Critical Thinking Paper
Question/Prompt
Do you believe that social interaction influences the “Self” as social product or a social force regarding self-concept or both? Applying Cooley’s the “Looking Glass Theory” to the concept? Please be detailed in your discussion.
Introduction
Social interactions among people and societies might be considered from different angles. Form ancient and even before the magna carter, social interactions have existed in the human society. Defined as a social association between two or more persons, this concept encompasses several aspects that have attracted diverse studies since time immemorial. In this way, the social relations that result from individual agency have often formed the basis for social structure in addition to the fundamental item for evaluation by social experts. From as earlier as the 1800s, social specialists have attempted to study the motivations behind people’s social interactions. Socialists and psychologists have also played significant roles towards this goal, often studying how individuals live and see themselves in the context of their society. In a similar manner, these scientists have also attempted to assess how individuals think of themselves in relation to other people’s behaviors. However, one issue that rises from such conversation is whether society causes people to act in certain ways or people shape the society in some ways. In efforts to address this debate, there is need to identify and delineate the meaning of ‘self.’ Therefore, this essay makes the stand that social interaction influences the ‘self’ as a social product as well as a social force regarding self-concept.
Body Discussion
According to Stets and Burke (2003), a sociological view of self and identity starts with the idea that there exist a mutual association among self and the society. For these authors, self plays a significant part in influencing the society by people’s actions. They argue that through these actions, individuals are able to form institutions, teams, as well as networks. In a similar manner, they argue that the society shapes the ‘self’ through shared aspects such as languages, customs, and rules that allow engage one another productively. This level of reciprocity, they say, establishes the core of selfhood in the society. Generally, they argue that sociologists aim to understand the nature of social structure in addition to the society, including the society’s form, how it is created, and how it transforms.
Sociologists also look at ‘self’ in diverse ways. First, they consider it as being shaped by the mind. Secondly, the also regard the mind as being influenced by social interaction (Stets & Burke, 2003). They further assert that because the mind is the thinking element of the self, it helps in converting actions to meanings for others. The ability to create meanings for self and others is further made possible through language. With self-concept, Stets and Burke (2003) affirm that, over time, people develop the ability to recognize who they are to themselves and to others. In this way, Stets and Burke (2003) argue that people form a self-concept about them and their environment. In other words, self-concept is the set of values and meanings that people hold about them whenever they look at themselves (Stets & Burke, 2003). To this level, as seen above, people have complex and well-crafted self-concepts and they often tend to look at themselves form a positive outlook.
Thus, human interactions through cognitive and other aspects of self never happen in a vacuum. Indeed, such exchanges happen and get influenced by social forces that surround people, including the environment. Some of these forces fundamentally influence how people look at themselves in terms of self and self-concept. For the most part, individuals’ sociocultural settings can influence the content of their ‘self’ in addition to their self-concept. Rosenberg (2017) argues that the ‘self’ is not created in isolation. He argues that individuals are never born with insights about themselves. For instance, no one is born shy or interested in football, for instance. In this sense, such ideas and perceptions are determined by people’s interactions with one another in the society and within their social settings. He further argues that the ‘self’ forms meaning only in the social context, meaning that one’s social situation defines his or her self-concept. Often people depend on others to for social realities. Besides, he similarly says that the notion of self-concept also forms as a social product in addition to a social force. While the society works to shape and influence the different aspects of people’s self-concept, such concept in turn shapes the society. Along with social interaction, Rosenberg (2017) also proposes that one’s social context serves as a central bearing on his or her self-concept.
However, one may ask, ‘How do these social influences form?’ In attempts to answer this question, a look at Cooley’s ‘Looking-Glass’ theory is paramount. According to this theory, part of how people perceive themselves often come from their understanding of how other perceive them in the society (Cooley, 1902). For instance, one might feel that he or she has an excellent sense of humor because they have been told. Over the years, many studies have proved this assumption and held that the idea that Cooley makes in his theory. Such researchers have found out that self-concepts shape from held perceptions (Beer, Watson, & McDade-Montez, 2013). It could be especially the case when it comes to people from the same family or culture. For instance, in their study, Perkins, Wiley, and Deaux (2014) determined that how members of a community view others significantly influences how people develop their self-concept. Such evidence is particularly correlational and can help to establish how social influence and forces work in the society to develop people’s self and self-concepts.
Therefore, studies such as discussed above have been vital in showing that how people think they are viewed by others could affect how they perceive themselves. Equally, the effect of others evaluations of their colleagues or families on self-concept could be robust and individuals end up internalizing them. For example, people may often be labeled in a certain manner by others, perhaps casually in relation to their ethnicity or physical appearance. However, labeling biases can happen when others’ perceptions on some people are impacted by such labeling. For instance, if a teacher realized that one of his or her student has been diagnosed with a certain mental condition, he or she might have different anticipations or explanations of the student’s actions than they would if they did not learn of the student’s condition. Thus, when people often and repeatedly label others, then what is known as ‘self-labeling’ might happen. Such labeling is most likely to happen when people adopt others’ biases into their self-concept. Hence, the effect of these biases, also known as labeling, on others’ self largely depends on the nature of the discrimination. Usually, labels used in the context of mental disorders or other ailments can have negative and detrimental effects on those internalizing them. For instance, they can negatively affect other people’s self, leading to stigma and associated consequences. As such, Cooley’s theory is important in demonstrating that social interaction influences the ‘self’ as a social product and a social force regarding self-concept.
Conclusion
As shown from this discussion, it is clear that social interaction influences the ‘self’ as a social product and a social force regarding self-concept. Social interactions among people and societies might be considered from different angles. Form ancient and even before the magna carter, social interactions have existed in the human society. In effect, the sociological view of self and identity starts with the idea that there exist a mutual association among self and the society. For these authors, self plays a significant part in influencing the society by people’s actions. They argue that through these actions, individuals are able to form institutions, teams, as well as networks. In a similar manner, they argue that the society shapes the ‘self’ through shared aspects such as languages, customs, and rules that allow engage one another. Cooley’s ‘Looking-Glass’ theory is also important in explaining human interactions and how people’s self-concepts and selves develop in society. According to this theory, part of how people perceive themselves often come from their understanding of how other perceive them in the society. In this way, individuals might feel that they have a great sense of humor because others have informed them.
References
Cooley, C. H. (1902). Human nature and social order. New York: Scribner’s.
Rosenberg, M. (2017). The self-concept: Social product and social force. In Social psychology (pp. 593-624). Routledge.
Stets, J. E., & Burke, P. J. (2003). A sociological approach to self and identity. Handbook of self and identity, 128152.