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The Looking Glass Self By Charles H. Cooley

Decent Essays

If we look back at our grandparents’ generation, we can defiantly see how much the society has changed with all the new technologies, and most importantly how ourselves has changed with the society together. In today’s modern society everyone of us is like a clown having at least two “masks” with us all the time. For example, women now days can maintain more than two statuses, a mother, an employee, a house wife, and a student. When we are trying to play all of these roles at once, the concept of role conflict has emerged. So what cause this concept appears in this society. Charles H. Cooley come up with the concept called the looking-glass self, which illustrates that as human we tend to identify ourselves based on what others think who we are, and change ourselves due to what others are expecting us to become. (Steckely & Letts,p117). This concept can easily lead us in to the situation of role conflict. Once I entered into university I realized that most of my friends around me are working and starting to earning money for themselves. Slowly they start to convince me by telling me all the advantages of having a job and spending their own money. Due to all the expectations and pressures from my peers I start looking for jobs all over the place. Now I am an formal employee at Tommy, but by having two different statuses of being a university student and an employee I am feeling exhausted. This experience shows that as people we often care too much what others view us. By

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