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Symbolic interactionism suggests that one of the main tasks for individuals in interaction is the establishment of a definition of the situation. Individuals can control this definition in three main ways: by behaving in ways consistent with their identity, by influencing the behavior of others, and by resisting the identities that others, in turn, seek to impose on them. It is unlikely, however, that individuals are equally able to control meanings in the situation. Using a sample of newly married couples, this research examines how husbands' and wives' relative structural and relationship power affects their ability to control meanings in the situation. Results suggest that those with more power are more able to behave in ways consistent with their identity, more able to impose an identity on their spouse, and more able to resist the identity that the spouse, in turn, seeks to impose. Occupying an advantaged position in both structures confers even greater ability to control meanings in the situation.
Recent developments in identity theory suggest that individuals seek to verify their identities in interaction by working to control situational meanings so that they match identity meanings (e.g., Burke 1991; Stryker and Burke 2000). Through the control of situational meanings, individuals work to define the self as a particular type of person, thereby confirming important identities. In many ways, then, it can be said that in order to verify identities in interaction, individuals seek to control what symbolic interactionists refer to more generally as the definition of the situation.
One of the main ways in which individuals control the definition of the situation is by claiming an identity for the self in interaction through the process of self-presentation (Goffman 1959). In addition, however, individuals may control meanings in the situation by "casting" others into supporting identities (Weinstein and Deutschberger 1963). By behaving in ways consistent with their identities and by imposing an identity on others, they act to control such meanings. Yet even while individuals are trying to influence others, those others are seeking to control the situation so that it reflects their own conception of who the individuals are in interaction. Therefore another way that individuals maintain control of meanings in the situation is by resisting the identities that others hold for...