Bio: (1911–63) American sociologist. Kuhn lectured at the University of Iowa. He created a more quantitative version of symbolic interactionism, also known as the ‘Iowa School’ of symbolic interactionism. Kuhn argued that the previous, also known as the “Chicago School” of symbolic interactionism, wasn’t precise enough to allow scientific measurements. In order to develop operational definitions of the most important notions used in symbolic interactions, such as ‘social act’ and ‘the *self’, and make generations, Kuhn developed different empirical techniques and instruments of wich Twenty Statements Test is the best known. In this test, subjects were asked to list twenty responses to the question ‘Who Am I?’. The test was used to study the self more objectively and uncover self-identifications that arise from the social roles a person embodies. According to Kuhn, social interaction creates, maintains, and alters social structures, but those structures, in turn, impose constraints on available social actions.

Main works

“Kinsey's view on human behavior”, in Sociological Problems (1953);

“Twenty statements test”, in American Sociological Review (1954);  

“Self-attitudes by age, sex, and professional training”, in The Sociological Quarterly (1960);

“The reference group reconsidered”, in The Sociological Quarterly (1964);

“Major trends in symbolic interaction theory in the past twenty-five years”, in The Sociological Quarterly (1964)

“An empirical investigation of self-attitudes”, in Denzin, Norman (ed.) Sociological Methods (2017).