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Symbolic Convergence Theory (chapter title: "Weighing the Words")

Ernest Bormann

Chapter 3
Group and Public Communication—Group Decision Making

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Theory Overview

Abstracts appear in Appendix A of the 7th Edition

Sharing common fantasies transforms a collection of individuals into a cohesive group. Symbolic convergence occurs when group members spontaneously create fantasy chains that display an energized, unified response to common themes. A fantasy theme analysis across groups can reveal a rhetorical vision that contains motives to enact the joint fantasy. (Rhetorical and socio-psychological traditions)

NOTE: Bormann’s theory is used as a case study in Division One (Overview) of the text. Otherwise, it would appear in Divsion Three, Group and Public Communication.

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