1

Symbolic Convergence Theory

I. Central explanatory principle of SCT: sharing group fantasies creates

symbolic convergence.

A. Similar to Bales, Bormann and his team of colleagues observed that

group members often dramatized events happening outside the group,
things that took place at previous meetings, or what might possibly
occur among them in the future.
B. When the drama was enhanced in this way, members developed a
common group consciousness and drew closer together.

II. Dramatizing messages: Creative interpretations of there-and-then.

A. According to SCT, conversations about things outside of what’s going

on right now can often serve the group well.
B. Dramatizing messages contain imaginative language that describes
events occurring somewhere else or at some other time than the
here/now.
C. The dramatizing message must paint a picture or call to mind an image.
D. A vivid message is dramatizing if it either describes something outside
the group or portrays an event that has happened within the group in
the past or might happen to the group in the future.
E. Dramatizing messages are creative interpretations that help the
speaker, and sometimes the listener, make sense of a confusing
situation or bring clarity to an uncertain future.

III. Fantasy chain reactions: Unpredictable symbolic explosions.

A. Bormann uses fantasy for dramatizing messages that are

enthusiastically embraced by the whole group.
B. Most dramatizing messages don’t get that kind of reaction.
C. Some dramatizing messages cause a symbolic explosion in the form of a
chain reaction in which members join in until the entire group comes
alive.
D. A fantasy chain occurs when there is a common response to the
dramatizing message.
E. Fantasy chains are hard to predict, but when they occur, they are hard
to control and a group will often converge around a fantasy theme.

IV. Fantasy themes: Content, motives, cues, types.

A. A fantasy theme is the content of the dramatizing message that sparks

a fantasy chain.
B. A fantasy theme is the basic unit of analysis for SCT.
C. Bormann suggested that group members’ meanings, emotions, motives,
and actions are apparent in their fantasy themes.
2

D. Many fantasy themes are indexed by a symbolic cue.

E. A symbolic cue is an “agreed upon trigger that sets off the group
members to respond as they did when they first shared the fantasy”
such as a code word, gesture, or inside joke.
F. Clusters of related fantasy themes sometimes surface repeatedly in
different groups and are labeled with a fantasy type.

V. Symbolic convergence: Group consciousness and often cohesiveness.

A. Symbolic convergence results from sharing group fantasies.

1. Symbolic convergence is the way in which two or more private

symbol worlds incline toward each other, come more closely
together, or even overlap.
2. Symbolic convergence causes group members to develop a unique
group consciousness.
3. Bormann suggested that it is important for members to
memorialize their group consciousness with a name and recorded
history that recalls moments when fantasies chained out.

B. Symbolic convergence usually, but not always, results in heightened

group cohesiveness.

VI. Rhetorical vision: A composite drama shared by a rhetorical community.

A. Fantasies that begin in small groups often are worked into public
speeches, become picked up by mass media and ‘spread out across
larger publics.’

1. Rhetorical vision refers to a composite drama that catches up

large groups of people into a common symbolic reality.
2. Rhetorical community is the wide ranging body of people who
share a reality.

B. Fantasy theme analysis discovers fantasy themes and rhetorical visions

that have already been created.
C. Fantasy theme analysis is a specific type of rhetorical criticism that’s
built on two basic assumptions

1. People create their social reality.

2. People’s meanings, motives, and emotions can be seen in their
rhetoric.
3. Four features should be present in the shared fantasies:
characters, plot lines, scene, and sanctioning agent.

D. Examples of such rhetorical visions can be seen in McCabe’s work on

pro-eating disorders (also known as high-risk dieters) or the impact of
 3

the “Make America Great Again” movement during the run-up to the
2016 US Presidential elections.

VII. Theory into practice: Advice to improve your college experience.

A. Bormann offers advice on how to use SCT as it applies to a group.

1. When the group begins to share a drama that in your opinion

would contribute to a healthy culture, you should pick up the
drama and feed the chain.
2. If the fantasies are destructive, creating group paranoia or
depression, cut the chain off whenever possible.
3. To build cohesiveness, use personification to identify your group.
4. Be sure to encourage the sharing of dramas depicting your group
history.
5. Even though a conscious rhetorical effort on your part can
succeed in igniting a chain reaction, remember that the fantasy
may take an unexpected turn.

B. Most rhetorical visions embrace either a righteous vision, a social

vision, or a pragmatic vision.

VIII. Critique: Judging SCT as both a scientific and interpretive theory.

A. The theory’s basic hypothesis that sharing group fantasies creates

symbolic convergence is framed as a universal principle that holds for
all people, in any culture, at any time, in any communication context; it
typifies the objective tradition.
B. But the methodology of determining fantasy themes, fantasy types, and
rhetorical visions is rhetorical criticism—a humanistic approach that’s
undeniably interpretive.
C. SCT holds up well against both the criteria for an objective theory and
an interpretive theory.
D. Despite this success, SCT fails to meet at least two benchmarks of a
good theory (one objective benchmark and one interpretive
benchmark).

1. SCT researchers adequately predict the benefits of convergence

(cohesiveness) but have little success predicting when a
dramatizing message will trigger a chain reaction.
2. Without the ability to forecast when a fantasy chain reaction will
occur, SCT is difficult to test and not as useful as group
practitioners desire.
3. There’s no doubt that fantasy theme analysis uncovers the values
of a rhetorical community. One concern is an ideology of
convergence.
4

4. SCT vocabulary shows the theory’s pro-social bias, but ignores

issues of power.

 Dramatizing message
o Imaginative language by a group member describing past, future, or outside
events; creative interpretations of the there-and-then.
 Fantasy chain
o A symbolic explosion of lively agreement within a group in response to a
member’s dramatizing message.
 Fantasy
o The creative and imaginative shared interpretation of events that fulfills a
group’s psychological or rhetorical needs.
 Fantasy theme
o Content of the fantasy that has chained out within a group; SCT’s basic unit
of analysis.
 Symbolic cue
o An agreed-upon trigger that sets off group members to respond as they did
when they first shared the fantasy.
 Fantasy type
o A cluster of related fantasy themes; greater abstractions incorporating
several concrete fantasy themes that exist when shared meaning is taken
for granted.
 Symbolic convergence
o Two or more private symbol worlds incline toward each other, come more
closely together, or even overlap; group consciousness, cohesiveness.
 Rhetorical vision
o A composite drama that catches up large groups of people into a common
symbolic reality.
 Fantasy theme analysis
o A type of rhetorical criticism used to detect fantasy themes and rhetorical
visions; the interpretive methodology of SCT.