are Erving Goffman, Robert Freed Bales, and Ernest G. Bormann. Goffman (1922–1982) was born in Alberta, Canada. He studied organic chemistry, then left school to work in film. He received a BA in sociology and anthropology from the University of Toronto. Later he studied at the University of Chicago, where he received an MA (1949) and PhD (1953). Goffman, who is considered one of the most influential sociologists of the twentieth century, developed the idea that the world is a never-ending play, also known as dramaturgy (the world is a stage). He believed that when one is born he or she is placed on the stage of everyday life in which socialization occurs. Socialization is how one learns assigned roles from others.
Robert Freed Bales was a social psychologist who studied the social interaction of small groups. He pioneered the methods of group observation and is best known for the SYMLOG (SYstematic MultiLevel Observation of Groups). He attended the University of Oregon where he received a BA and MS in sociology. In 1945 he received a PhD. in sociology from Harvard University. He went on to become a Harvard professor. In 1950, his first book, Interaction Process Analysis: A Method for the Study of Small Groups, was published. It was based on many years research on group therapy sessions of recovering alcoholics. He sought to discover patterns of group behavior, patterns which could be used to predict group function and interaction in different settings. He also sought to understand the role of personality in social interactions. His work was the inspiration for and is often cited by Ernest Bormann.
Overview
In Goffman’s The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life (1959), Goffman discusses impression management which is the information someone presents to others. He organized social behavior into two types: information one gives purposely and information one gives off inadvertently. Goffman likens life to a front stage (the visible self in public) versus the back stage (private life). A classroom is a front stage. A dinner party is a front stage. Any place where one acts in front of others is a front stage. In contrast, a backstage is a private area where one can retreat and not have to act. In these places, one can be one’s true self. Individuals can also prepare for their return to the front stage. Goffman was very interested in the self as a social product and is most known for his study of every day human interactions. Social selves are continuously interacting with others, as relationships connect people to the social world. One of the most-cited authors in his field, Goffman authored a number of books on ethnographic studies in regards to identity and reality. Goffman’s research is key to understanding society’s ideas, values, and beliefs through individual behavior. It is through this one can better understand situational behavior.
Bales described the dynamic process of group fantasizing in the book Personality and Interpersonal Behavior (1970). In the book, Bales explains how dramatizing forms social reality for groups of people. One can observe characteristics of a group’s culture, style, emotional style, motivation, and cohesion. There are twelve content analysis categories for the study of small groups. The category "dramatizes" leads to "group fantasy events." Researchers observed that at this point, a group that was once quiet becomes excited; members would interrupt each other, laugh and display less self-consciousness. This is described as the "chaining process" in which verbal and nonverbal communication shows active participation in the drama.
What is significant, according to Bormann, is the recounting of a dramatic situation, real or fictitious "in a setting removed in time and space from the here-and-now transactions of the group." Bormann goes on to assert, "The most important discovery for the integration of communication and rhetorical theory, however, was the process by which a zero-history group used fantasy chains to develop a common culture." Thus, when a group member participates by responding emotionally to a dramatic situation they publicly announce a commitment to an attitude.
Bales describes the culture of the interacting group as entering a new realm of reality with heroes and villains akin to a drama or work of art. This group fantasy, which uses past experiences, is carried out in the present. Each group member is individually transported into the fantasy which Bales asserts is more real than the current world. This may illicit a strong emotional response (horror or fascination, for example) which serves to marry these feelings with the symbols in communication. This fusion continues over time where one is actively participating psychologically in a fantasy world with others which creates group attachment.
Bormann builds on this theory and argues this process of communication and fantasy also occurs when hearing a speech. When large groups of people are caught up in a symbolic reality it is called rhetorical vision. This phenomenon can be applied to media broadcasts on radio and television or any form of mass communication. Dramas can be scripted to create an emotional response.
Bibliography
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