Charles Horton Cooley's 'Looking-Glass' Self

Self is one’s awareness of ideas and attitudes about one’s own personal and social identity. Identity is shaped at a young age from interpreting concepts about one’s own self from others (Mead, 1934). The present study will compare Freud’s psychoanalytic theory of personality the (id, ego, and, superego) to George Herbert Mead’s social self-theory the (“I” and “me”). The study will give an overview of both theorist and discuss each approach in relationship to each other, and defining the key concepts. According to Schultz and Schultz, (2008) the id is defined as the source of psychic energy and the aspect of personality allied with the instincts. The ego is defined as the rational aspect of personality responsible for

The increase in interest to the problem of communication in sociology actualized questions of understanding the nature of the individual. This determined the weakening of the behaviorist tradition, which is characterized by a nihilistic attitude to the study of psychological processes and the determination of the human life as a manifestation of the externally observable behavior (by analogy with the animal reaction). The interactionist approach in sociology has been formed and it refers to the integrity of the human personality and self-determination in the micro-social environment. In this research paper, I want to consider the interactionist theory, as it perfectly reflects micro-social processes and explain the nature of human identity.

In Frank Beddor´s The Looking Glass Wars he tells an out of the ordinary story of Alice in

Symbolic interaction theory emerged in the early 1900s and is still one of the more frequently used theories in the family studies (Smith & Hamon, 2012). The theory assumes that people have different interpretations of situations due to their personal experiences (Smith & Hamon, 2012). By looking at the behaviors of individuals, symbolic interaction theory explains how multiple people have different reactions to the same situation (Smith & Hamon, 2012).

In the early 1900s, American society was a hierarchy based on race, gender, and wealth. White people were ranked higher than black people, and within each race, the wealthy were higher than the poor, and women were below men. In Zora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God, these societal expectations, force Janie, a mixed race woman, into relationships with men who fail her. In each relationship, Janie suffers abuse from the men she marries. The violence escalates from verbal abuse to physical abuse. Janie’s infautionation with Tea Cake allows him to manifest his flaws, which ultimately places Janie in a deflamatory relationship.

It’s no wonder that “[t]he hurricane scene in Zora Neale Hurston’s novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God, is a famous one and [that] other writers have used it in an effort to signify on Hurston” (Mills, “Hurston”). The final, climactic portion of this scene acts as the central metaphor of the novel and illustrates the pivotal interactions that Janie, the protagonist, has with her Nanny and each of her three husbands. In each relationship, Janie tries to “’go tuh God, and…find out about livin’ fuh [herself]’” (192). She does this by approaching each surrogate parental figure as one would go to God, the Father; she offers her faith and obedience to them and receives their definitions of

Growing up in a generation with high expectations of identity that are constantly altering whether it’s the latest trends, styles and even mind-set principles, can be over whelming. When asked to describe one-self, we often are stuck thinking of what particular word could fully describe who we are as a person. We have such a hard time of coming with just one word because there is no form of describing one’s self. How we see ourselves, we may not want to be that the next day. “Looks can be deceiving” or “the first impressions are the most important” is commonly instilled in our mindset which it is true to some extent. Our work

Symbolic Interactionism – Micro level – This involves using symbols. The symbols generally have the same meaning to society, but may not mean the same thing to an individual. For example, a wedding band is a symbol used to show a person is married and it is generally assumed if a person is not wearing a wedding band they are not married or they are trying to hid the fact that they are.

While reading the article, “The Complexity of Identity: “Who Am I?” the text provoked a lot of thought provoking questions and dialogue. The text itself stated how the “looking glass self” is not a flat one – dimensional reflection, but multidimensional.” (page 9) I thought it was really vital to keep this in mind, while looking at my own identity and others. I think it is important to understand this when stereotypes come into a situation; because not everyone has a story and a reason for being and behaving in a way.

Our identity can sometimes be shaped by the way others see us. As we have seen, the way in which others view us can have some sort of impact on how we see ourselves. There are also other contributing factors such as our years of adolescence, the basic human need of wanting to belong and maturing; all play an equally important part in the forming of our character and who we are. On balance it appears that there is not only one influence in the shaping of our identity, but there are many.

formulate a self concept or idea of what we are like (Saunders, 2013 , p.67). Mead essentially

     Two things can happen when we are required to base our definition of “self” on others.  One can take others’ ways of living and thinking, process them, and formulate his or her own definition, independent of anyone else.  Or, one can use the relationships he or she has with other people on which to base their own definition of self, thus making him or her dependent on those other people.  As young people, we learn and take in all we can through the world, our experiences, and relationships with other people.  From there, we grow and establish our own identities, our own “selves”, in response to those interactions with others.  This definition is continually growing and progressing as we evolve as people, interacting with different people in different environments and

The two aspects of the Self according to Mead is the “me and “I”. The “me” is our social self and the “I” is our response to the “me”. The “me” is the interaction of the individual with other people and the “I” is the response of the individual to the community. The “I” subjective self and “me” is the organized self. The “I” is impulsive and subjective. The “me” is more objective, organized, gives direction and is less emotion. One example is that the “me” the individual may understand by watching significant others and teachers. That after high school in the US you usually go directly to college. The “I” might responded to maybe there is a better way, it might be better to travel or work for a year

“When an individual enters the presence of others, they commonly seek to acquire
information about him or to bring into play information about him already possessed. They
will be interested in his general socio-economic status, his conception of self, his attitude
towards them, his competence, his trustworthiness, etc. Although some of this information is
sought as an end in itself, there are usually quite practical reasons for acquiring it. Information
about the individual helps to define the situation, enabling others to know in advance what he
will expect of them and what they may expect of him. Informed in these ways, the others will
know

     The social constructionist perspective holds the view that the self is continuing "shaped and reshaped through interactions with others and involvement in social and cultural activities" (Wetherell & Maybin, 1996, p 220). Social constructionist is concerned with explicating the processes by which people come to describe, explain, or otherwise account for the world (including themselves) in which they live (Gergen, 1971). Thus, the social constructionist approach implies that the self is shaped by social interaction within historical, cultural and social contexts. Social constructionist's apply an analysis of societal level which explain the self through social relations. Conversely, the