Social Self
Question Drawing upon the work of Cooley and Mead, discuss how the self is developed in childhood. Do you think these concepts are still relevant today? Please substantiate your answer with relevant examples drawn from both your life as well as from your research. (Word limit:1,200 words)
Cooley and Mead are symbolic interactionists whom emphasized on the importance of construction of self through social interactions and communications using symbolic tools such as language and gestures. As such, the development of self is thought to be a dynamic and interactive process (Symbolic Interactionism, 2000).
Cooley proposed that the feedback we received from others not only form a source of our self-knowledge, they can also mould our sense of self (Hayes, 1993). “Looking-glass self” embodies the concept that people serve as our “social mirrors” and self-image is constructed after imagining how others’ opinions of us, particularly responses from significant others such as parents and teachers (Smith & Mackie, 2000). There are 3 steps involved in the formation of self-idea; a conception of how we appear to others, the imagination of how one thinks others are judging him and the emotional responses to the interpretation to the imagined evaluations from others (Shaffer, 2005). One’s opinions of oneself are often affected by the internalization of positive and negative evaluations from others (Cook & Douglas, 1998). For instance, a child who is often praised by his parents as “smart” tends to experience greater self-esteem as compared to a child who is often criticized as “stupid”. Feedbacks from others were found to exert strongest effects on young children or people who lack stable self-concepts (Smith & Mackie, 2000).
Cooley argued that our self are derived from interactions with members of the society (Rahim, 2010). An individual then forms a self-idea based on the society’s viewpoint of him, exemplifying social forces at work. Cooley also discussed about the
Cooley and Mead are symbolic interactionists whom emphasized on the importance of construction of self through social interactions and communications using symbolic tools such as language and gestures. As such, the development of self is thought to be a dynamic and interactive process (Symbolic Interactionism, 2000).
Cooley proposed that the feedback we received from others not only form a source of our self-knowledge, they can also mould our sense of self (Hayes, 1993). “Looking-glass self” embodies the concept that people serve as our “social mirrors” and self-image is constructed after imagining how others’ opinions of us, particularly responses from significant others such as parents and teachers (Smith & Mackie, 2000). There are 3 steps involved in the formation of self-idea; a conception of how we appear to others, the imagination of how one thinks others are judging him and the emotional responses to the interpretation to the imagined evaluations from others (Shaffer, 2005). One’s opinions of oneself are often affected by the internalization of positive and negative evaluations from others (Cook & Douglas, 1998). For instance, a child who is often praised by his parents as “smart” tends to experience greater self-esteem as compared to a child who is often criticized as “stupid”. Feedbacks from others were found to exert strongest effects on young children or people who lack stable self-concepts (Smith & Mackie, 2000).
Cooley argued that our self are derived from interactions with members of the society (Rahim, 2010). An individual then forms a self-idea based on the society’s viewpoint of him, exemplifying social forces at work. Cooley also discussed about the
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