To what extent are the ‘self’ and ‘identity’ separate from society?

Mead also talks about the meaning of “I” and “me” and the “generalized other” and their realization through the “play” and “game” stages of the development of self-consciousness. The development of self-concept is a process by which we incorporate the attitudes of others toward our self (Appelrouth and Edles, 2012). Our idea of who we are versus the rest

The nature of “I” is entirely socially, its main characteristic is the ability to become an object for oneself, hence, the ability to self-consciousness, which distinguishes it from inanimate objects and living bodies (p. 378). The features of the behavior and the establishment of the group, a specific socio-cultural system, a certain society, according to Mead are the concepts of “generalized other." Elements of the generalized other can also be inanimate objects in the form of objects of material culture and physical environment.

Dramaturgical perspective shows social interactions as a theatre that reflects the idea of an individual’s life as a stage performance ,the audience expectations and maintenance of role created by the actor.

Introduction Dramaturgy, or impression management, is the conscious effort an individual puts forth when trying to present a certain impression of himself to others. This is used in things like job interviews in order to highlight certain aspects that one might want others to perceive more vividly. There are also two types of self-presentation as well. There is tactical, as just discussed, and then there is authentic. The authentic self is when someone is using his or her own genuine personality.

and relationships), the Social Self (similar to Jung’s persona, is the self we play in social

Ian Burkitt presents his perspective on what affects our self-identities in his book Social Selves. Burkitt delves into the history of sociology and the thoughts not just of early sociologist like Marx, Weber, and Durkheim, but he also brings in ancient Philosophers such as Descartes and Aurelius to emphasize the narratives of self that began long ago.

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

Erving Goffman’s above statement, referencing actors and public image, is a clear allusion to his dramaturgical metaphor, which is one branch of his work on symbolic interactionism. His dramaturgical metaphor delves into the premise that we are all ‘actors’ who ‘perform’ to others as our ‘audience’ (Goffman, 1990). It is this metaphor which will be evaluated and analysed for its sociological significance, as well as the practical implications of the statement above, and what it means to be sociologically significant. Many other sociologists have also tackled the depths of Symbolic Interactionism, or the themes explored by the dramaturgical metaphor, of the likes of, Mead and Blumer. Their insights and contributions will be discussed concerning Goffman’s statement. However, it is Goffman’s dramaturgical metaphor which will be of the most help in evaluating the statement given and its sociological significance. Although, as relayed above, other sociologists work, such as Meads idea of the self being split into the I and the Me, and their individual functions will be important in helping us further evaluate the statement, and its sociological significance (Pampel, 2007). As will Blumer’s three-pronged approach to symbolic interactionism, allowing us to grasp a basic understanding of the concepts and frameworks surrounding symbolic interactionism, and enhance our knowledge of the dramaturgical metaphors place in symbolic interactionism (Carter & Fuller, 2015). Overall, the

Dramaturgy is a concept developed by Erving Goffman who uses the metaphor of a theatrical production in order to understand social interactions in everyday life; also known as dramaturgical theory. This metaphor demonstrates dramaturgy as a real life play in which people are the actors/actresses. There are three logics to this concept: the indivudial shows us what they want us to know, impression management and particular features of face-to-face encounters bring order to interactions (Allan, 62). The dramaturgic analysis of Goffman presents the idea that social interaction can be viewed as a chain of staged performances in order to understand and predict the behavior of others and how we present ourselves while cooperating to maintain

Mead is generally regarded as the founder of the symbolic interaction approach. George Herbert Mead (1863-1931) was trained in social psychology and philosophy

George Herbert Mead was an American philosopher and is considered a major figure in the history of American philosophy. Through his writing and teaching, Mead has established significant influence in social theory among both philosophers and social scientists. He is considered a pioneer in the field of sociology and social psychology.

One of the material that my instructor went over in class was about an American philosopher George Mead who is well known for his theory of social self. My instructor lectured us about Mead’s concepts of the “I” and the “Me”. After hearing his lecture and having learned the distinction of the “I” and “Me”, I have a totally different perspective and my self-analysis paper will most likely have more meaning than if I would have not been presented the Mead’s concept. It was rather interesting to learn of this idea that a person’s identity consists of two parts. The way that Mead explained the self, helped me understand my own behaviors and actions in the most basic of activities. Some personal experiences

George Herbert Mead was an American sociologist, philosopher, and psychologist. He was most famous for his studies on how the self and the mind developed based on interactions with the generalized other. Mead was a big inspiration to social scientists and psychologists, despite having only published a few papers of his studies. He passed away before he published some of his original thoughts. Therefore, after his passing Mead’s students had put together the notes they took from his class and his unfinished manuscripts into a book. George Herbert Mead is a very influential figure in American pragmatism.

As stated before the “me” has a huge influential power over our lives. Mead explains the “me” using a basketball example, there is a boy who has the ball and he sees his teammates waiting for him to pass the ball, the boy knows the expectations his teammates have for him (Mead 1934:

A proper human society forms when different selves come together and interact and the prominent concept of self in sociology derives from the idea of George Mead.He believed that the self consists two aspects: ‘I ’ and the ‘Me’ (Scott. et al.2015), while the former is the subject which ‘emphasise the immediate spontaneous and impulsive aspect of conduct’(Hewitt.,2007, p72), the latter ‘labels the object phase of the process, in which people respond to themselves as objects in their situation '(Hewitt.,2007, p72). In other words, people act towards the situation they are involved, they take others attitude into consideration and tailor their behaviour to a desirable status. Therefore, the way the others think has a great influence on ones’