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Role Salience, Role Embracement, and the Symbolic Self‐Completion of Sorority Pledges
Author(s) -
Arthur Linda Boynton
Publication year - 1997
Publication title -
sociological inquiry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.446
H-Index - 51
eISSN - 1475-682X
pISSN - 0038-0245
DOI - 10.1111/j.1475-682x.1997.tb01102.x
Subject(s) - salience (neuroscience) , the symbolic , social psychology , identity (music) , perspective (graphical) , social identity theory , psychology , symbolic interactionism , sociology , cognitive psychology , computer science , aesthetics , psychoanalysis , social group , philosophy , artificial intelligence
According to symbolic self‐completion theory, people who feel status anxiety may engage in self‐symbolization, resulting in the adoption of symbols used to bolster identity. Self‐symbolization is an idealized condition that occurs when a person's status is legitimized by others who accept these symbols as valid status markers. While some studies support this perspective, others have identified blind spots and suggest revision. The current research suggests that role theory be incorporated with this perspective. In this article, the sorority experience is analyzed as a rite of passage in which high levels of role salience produce role embracement and symbolic self‐completion. Symbolic self‐completion theory is made more robust by analyzing the use of visual symbols as expressions of social roles.