ABSTRACT
In interactionist theory, as formulated particularly by John Dewey, rational thought is a function of the breadth of experience—direct or vicarious — available to the individual. Learning, too, is considered to be a function of the breadth of perspective. Critics of symbolic interaction theory frequently pose the question: How can one objectively study so subjective a phenomenon as “what goes on in people’s heads”? Since role-taking and the selective perception, choice, and interpretation of symbols from the environment are precisely processes which do “go on in people’s heads,” this is a criticism which merits serious consideration. Professor Warshay provides methodological leads to the objective analysis of such subjective processes. He introduces the notion of “breadth of perspective” as a concept derived from Mead and Dewey and then proceeds to an empirical test of the validity of the concept and an empirical demonstration of its relation to other variables commonly employed in the social sciences.
