Social self

Social self

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  INTRODUCTION  Social andCommunity Psychology is a graduate level survey course designed to familiarize students with the social basis of behavior on an intrapsychic, interpersonal, and community level of experience. Social Psychology is that branch of human psychology which seeks to understand the dynamics of individual behavior and mental processes in social situations. Social psychologists examine, for example, how social factors impact an individual and how a person’s actions, feelings, and beliefs are determined by her/his relative positions (real or imagined) in social space. Community Psychology is a relatively new application of Social Psychology that seeks to understand the social and cultural influences beyond the individual level. Themes in Community Psychology emphasize the application of social- psychological principles to the ecological and environmental perspectives, cultural relevance, and diversity and the adaptation of these principles to issues of prevention and community intervention.  This section provides a basic review of some core concepts of Social Psychology, particularly those that impact the individual’s experience of her/his social world.
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   Social self, in sociology, refers to the basis of self- consciousness in human individuals according to the theory established by G.H. Mead in his work Mind, Self and Society (1934). The social self is the identity conferred upon an individual by the reactions of others. A person achieves self-consciousness by becoming aware of his or her social identity, this cannot happen without society.
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  SOCIAL SELF: BYGEORGE HERBERT MEAD
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   RECOGNIZING thatthe self can not appear in consciousness as an “I,” that it is always an object, i.e., a “me,” I wish to suggest an answer to the question, What is involved in the self being an object? The first answer may be that an object involves a subject. Stated in other words, that a “me” is inconceivable without an “I.” And to this reply must be made that such an “I” is a presupposition, but never a presentation of conscious experience, for the moment it is presented it has passed into the objective case, presuming, if you like, an “I” that observes – but an “I” that can disclose himself only by ceasing to be the subject for whom the object “me” exists. It is, of course, not the Hegelism of a self that becomes another to himself in which I am interested, but the nature of the self as revealed by introspection and subject to our factual analysis. This analysis does reveal, then, in a memory process an attitude of observing oneself in which both the observer and the observed appear. To be concrete, one remembers asking himself how he could undertake to do this, that, or the other, chiding himself for his shortcomings or pluming himself upon his achievements. Thus, in the reintegrated self of the moment passed, one finds both a subject and an object, but it is a subject that is now an object of observation, and has the same nature as the object self whom we present as in intercourse with those about us. In quite the same fashion we remember the questions, admonitions, and approvals addressed to our fellows. But the subject attitude which we instinctively take can be presented only as something experienced – as we can be conscious of our acts only through the sensory processes set up after the act has begun.
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   The contentsof this presented subject, who thus has become an object in being presented, but which still distinguish him as the subject of the passed experience from the “me” whom he addressed, are those images which initiated the conversation and the motor sensations which accompany the expression, plus the organic sensations and the response of the whole system to the activity initiated. In a word, just those contents which go to make up the self which is distinguished from the others whom he addresses. The self appearing as “I” is the memory image self who acted toward himself and is the same self who acts toward other selves.  On the other hand, the stuff that goes to make up the “me” whom the “I” addresses and whom he observes, is the experience which is induced by this action of the “I.” If the “I” speaks, the “me” hears. If the “I” strikes, the “me” feels the blow. Here again the “me” consciousness is of the same character as that which arises from the action of the other upon him. That is, it is only as the individual finds himself acting with reference to himself as he acts towards others, that he becomes a subject to himself rather than an object, and only as he is affected by his own social conduct in the manner in which he is affected by that of others, that he becomes an object to his own social conduct.  The differences in our memory presentations of the “I” and the “me” are those of the memory images of the initiated social conduct and those of the sensory responses thereto.
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  THE LOOKING-GLASS SELF  In an article entitled “The Social Self,” George Herbert Mead, sociologist at the University of Chicago at the turn of the 20th century, began a profound and insightful dialogue about the subjective, intrapsychic self studied by the psychodynamic theorists of the time and the self of the objective, external social world. According to Mead, the basic fact that others perceive people differently than they perceive themselves creates a discourse between the “I” – the subjective self known as actor and agent – and the “me” – the objective self known by others (Blunder, n. d.).  Closely related to Mead’s early ideas, more recent social-psychological thinkers have theorized that the social self is produced through interaction with two or more people. For example, the self as a mother is a social self because a mother cannot be without a child.  Much like the social self, the Looking-Glass Self is a sociological term originally coined by an American sociologist Charles Horton Cooley in 1902 suggesting that individuals ultimately gain their social identity by viewing themselves through other’s perceptions. Cooley’s work expanded James’ notion of the self to include its meta- cognitive capacity, that is, its capacity to reflect upon itself. The “looking-glass self” is a self-image based on a dynamic interaction between how others perceive us and how we perceive ourselves (Cooley, 1902). In his work, Human Nature and the Social Order, Cooley (1902) describes the following steps in this complex reciprocal process of social self-perception:
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   One createsan image of his/her own appearance, traits and personalities;  One uses the reactions of others to interpret how he/she is perceived;  One develops a self-concept, positive or negative, based on these interpretations.  The “looking-glass self” involves, therefore, a process of self-discovery and self-interpretation that begins at an early age and continues to be modified throughout one’s life as long as one engages in social interactions.
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  SOCIAL COMPARISON THEORY Leon Festinger (1954) suggested that because there are no objective “yardsticks” for most traits and abilities, people learn who they are, and what their talents and abilities are, by comparing themselves with others. Social Comparison Theory may help explain why people, especially young people, yearn to emulate those they see in the popular media.  Social psychologists have provided a great deal of evidence that how people think about themselves depends on the standard of comparison used. If they use a downward socialcomparison, or compare themselves to someone who is less competent on a particular trait or ability, then the result is likely to be a fairly positive interpretation of their own similar trait or ability. On the other hand, if people use an upward social comparison, or compare themselves to someone who is more expert or competent, the result may tend in a more negative direction in terms of self-interpretation.  Obviously, if an individual compares him or herself to a model representing an unrealistic standard – such as a super-thin model or a super-strong weight- lifter – dysfunctional or pathological behaviors may result. The process of social comparison can be valuable when the outcome provides the basis for practicable self-enhancement.
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  GROUP 2