Race and Ethnicity

According to the text, what is a possible self? Why does it matter that we have one? According to the text, possible selves are “multiple self-understandings of who one might be in the future; [they are] images representing a range of self-options for the future.”(232) This means a person has many ideas of who they want to be, and these ideas help construct a core identity and choice of who they eventually want to be. This theory also incorporates the notion, in any given time, people come to realize how they would feel about particular situations and where they fit in society. Where ever the person is in his or her life course creates these ways of thinking based on everything that happened to him or her in the past. An individual may hope to change who she or he is in the present moment and could wish for another self, thus creating a possible self. Agency and identity work hand in hand with this concept because in order to achieve this particular possible self, one must change his or her ways of thinking and behavior. Unfortunately, the downfall is to become an unwanted self, the “feared self.” Possible selves describe someone’s fears and ambitions. They also can lead to what someone decides is her or his purpose in life. Depending on social circumstances, the likelihood for the success of a wanted future self is ambiguous, and since life is always changing, the person’s possible selves are always being remodeled to fit what has become of the life course. (242 words)

What is practical evaluation and how does it work? Practical evaluation is the “agentic capacity of individuals to choose and select courses of actions. . . People assess the situations they encounter and make decisions to act in particular ways rather than others.” (202) This is important to the micro perspective because it comes down to the actual individual’s judgments to come towards a decision which impacts the life course and may have multiple consequences. Sociologists