The looking-glass self
is a social psychological concept created by Charles Horton Cooley in 1902. It states that a person’s self grows out of society’s interpersonal interactions and the perceptions of others.
Mead’s theory of the social self is
based on the perspective that the self emerges from social interactions
, such as observing and interacting with others, responding to others’ opinions about oneself, and internalizing external opinions and internal feelings about oneself.
- Primary socialization,
- Anticipatory socialization,
- Developmental socialization and.
- Re-socialization.
To understand this topic, he developed a theory of moral development that includes three levels:
preconventional, conventional, and postconventional
.
What is Cooley’s theory?
Cooley’s theory of self is
one in which we learn who we are through our interactions with others
. This is known as the looking glass self. … Cooley believed that it is through these interactions that one begins to develop an idea of who they are; therefore, the self is a product of our social interactions.
Explanation: Social self is the major aspect of
personality
.
Social self refers to
how we perceive ourselves in relation to others
. It involves relationship building, empathizing, and communicating. A healthy, or not so healthy, social self will also impact your overall mental wellbeing and ability to meet life goals.
- The life process of socialization is generally divided into two parts: primary and secondary socialization.
- Primary socialization takes place early in life, as a child and adolescent. …
- Secondary socialization takes place throughout an individual’s life, both as a child and as one encounters new groups.
Types of Socialization. Generally, there are five types of socialization:
primary, secondary, developmental, anticipatory and resocialization
. This type of socialization happens when a child learns the values, norms and behaviors that should be displayed in order to live accordingly to a specific culture.
Interacting with friends and family, being told to obey rules, being rewarded for doing chores, and being taught how to behave in public places
are all examples of socialization that enable a person to function within his or her culture.
- Development of self:
- Freud’s theory (psychoanalysis):
- Cooley’s theory of the ‘looking-glass self:
- Theory of G.H. Mead (I and me):
- Durkheim’s theory of collective representation:
The physician and creator of psychoanalysis, Sigmund Freud, devised a theory of personality development that states that
biological instincts and societal influences shape the way a person becomes as an adult
. … The ego helps a person make rational decisions that comply with the rules of society.
Key Points. Group socialization is the theory that an individual’s peer groups, rather than parental figures,
influences his or her personality and behavior in adulthood
. Gender socialization refers to the learning of behavior and attitudes considered appropriate for a given sex.
What are the 3 elements of looking-glass self?
Cooley distinguished three “principal elements” of the looking-glass self:
“the imagination of our appearance to the other person; the imagination of his [sic] judgment of that appearance; and some sort of self-feeling, such as pride or mortification
.” Much of the time, Cooley thought, our experience of self is an …
How do we acquire a self?
The
self develops solely through social experience and interaction
. As the self develops, we internalize the expectations of more and more people. Mead referred to this group as the generalized other. Charles Horton Cooley believed that the self developed in relation to a smaller group of people—significant others.
What is Durkheim’s theory?
Durkheim believed that
society exerted a powerful force on individuals
. People’s norms, beliefs, and values make up a collective consciousness, or a shared way of understanding and behaving in the world. The collective consciousness binds individuals together and creates social integration.
