Sheldon Stryker

CONTEMPORARY THINKERS AND TOPICS
IN SYMBOLIC INTERACTIONISM

Sheldon Stryker

Sheldon Stryker retired in 2002 after over 50 years of teaching and research at Indiana University. Two of his most important administrative roles include directing the IU Institute for Social Research from 1965 to 1969 and again from 1989 to 1994 and directing the National Institute of Mental Health pre and postdoctoral fellowship program in social psychology from 1977 to 2000.

His research primarily focused on social psychology and identity. He wrote extensively on the two social psychologies, the sociological and psychological. He was interested in the relationship between each social psychology and their relationships to their background - sociology or psychology. He did not advocate for merging the two, but for each to responsibly engage in their theory and research while acknowledging and drawing upon those of the other.

One of Stryker's most important contributions to symbolic interactionism, and sociology as a whole, is his development and empirical testing of his theory on identity. Identity theory draws on the symbolic interactionist framework of role-related choice behavior and seeks to extend the concepts and ideas of George Herbert Mead to a testable, empirical theory. Throughout the years, Stryker investigated identity development, identity salience, and the relationship between these and self-esteem, role performance, social movements, and social structure.

Stryker received the George Herbert Mead Award for Lifetime Achievement from the Society for the Study of Symbolic Interaction in 2000 and the Cooley-Mead Award for Lifetime Contributions to Social Psychology from the Social Psychology section of the American Sociological Association in 1986.

Publications include:

Stryker, S. 1968. "Identity theory and role performance." Journal of Marriage and the Family 30: 558-64.

Stryker, S. 1987. "The vitalization of Symbolic Interactionism." Social Psychology Quarterly 50: 83-94.

Stryker, S. 1994. "Identity theory: Its development, research base, and prospects." Studies in Symbolic Interaction 16: 9-20.

Ervin, L. H. & Stryker, S. 2001. "Theorizing the relationship between self-esteem and identity." in Extending self-esteem theory and research: Sociological and psychological currents. 29-55.


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CONTEMPORARY THINKERS AND TOPICS IN SYMBOLIC INTERACTIONISM Sheldon Stryker Sheldon Stryker retired in 2002 after over 50 years of teaching and research at Indiana University. Two of his most important administrative roles include directing the IU Institute for Social Research from 1965 to 1969 and again from 1989 to 1994 and directing the National Institute of Mental Health pre and postdoctoral fellowship program in social psychology from 1977 to 2000. His research primarily focused on social psychology and identity. He wrote extensively on the two social psychologies, the sociological and psychological. He was interested in the relationship between each social psychology and their relationships to their background - sociology or psychology. He did not advocate for merging the two, but for each to responsibly engage in their theory and research while acknowledging and drawing upon those of the other. One of Stryker's most important contributions to symbolic interactionism, and sociology as a whole, is his development and empirical testing of his theory on identity. Identity theory draws on the symbolic interactionist framework of role-related choice behavior and seeks to extend the concepts and ideas of George Herbert Mead to a testable, empirical theory. Throughout the years, Stryker investigated identity development, identity salience, and the relationship between these and self-esteem, role performance, social movements, and social structure. Stryker received the George Herbert Mead Award for Lifetime Achievement from the Society for the Study of Symbolic Interaction in 2000 and the Cooley-Mead Award for Lifetime Contributions to Social Psychology from the Social Psychology section of the American Sociological Association in 1986. Publications include: Stryker, S. 1968. "Identity theory and role performance." Journal of Marriage and the Family 30: 558-64. Stryker, S. 1987. "The vitalization of Symbolic Interactionism." Social Psychology Quarterly 50: 83-94. Stryker, S. 1994. "Identity theory: Its development, research base, and prospects." Studies in Symbolic Interaction 16: 9-20. Ervin, L. H. & Stryker, S. 2001. "Theorizing the relationship between self-esteem and identity." in Extending self-esteem theory and research: Sociological and psychological currents. 29-55.