| Galina |
| Larysa |
Galina Kopelovich
ESL 91
Spring, 2001
Project Topic: Discuss "The Looking-Glass Self" theory proposed by Charles Horton Cooley. Describe the theory and its features. Explain how this theory relates to the influence of the various agents of socialization in the development of an individual's self-concept.
Social
interaction has powerful
effects on our
behavior. Through our
interactions with other
people, we learn
the rules of
society, meet our
personal and professional wants, and even
create a social
reality.
Sociologists
and psychologists alike
have expressed interest
in how the individual develops
the sense of
self as a
result of social
interaction. In the
early 1900s, Charles
Horton Cooley advanced
the belief that
we learn who
we are by interacting with
others. Our view of
ourselves, then, comes
not only from
direct contemplation of
our personal qualities
but also from
our impressions of
how others perceive
us, a phenomenon Cooley
calls the Looking- glass self. The Looking- glass self is a
concept that emphasizes
the self as
the product of
our social interactions with others.
The process of
developing a self- identity or self- concept has
three phases. First, we
imagine how we
present ourselves to
others- to relatives, friends, even
strangers on the
street. Then we
imagine how others
evaluate us ( attractive, intelligent, shy, or
strange ). Finally, we
develop some sort
of feeling about
ourselves, such as
respect or shame,
as a result of these
impressions. By interacting
with others, we learn the expectations of society and
then select behavior
most appropriate to
our own culture.
Charles
Horton Cooley believed
that the self
is a social product and
that aspects of
one’s personality are
influenced by others,
especially parents. According
to sociology researchers
we know that
the family is
the most important
agent of socialization, which helps children
develop. Socialization occurs
through human interactions. We begin the
process of socialization in our family.
We learn great
deal from those
people most important
in our lives- our family members
such as grandparents, parents, brothers and
sisters. We begin
to see and realize the
world around us
through our family.
The family forms
a children’s behavior
and attitudes. Children
always look at
their parents and
they copy their
parent’s behavior. But
what is more
important that children
always listen to
how their parents
talk to each
other. Children pay
attention to everything
that happens in
the family. Children
may react strongly
to the parent’s criticism and
decide wrongly that
the parents views
the children as
stupid and a
result, can develop self- identities based on incorrect
perceptions. This misperception can easily be
converted into a
negative self- identity through
the following process: 1) the parents criticized us, 2) the
parents must think
that we are stupid, 3) we are stupid. Yet
self- identities are also
subject to change.
If children receive a positive approving parental attitude
children might no
longer feel stupid.
MY RESPONSE
I appreciate my
English teacher for
giving me the
topic in the
essay about the
interaction of self
and society in
terms of the
theory expressed by
Charles Horton Cooley.
It was so complicated for
me because before
the English class
I had never heard about
this theory. I
never thought about
that and in
order to write
this project I
had to find a lot
of information to
support my ideas.
I did a
lot of research on the
Internet by using computer.
I got a lot of
information not only
about Cooley’s theory
“ Looking Glass Self “,
but also about
other sociology scientists.
During work on
this project I
improved my computer
and writing skills.
Moreover I learned
how put information
together.
I hope that
my project about
Cooley theory “ Looking
Glass Self “ can
help the reader
to understand better
the interaction of
self and society
as it helped me.
CONCLUSION
“Self and society,”
wrote Cooley, “ are
twin- born.” This emphasizes
the organic link
and the indissoluble connection between self
and society. We
were not born
with these understandings. Building on the
work of Cooley,
sociologists recognize that
we create our
own designation: the self.
The self represents
the sum total
of people’s conscious
perceptions of their
own identity. It
is not a static phenomenon
but continues to
develop and change
throughout our lives.
The work of
sociologist Charles Horton
Cooley has been
especially useful in
furthering our understanding of these important
issues.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Schaefer, Richard T.,
2000. SOCIOLOGY: A
BRIEF INTRODUCTION (third edition).
Boston: Mc Graw-Hill.
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Larysa
Soldatova
ESL 91
Spring,
2001
Project Topic: Discuss "The Looking-Glass Self" theory proposed by Charles Horton Cooley. Describe the theory and its features. Explain how this theory relates to the influence of the various agents of socialization in the development of an individual's self-concept.
In the
early 1900s, Charles Horton
Cooley in his
book “Human Nature
and the Social
Order “ developed the idea
of what the
emphasis of sociology
ought to be. In
his book Cooley
carried out the
theory of sociological approaches to the
self. He called the
theory “The Looking
Glass Self” to
emphasize that the
self is the
product of our
social interactions with
other people. “Self and
society,” wrote Cooley, “are twin-born.” The self, to Cooley, is not
first individual and
then social; it arises
constantly through communication.
The notion
of the looking-glass self is
composed of three
principal phases.
1. I
imagine how I
appear to others.
2. I
imagine how others
judge or evaluate
that appearance.
3. I form my
own feelings about
myself, based on that
imagined judgment.
Cooley maintained
that the key
to the nature of and
the method of
studying the individual
and society are
personal ideas. One’s consciousness is a reflection
of what he
thinks others think
of him. Without social
experience, the self cannot
develop. According to Cooley
social consciousness and
self-consciousness, both of which
are located only
in the mind, are
inseparable because “ we
cannot conceive of
ourselves without reference
to some group, or
some group without
reference to ourselves “ (p.95).
In his
attempt to illustrate
the reflected character
of the self, Cooley compared it
to a looking glass. I see
my face, figure, and my
dress in the
glass, and I imagine
how I appear to others. I
imagine how others
judge or evaluate
that appearance. Then I
form my own
feelings about myself, based on that imagined
judgment.
Cooley’s looking-glass self theory is
based on the
idea that the
self results from
an individual’s “ imagination “ of how others
view him or
her. So, “ self “ cannot exist
without others. “There is
no sense of
“I” without its
correlative sense of
you, or he, or they,” wrote Cooley.
The self
arises in a
social process of
communicative interchange as
it is reflected in a
person’s consciousness.
“Society,” Cooley adds, “ is an
interweaving and interworking of mental selves.” Society is internalized in
the individual psyche; it
becomes part of
the individual self
through the interaction
of many; individuals, which links
and fuses them
into an organic
whole.
The idea
of the indissoluble connection between
self and society
has become the
crucial contribution Cooley
made to modern
psychology and sociology.
Cooley concludes
that the human
mind is social, society is mental, and society
and the mind
are aspects of
the same whole. Society is simply the
collective aspect of
personal thought. Each person’s imagination, regarded
as a collection of personal
impressions, is a special
phase of society. Cooley’s theory “The Looking
Glass Self” is
the basis of
sociology.
Bibliography
Charles Horton Cooley –
The Work – Looking Glass Self. (n.d.) Charles Horton Cooley.[Online]. http://raven.jmu.edu/~ridenelr/DSS/Cooley/COOLWRK.HTML
Schefer,Richard T. (2000).Sociology: A
Brief Introduction (third edition). Boston: McGraw-Hill. pp.78-79.
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