Charles horton cooley was a sociologist who wanted to better understand society and human behavior. Making sense of oneselfwho one is, was, and may become, and therefore the path one should take in the worldis a core self project. When i get ready in the morning i am usually watching tv and doing my hair or im on the phone with my mom. Self and identity usc dana and david dornsife college of. The lookingglass self is the most wellknown dimension of charles horton cooleys early, seminal conceptualization of what he called the social self.
This study brought an enduring social psychology theory into the era of mass self communication. According to cooley, the individual comes to know or define himself through the process of internalizing his perceptions of how he thinks others, especially significant. Horton cooley, and focuses on research related to the concept of the. The concept of looking glass self and its importance can also be seen through the growing social media. Introduced and edited by daniel sharp, looking glass self is a new spec. This was probably the most awkward thing that i have ever done in my entire life. Cooleys 1902 looking glass self posits that the self concept is built, in part, by how a person. The term looking glass self is the idea that a persons sense of self grows out of societys interactions with that person and how others perceive them. Charles horton cooley and the lookingglass self the. Learn for free about math, art, computer programming, economics, physics, chemistry, biology, medicine, finance, history, and more.
Self and identity theories assume that people care about themselves. Reflected appraisal through a 21st century looking glass the concept of reflected appraisalalso known as reflected selfappraisal or the lookingglass selfrefers to the processes by which peoples selfviews are influenced by their perceptions of how others view them. I certainly did not know that something in that class would make my own life clearer to me. Charles horton cooleys looking glass self explained by dr. In other words, we, to the best of our abilities, put ourselves in the heads of others and try to evaluate our. I have read the lookingglass self with delight and instruction. The theoretical intersection of the lookingglassself and social. Special emphasis is given to the pragmatics of speech acts, the presentation of self in interaction rituals, the accounts given by actors in justification of their actions, and the role of social norms and conformity in the largescale. Lookingglass self definition of lookingglass self at. A key idea that contributed to the development of symbolic interactionism is the work of the sociologist charles cooley on the looking glass. He noted the reflexive self consciousness of our experience, how we continually monitor our self from the point of view of others.
Cooley i will be talking about the looking glass self, made famous by famed american sociologist charles horton cooley. Knowingly or unknowingly, your behavior and self esteem are dictated by your predictions of how you will be perceived by others. This self is different from the self that is manifest as both body and being different from the self that is tangible, touchable, and lives in particular earthly locations, the self. Cooley noted what read bain confirmed in the 1930sthat children know other people as objects, and call others by name, before they sense themselves as separate entities.
It was a sociology class that my adviser had suggested i take. In a very large and interesting class of cases the social reference takes the form of a somewhat definite imagination of how ones selfthat is, any idea. Charles cooleys 1922 idea of the looking glass self lgs is an accepted part of modern sociology. The notion of the lookingglass self is composed of three principal elements.
More than a century ago, the sociologist charles horton cooley coined the term lookingglass self to describe how we acquire a sense of self by imagining how we are perceived by others. The lookingglass self theory is also known as symbolic interactionism. Learn vocabulary, terms, and more with flashcards, games, and other study tools. Based on likes, comments or followers the sense of a self develops. See more ideas about looking glass self, self image and self. Henry carter adams later hired cooley to be an instructor in ums. Student selfesteem and the lookingglass self iowa state. He believed that the influence of groups within a society had a. The social self is simply any idea, or system of ideas, drawn from the communicative life, that the mind cherishes as its. Second, they imagine how others judge them based on that appearance. The lookingglass self is a concept drawn originally from the work of george herbert mead, encapsulating the idea that our selfimage the mental idea we have of who and how we are is shaped by our interactions with others. What you gave me today was a powerful message that i am not crazy or selfloathing because i love my husband.
Understanding charles cooleys looking glass self tim. Quotes tagged as lookingglassself showing of 3 there is magic in motion. He went on to propose that self monitoring is only the first step of a dynamic social and psychological process. There is something in all of us to make a difference in anyway, everyday. The looking glass self is a concept drawn originally from the work of george herbert mead, encapsulating the idea that our self image the mental idea we have of who and how we are is shaped by our interactions with others. Readings in sociological psychology and microsociology, chapter 4, writes. We imagine what judgements that person makes of us. Self and identity researchers have long believed that the self is both a product of situations and a shaper of behavior in situations. Sociologist charles cooley, in an excerpt of his writings included in spencer cahills inside social life. We view the self in individual terms, but it is primarily a social construct, as cooley tried to convey in this couplet. Tice case western reserve university studies 1 and 2 showed that identical behaviors had greater impact on the selfconcept when performed publicly rather than privately. Lookingglass self article about lookingglass self by. Looking glass self is a term coined by the sociologist charles horton cooley, and refers to his proposal that the individuals perception of himself is based on how he believes that others perceive him. Pdf on may 16, 2010, emad rahim and others published marginalized through the looking glass self the development of stereotypes.
The imagination of our appearance to the other person, the imagination of his judgment of that appearance, and some sort of selffeeling, such as pride or mortification. Charles cooley looking glass self video khan academy. The looking glass self california state university. It can be formulated as a conjecture that links two. In shibutanis view, the lookingglass self means simply that each persons orientation toward himself is a reflection of the manner in which he is treated. The imagination of our appearance to the other person, the imagination of his judgment of that appearance, and some sort of self feeling, such as pride or mortification. Back from the looking glass is sold in paperback and delivered by mailor as a pdf download you can print or read onscreen. We accept or reject presumed judgement of others through identity negotiation. According to the american sociologist charles horton cooley 18641929, the degree of personal insecurity you display in social situations is determined by what you believe other people think of you.
Factor and cronbachs alpha analyses tended to confirm internal validity and reliability of the constructs, respectively. Finally, cooley describes the construction of ones lookingglass self to occur in three definitive steps. Third, people have an emotional reaction to that imagined judgment, such as. Marginalized through the looking glass self the development of stereotypes and labeling article pdf available may 2010 with 6,047 reads how we measure reads. Cooley clarified it in writing that society is an interweaving and. In the early 1900s, social psychologist charles horton cooley proposed a theory called the looking glass self. Lookingglass self definition, the selfimage an individual forms by imagining what others think of his or her behavior and appearance. We imagine how we appear to others, we imagine the judgment of that appearance, and we develop our self identity. The first step, according to cooley is, the imagination of our appearance to the other person cooley 1902, 189. An individuals perception of self based on the interpretation of others.
It explains a formation of your self image through a reflection. Khan academy is a nonprofit with the mission of providing a free, worldclass education for anyone, anywhere. I thought there was something wrong with me that i somehow liked being. The self arises in a social process of communicative interchange as it is reflected in a. The lookingglass self is a social psychological concept stating that a persons self grows out of societys interpersonal interactions and the perceptions of others. Photo courtesy of the bentley historical library after graduating from the university of michigan in 1887, charles horton cooley earned a masters degree in economics at um and started working at the interstate commerce commission. Process whereby an individual develops his identity or self concept. The lookingglass by anton chekhov online literature. Pdf marginalized through the looking glass self the. The bilevel theory of emotion, then, is the idea that emotions can be experienced by the self in two waysin the selfs goalseeking behavior and in the selfs own efforts to simply stay intact.
Just like the reflections in a mirror, the self depends on the perceived responses of others. I did not even know what sociology meant when i signed up. Khan academy offers practice exercises, instructional videos, and a personalized learning dashboard that empower learners to study at their own pace in and outside of the. Get an answer for discuss the concepts of the looking glass self presented by cooley or role taking developed by mead, as described in sociology. Through the looking glass of telecopresent others shanyang zhao temple university the impact of others in telecopresence on the formation of self has not been well studied, and existing research on the self in cyberspace has focused mostly on issues related to the presentation of self. They act as the mirror to people where they seek for judgments and feedbacks from other people. Using cooleys metaphor of the lookingglass self, we examine the consumercase manager relationship and how it helps create a new, recoveryoriented self in smi consumers. As infants, human beings form their very selves from the reflections and responses gained by their earliest behaviors visited upon the other, or any participant in ones earliest socialization. Self the self is the subject of ones own experience of phenomena. Definition of ones identity, character, abilities, and attitudes, especially in relation to persons or things. Reflected appraisal through a 21stcentury looking glass. From mirror selfrecognition to the lookingglass self.
Nov 7, 2014 this board will discuss the concept of how our self image is a reflection of how we believe other people see us. There are three components of the lookingglass self. Its a social psychological theory created by charles cooley in 1902, and more than a. Nellie, the daughter of a landowner and general, a young and pretty girl, dreaming day and night of being married, was sitting in her room, gazing with exhausted, halfclosed eyes into the lookingglass. Lookingglass self definition the lookingglass self is the process by which people evaluate themselves based on how others see them. According to this theory, people first imagine how they appear to others. The looking glass self is also a magnifying glass dianne m. Horton cooley published in 1902 and the idea of social penetration of i. The notion of the looking glass self is composed of three principal elements. Process whereby an individual develops his identity or selfconcept. That is, the selfconcept is more likely to change by.
The concept of the lookingglass self can be understood through three main concepts that all relate to how we create our selfimage. Created by charles horton cooley in 1902 mcintyre 2006, the lookingglass self is a social psychological concept that a persons self grows out of societys interpersonal interactions and the perceptions of others. I hate looking in the mirror for more than two minutes at the most. In other words, their self is a social construction, living off a selfful. I was anxious on the first day of my first college class, the individual and society. A social self of this sort might be called the reflected or looking glass self. A high school student, lauren, goes through the stages of lookingglass self because of peers as she deals with the voice inside her head. This concept stems from our interpersonal perception of what another individuals impression is on us and how we form ourselves towards that initial perception.
1073 1026 1516 54 18 48 789 1350 211 1417 868 948 700 1307 180 23 525 541 1501 302 1079 990 1201 1398 264 74 813 372 1113 676 1278 223 1312 510 1297 29