Self and Social Interaction

Renowned sociologist Charles Cooley came up with the theory of the looking-glass self. He believed that our personalities develop from others appraising our behavior. If I like a certain type of music and my friends approve, I will continue to listen to that music and dress and act like the type of person who listens to that music because it is socially acceptable to do so. We salivate for the approval of others so we can approve of ourselves.

Many sociologists theorized the development of the self. George Herbert Mead believed that the self begins in childhood and developed through time and social interaction. He came up with three stages to this process: play, game, and the generalized other. The play stage, as shown in the picture above, includes the child and one significant other. This stage teaches the child basics of society. For example, a female child plays house with her sister. For one game, the child plays the role of the mother and the sister the role of the father. Eventually, they switch. This allows the child to learn the idea of roles and personalities in society, furthermore learning to develop her self in society.

The next stage, the game stage, includes the child and several significant others. In a game of soccer, there are many positions to play. The child must learn the different positions and how to play each one separately. In order to know his or her own position, he or she must know the position of all others playing the game so the child can be sure to make the right move. This is the stage where the child starts to develop a personality.

The third stage, the generalized other, refers to an entire community of attitudes. This refers to the child's understanding of the situation as well as his role in the situation from the perspective of the others involved in the situation. By understanding roles in a situation, the child can then understand not only what is socially acceptable is, but is expected in different settings.

From Sociological Research Methods

Existing sources, like the one shown above, are convienant for sociologists because they are easy to access and make it simple to research any time or place. An existing source is data that has already been collected and analyzed and is available for others to learn about and analyze as well.