12 Sociology Blog - Question 04/11/14

11/5/2014

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Item 1B
Social action or interactionist theories emphasise the importance of the self. Individuals develop a self-concept, a picture of themselves, which is an important influence on the way they act. This self-concept is developed through interactions with other people because it is based partly on how others react to the individual.

This idea was developed by Cooley, who introduced the term

‘looking-glass self’ to describe this process. Critics of this approach argue that too much emphasis is given to individuals’ ability to shape their own identity. Structural approaches such as functionalism and Marxism are more likely to focus on the role of social institutions or inequalities of power in shaping identity.

Using material from Item 1B and elsewhere, assess the extent to which social identity is shaped by interactions with others. (24 marks)

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Abbey Mayzes

11/8/2014 11:35:50 pm

There are a three main sociologists that have developed theories that say the interaction with others is the main factor in social identity.

According to Cooley (1922) he developed the ‘looking-glass self’ theory which states that your social identity changes because of how other people see you, for example if you feel as though one of your teachers believes you are intellectually challenged then you may take on of two paths; the first path is to believe said teacher and then the situation becomes self-fulfilling prophecy as if you do believe there assumption them you will become intellectually challenged; the second path would be to try and change your teachers view by proving you are not challenged in anyway. By choosing either path you are changing the way you act because of the way some else sees you, this is what Cooley said in his ‘looking-glass’ theory.

In addition to Cooley there is another sociologist; Mead (1934). Mead developed Cooley’s ideas which resulted in his ‘I’ and ‘me’ theory; this theory states that there are two parts of a person which could also be labelled ‘irrational’ (I) and ‘rational’ (me); Meads theory states that when a person is confronted with a problem or unpleasant situation that they have two reactions, the ‘I’ part of a person will want to take the rashest and perhaps an irrational action but the ‘me’ part which has been socialized will take the most socially acceptable and more rational path. An example of this would be a pedestrian crossing a road and is nearly hit by an unobservant motorist; the persons ‘I’ self would maybe want to use profanity or confront the driver but the ‘me’ self sees that the driver has children in the car and doesn’t take offensive action. This example also links into the other part of Meads theory which states that humans interact with a verity of symbols, this is called symbolic interactionism, the main five symbols are; visual sings, sound, expression, verbal and visual gestures. These five symbols of interaction are all recognised as a result of socialization as is how the ‘me’ part of a person’s decision making. Furthermore Meads theory also includes the ‘play stage’ and the ‘game stage’ this part of the theory states that when a child is young and plays different roles (mummy and daddy or doctors etc.…) they are developing a sense of self because they are view situations through different perspectives with in society and therefore seeing themselves from other point of view, this relates back to Cooley’s ‘looking- glass’ theory. Later on in life the child will start the ‘game stage’ which is when they need to play as part of a team in sports or other team activities, this stage is when the child continues to develop a broadened sense of self as they need to see themselves through the eyes of their team; Mead uses the example of baseball because the individual has to understand when the other members of the team will count on them or if they believe they have a strength or weakness. This also links back to Cooley’s theory as the individual will change their tactics or improve an aspect of them self’s depending on who the team sees them.

Moreover Erving Goffman (1959) developed a theory called the dramaturgical approach, his theory states that people put on a performance to convince people how to perceive them. He said they we do this using props and acting in a stereotypical way associated with the role that you are acting to fill, for example a top London banker would act in such a way that insinuates an office worker, the ‘props’ that they might use could be a pacific brand of phone or a takeaway cup of coffee, both of these ‘props’ are stereotypically associated with city office workers; Goffman’s theory’s says that this banker would act in this way so that society would see them and know their profession but Goffmen states that there is a front stage, which would be the above example, and he says there is a backstage which , in relation to the example, would be that In the takeaway cup there is tea or hot chocolate not the coffee society would expect; this is the business persons backstage self which does not necessarily conform to society’s perceptions.

Item 1B takes all the above theories in to account and links it main sociological theories such as social action theorists and interactionist but it also mentions that the two main sociological theories, functionalism and Marxism, do not really link to the above theories as they are not directly linked agencies of socialization or the inequality with in society.

In conclusion social identity is extremely influenced by interaction with others as is stated in the theories of Cooley, Mead and Goffman; this statement is also s

Rhianna Nash

11/10/2014 03:18:15 am

Overall there are 3 main theories that say that our interaction with others is the main factor in social identity. They are Charles Cooley (1992) George Herbert Mead (1934) and Erving Goffman (1954)
Cooley´s concept of the looking glass self, states that a person’s self grows out of a person´s social interactions with others. The view of ourselves comes from the contemplation of personal qualities and impressions of how others perceive us. Actually, how we see ourselves does not come from who we really are, but rather from how we believe others see us. To continue, your social identity changes because of how others see you. An example for this can be seen if parents, relatives and other important people look at a child as smart, they will tend to raise him with certain types of expectations. As a consequence the child will eventually believe that he is a smart person. Within this, the child would have took on two paths; the first path is to accept what your parents say about you and believe it thus causing a self-fulfilling prophecy or there is the second path which is where you choose to change your parents perspective of you. Either path you chose you have changed the way you act due to the way you have been perceived by others, this refers back to Cooleys ‘looking glass’ theory.
The next theory was developed by the sociologist George Mead in 1934. Initially, mead developed Cooley’s idea and came up with the ‘I’ and ‘me’ theory in which this theory states that there is overall two parts to a person that could be referred being labelled as for example irrational which is the ‘I’ and rational which is the ‘me’ part. In meads theory he states that when a person is presented with a problem they will have two different reactions. The first reaction will be the ‘I’ part in which the person will choose to take the irrational action in which an example of this can be if a person was to cross the road where there is no crossing without looking and an oncoming car almost hits them in which they retreat back to the path. The second reaction will be the ‘me’ part in which the person will choose to take the action in a rational manner in which an example of this can be seen if a person was to cross the road at a labelled crossing in which they looked so they crossed the road safely. In addition to this, this example is associated with the other part of Meads theory in which this states that humans thought, experience and conduct are essentially social. He states that as humans we interact with a variety of symbols in which this is called symbolic interactionism. The main five symbols are; visual signs, sound, expression, verbal and visual gestures. Initially, the five symbols of interaction can be regarded as a result of socialization. To continue, Meads theory involves the ‘game stage’ and the ‘play stage’. This part of the theory states that from a young age a child plays games that interpret different roles for example a doctor, mother and father etc in which the child itself develops a sense of ‘self’ as they are viewing each situation through a different perspective that occur in society. They see themselves form another point of view. As the child grows older they will begin the ‘game stage’ in which the child will feel they need to compete in a team games and sports in which in this stage the child will develop and broaden their sense of self as they will be seeing themselves from a team perspectives.
Following this, the third sociologist is Erving Goffman who developed the theory called the dramaturgical approach. Goffman’s theory states that people put on a performance to convince people how to perceive them. They way that they do this is through the use of props and acting in a stereotypical way which is associated with the role they are trying to portray. An example of this can be a police officer that acts very stern in which the props they are most commonly associated with are a bullet proof vest and a gun. Goffman states that the police officer complies with the way that society want them to act with their profession in which this is the front stage of Goffman’s theory. The backstage of the theory would be if I was to take away the bullet proof vest and gun which is the usual uniform for policemen and dress them in a casual manner, this uniform would not comply to societies perceptions of a police men.

Mia Clayton

11/10/2014 03:49:40 am

As said in item B the looking-glass self (Cooley) is a social psychological idea, stating that a person's self grows out of society's social interactions and the perceptions of others. The term refers to people shaping their ‘self’ based on how others perceive them. Because people imitate to how they think others think them to be, it's arguably impossible, to act differently from how a person thinks he or she is continuously perceived. Due to this, the individual gains an identity and doesn’t have a chance to make their own identity. Sociologists say that the looking-glass self begins at an early age and continues throughout a person’s life as an individual will never stop modifying their self. From this point of view social identity is extremely shaped by interaction with others.

According to Mead's theory, the self has two sides, me and I. The 'me' is considered the socialized characteristic of the individual. The 'me' represents learned behaviours (norms and values), attitudes, and expectations of others and from society. The 'me' part is something that society sees you as and the ‘I’ is part of one’s self and their own identity. The play stage shows how children of a young age play role games such as families and doctors they are already learning roles in society. The game stage is when once the child has grown up they will play in sports and would have to be able to work together with other- as others will see the individual through how able they are to adapt.

Sociologist Erving Goffman developed the concept of dramaturgy, the idea that life is like a never-ending play in which people are actors. Goffman believed that when we are born, we are thrust onto a stage called ‘everyday life’, and that our socialization consists of learning how to play our allocated roles from other people. We act our roles around others, who are in turn are acting their roles too. He believed that whatever we do, we are playing out some role on the stage of life. Goffman distinguished between front stages and back stages. During our everyday life, we spend most of our lives on the front stage, where we act differently from our real selves (back stage).

Salma Ahmed

11/10/2014 04:09:32 am

As a whole our social identity is largely influenced by the interaction of different people; however some can argue it was initially through primary socialization where our social identity has been molded since we’re taught the norms and values to be perceived by what society feels is acceptable. Consequently, it’s why we give symbolic meaning to any action that challenges these customs because they go against conformity and therefore form subjective interpretations about that certain individual. Nevertheless, the original interpretation can alter due to social change because we actively respond to the world.

Additionally, Cooley (1922) reckons that we replicate our social identity due to a ‘’looking-glass self’’ theory that substantially impacts the way you behave and think from other people’s remark because we consider what they’re saying about you is somewhat true. For an instance, in the education system if a teacher labels you as a person who causes ‘’unnecessary deviance’’ You as an individual are going to acknowledge and then react in two diverse ways: one that can challenge this remark whilst the other can accept this as their social identity and make no effort to change this perception - overall, each response either has a positive or negative consequence.

Moreover, Mead (1934) deliberates that every social identity has two conscious: one that is rational (me) which is your outer identity that links themselves with any form of secondary socialization. Whereas, the other is a more personal, and an inner reflection based on how you really want to respond (irrational –‘’I’’) to give an example, if your parents are shouting at you for disobeying the rules and refusing to cooperate maturely: your rational self-will understand and approve your parents' judgments thus you act as they wish, whereas your irrational self will want to retaliate to this by behaving a certain way that’s accordingly to you and no one else’s influence. Although, this positive negotiation doesn't always go to plan if your irrational self (I) wins over your rational self (me) for an instance if your irrational self decides to wear provocative clothes when going out, your rational self will know this is unacceptable because your parents would disapprove as they didn't raise you up like that.

Furthermore, Erving Goffman (1959) has a dramaturgical approach towards social identity; he thinks people put on a stereotypical performance using props that persuade other people to distinguish them in a certain way that connects with their choice of role. For instance a ‘’television personality’’ celebrity like Kim Kardashian would have props like designer clothes and shoes that would illustrate to others that she has expensive taste and typically comes from a rich background, also she cares about how she looks in the media and overall how people perceive her.

Herieth Mbade

11/10/2014 06:06:43 am

The symbolic interaction theory relies on the symbolic meaning that people develop and rely upon in the process of social interaction.It focuses on the certain details that go on amongst individuals in everyday life. Interactionists study how we use and interpret symbols not only to communicate with each other, but also to create and maintain impressions of ourselves and to create a sense of self-identity.The three main sociologists that developed interactionism are Charles Cooley (1992) George Herbert Mead (1934) and Erving Goffman (1954).

Firstly, Cooley´s developed the concept of the 'looking glass self', which states that a person’s identity grows out of their social interactions with others. He believed that the way in which we view ourselves rises from the contemplation of personal qualities and impressions of how others perceive us; this is seen as being how we see ourselves does not come from who we really are, but rather from how we believe others see us. This is referred the ‘reflected appraisals of ourselves’. The concept of the looking glass self offers insight not only into our own thinking, but also to how we form our identity based on how others see us. As long as we are interacting with others we are vulnerable for changing our own self-image, a process that will continue throughout our lives.

On the contrary, Mead distinguished two aspects within interactionism, the ‘I’ and the ‘me’ which is referred to the two sides of the self. The ‘I’ perspective is the impulsive and creative aspects of the self, whereas the ‘me’ is the socialized aspect of the self which is composed on initialized norms and values. The social conception of the self entails that individual selves are the products of social interaction and not the logical or biological preconditions of that interaction. The “I” is the response to the “me,” or the person’s individuality. According to Mead, the generalized other (internalized in the “me”) is the major instrument of social control for it is the mechanism by which the community exercises control over the conduct of its individual members.

Furthermore, Goffman believed that the behaviour of an individual and their interactions and self-development could be explained on a social level. The behaviour and personality of an individual is seen through their interactions with others and Goffman made observations and theories that correspond with symbolic interaction theory. Goffman theorized that everyone in their interactions would act much like they were in a stage production. He theorized that an individual will act in society much like they would in a drama. They are given a role and will present themselves in the way that they wish to convey to others. People will interact in certain ways to leave an impression.

Amy Towers

11/10/2014 07:15:20 am

Item B explains the theory of social interactions and emphasises that an individual has the most influence on interaction and this is shaped by others around you as individuals give meaning to things from others reactions for example if you see a driver stop at a traffic light you learn from that interaction that car drivers are socialised to stop at red lights so you are more likely to follow as you are socialised to see it as the right thing to do as the majority follows the same rule. They use three main theories to explain interactions from sociologists; Cooley, Mead, Goffman
More specifically in item B Cooley’s theory the ‘looking-glass theory’ is added which explains that someone’s ‘self’ is developed from others perspectives and their interactions for example if a student is labelled by a teacher as rude and disrespectful after a while the student will begin to conform to the label they have. This also means that a person will not stop changing their own identity as they are always interacting with others.
In addition to this another Sociologist Mead has a theory that self has two sides ‘me’ & ‘I’ that the individual uses in everyday life. This theory is to show that we all have individual self’s and identities as shown by the ‘I’, however we also have behaviour that is learnt through socialisation (norms and values) e.g. attitudes called ‘me’. Adding onto that the Sociologist also noted that when the ‘I’ wins out we usually see what’s termed as deviant behaviour such as even though we are socialised to believe that vandalism is wrong graffiti is still a problem. A criticism of this could be that due to individuals receiving varied upbringings e.g. well paid household or single parent families, people may have a different idea of what’s right and wrong which could result in less social stability and therefor more deviant behaviour.
Lastly, Goffman developed the theory of dramaturgy, which compared life to a continuous play resulting in people putting on a performance. It also states that we are socialised into our role allocations and perform them through learning from others e.g. little girls copying their mothers cooking or pushing around a pram. This theory is split into two stages; front stage involves the self that everybody else sees which is a developed performance based on our interactions, and back stage which involves our ‘self’ which isn’t developed and is defined as our real selves.
In conclusion the extent that social identity is shaped by interactions is extremely important as the majority of things we do are shaped by socialisation which directly relates to how people interact with individuals e.g. primary socialisation, how families encourage children to conform to gender roles-girls wearing dresses etc.

Ieva Indrikonyte

11/10/2014 08:34:39 pm

A theory developed by the early sociologists proposes the idea that there are three main components that make up the idea that interaction with others is the main factor that contributes to people’s views towards social identity.

According to Cooley (1922) hypothesised that our image of ourselves is a significant reflection of the way other people react and accept us through their reflected appraisals towards us. Cooley called this theory the ‘Looking Glass Self’. Though some critics point out that this theory is old, the fundamental foundations of it are still applicable to this day.

On the contrary a later sociologist and the founder of symbolic interactionism; George H Mead proposed a deterministic approach towards the understanding of our identity since he was a firm believer that human thought, experience and conduct are essentially social, even though some critics might dispute this idea as being old and over simplistic, it is still used with some theories today; since humans do relate to the symbols that surround them for example most people would know through both primary and secondary socialisation that red light at traffic lights indicates for them to stop.

Yet, Mead states that we as individuals shape society, however in order for us to do so there must be some sort of collective conscience, norms and values in order for this to take place. Mead has also received recognition for ‘I’ and ‘me’ theory which states that the ‘I’ is the immediate response of an individual towards another, yet the ‘me’ is the organised set of attitude of others that an individual assumes; it is ultimately how society dominates the individual and is a source of social control.

Another sociologist Erving Goffman developed an idea that our lives are a series of dramatic performances; he was interested in finding out how the self is shaped by the dramatic interactions between social actors and their audiences.

As a general rule, most individuals feel the need to hide certain things about themselves when they are engaged in a performance.
Symbolic interactionism has been criticised for being too vague and downplaying large- scale social structures. However, it has changed considerably since its inception. According to one symbolic interactionist, Gary Fine, the field has fragmented resulting in greater diversity.

Relating to Item 1B structural approaches such as functionalism and Marxism are more likely to focus on the role of social institutions or inequalities of power in shaping identity, since they play a big part all throughout our secondary socialisation, which shapes us as individuals and the way others perceive us.

Ellis Warren

11/10/2014 09:08:37 pm

Identity refers to how we see ourselves and how others see us. Social identity refers specifically to a person's sense of self as a member of a social group.

Cooley as referred to in item 1B in 1922 proposed the theory of the ‘looking-glass self’. In this theory Cooley stated that the ‘self’ which is how we see ourselves is developed through our perception of others' evaluation, opinions and assessements of us. Furthermore, Cooley motioned that a person imagines how they look to others, then imagines others judgments of them and finally they will experience an emotional feeling based on their perception of others judgments of them. The emotions felts can consist of shame or pride. Cooley continues to state that our image of ourselves is largely a reflection of how others react to us. He called this ‘reflected appraisal’.

Cooley, as a micro interactionist argued that individuals develop a sense of self based on interactions with others. Unlike macro theories such as Functionalism, Marxism and feminism, micro interactionists suggest that identity is not fixed and not controlled by gender, classic, ethnicity etc. Identity is not passed down through the process of socialization; instead it is based on interaction. Identity is not fixed and there is room for manoeuvre. Cooley suggested that individuals have an 'ideal self'. If what is reflected back to them from others is negative and does not match up to this ideal self they will suffer from a poor self-concept. This means that individuals can attempt to change their behaviour if they do not like what is reflected back to them.

However, Cooley's approach has been criticised for giving too much emphasis on the individuals’ power to shape their identity. In contrast, Functionalists suggest that a person’s identity is the way they feel about themselves and is only partly shaped by how others view us; for example as person identity as a father is controlled by a value consensus. In turn this defines what roles each status must adopt in order to fit into society. Functionalists go on to say that though social control and socialization people will comply to cultural and social expectations without question as they have been internalised. Functionalists are macro structuralist sociologists and argue that we have little choice in our social identity formation. However, macro sociologists are criticised for being too deterministic, ie they say that individuals have no choice over social identity formation. In contact micro social action theorist highlight that individuals have free will.

Mead, a symbolic interactionist, expanded on Cooley’s theory of the development of the self. Mead proposed the idea that the self develops though two aspects the ‘me’ and the ‘I’. Mead suggested that the ‘I’ part of the self is the creative and impulsive aspect, along with the ‘me’ which is the socialized aspect that is composed of internalised norms and values. Socialization happens in two stages primary and secondary. The primary part of socialization only has one agent of socialization and that is family; yet secondary socialization has number of agencies such as education, mass media, and religion and peer groups. In addition the ‘me’ is mindful of its social reflection. However the ‘me’ does not always win over the ‘I’ and Mead applied this theory to explain deviant behaviour, antisocial behaviour and creativity.

Mead argues that what prevents individuals from acting upon impulse ‘I' is the fact that we have internalised the viewpoints of significant others through play stage. In this theory Mead argued that people impose subjective meanings onto objects, events and behaviours.

Item 1B highlights the Social Action view in determine how social identity is formed through the process of interaction. Action theorists see socialisation as a two-way process and identity is therefore not fixed.

The micro social action theorist Goffman also highlights that identity is not fixed, actors have free-will and choice. Social actors can attempt to impact on how others see them. Goffman's dramaturgical approach uses the analogy of referring to society as a theatre. Goffman states that people in everyday life are actors who play a variety of roles. He suggests that the role we perform is affected by what stage we are on. He proposes that there are three stages. The front stage is how you present yourself to society, the back stage is when you are able to be yourself and the off stage is when you are with someone one to one or in a small group.Goffman continues to say that the role we play is not only affected by who we are with but also setting. Goffman uses the concept 'impression management' to explain how social actors use props like jewelery and accent to manipulate how other people view them. However, Goffman highlights that if a person has

Loisha Sivarajakulendran

11/11/2014 02:49:54 am

Item B emphasises the importance of social action and interactionist theories; it describes how individuals have developed the way they act and react to things. Individuals develop the way they act due to relations with other individuals. Item B also stated that a sociologist named Cooley introduced a term called the ‘looking-glass self’ in order to describe this certain process. Different attitudes such as Functionalists and Marxists focus mainly on the role of society instead of the individual.
Compared to structural theories, like Functionalism and Marxism that focus on the whole of human society; action theories such as: interactionism concentrate on the individual and how it is affected. In 1922 Charles Cooley called his theory ‘looking-glass self’ this states that our social identity is affected by other people – our image of ourselves is largely a reflection of how others react to us and how they view us by reflected appraisals. An example of this, is when an older person views a teenager as being a nuisance and rebellious. The teenager has two options they can choose; the first is to accept what the elder believes and behave as a nuisance and rebelliously, this eventually leads to self-fulfilling prophecy to occur as the teenager does what the older person expected to. The second is when the teenager doesn’t believe or behave in the way the older person expected them to. Any one of the two paths that are chosen still prove Cooley’s theory that people’s actions are affected by other people’s views.
In addition to Cooley’s theory George Mead in 1934 expanded this theory of the development of self. Mead stated that self is divided in to two aspects: the ‘ME’ and the ‘I’. The ‘ME’ is the socialised aspect of the self which is cautious of internalized norms and values and ensures that our actions do not compromise them. It is also extremely mindful of the individual’s social reflection. Whereas, the ‘I’ is the impulsive and creative aspect of the self. The ‘I’ is not mindful of the individual’s social reflection. An example of Mead’s self ‘I’ and ‘ME’ in action is when a child is told to leave the room due to their behaviour, the ‘I’ in self would want to protest and even use offensive gestures. However, the ‘ME’ is worried about the consequences that will occur later and will obey. This example as well as many others helps to understand that Mead is correct that the self is divided into two categories. According to the rest of Mead’s theory he states that humans interact with each other with a variety of symbols, this theory is called: Symbolic interactionism; the five main symbols that people use are: visual sign, visual gestures, verbal, expressions and sounds. The five symbols of interaction are acknowledged as being a result of socialization and explains how the ‘ME’ makes decisions. Mead’s theory helps to explain deviant behaviour in a person this is because Mead explains that the ‘I’ over rules the ‘ME’. However, Mead’s theory also suggests that everyone has been socialised with the same norms and values; this is not true.
Moreover, Erving Goffman wrote a book in 1959 called: ‘The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life’. In his book Goffman introduces a new theory of how people interact with each other; he uses the ‘Dramaturgical Model’ to explain this. This model refers to the image of theatre to portray the importance of human and social interactions; the model views people in life like actors on a stage all playing different roles. In the Dramaturgical model there are four main concepts and they are: performance, setting, appearance and manner. The performance is the activity of an individual in front of particular people, the setting includes scenery, props and location, and this is where interaction takes place. Different settings will have different audiences this then leads to the alteration of performances. The appearance explains to the audience the ‘performers’ social statuses, finally manner is how the individual plays the role. Goffman has also explained that there are three different stages when people are interacting. The first one is: Front stage, this is where the actors dress up to present themselves to society as being an ideal individual. This is the big picture – the first thing people see when interacting. The second stage is: Back stage, this is the stage behind closed doors, this is the true portrayal of the individual, however, it is also what the individual doesn’t want others to witness. Finally, the third stage is the: Off-stage this is the interaction between smaller groups or on a one to one basis. This is different to the other two stages as actors many still be in character while o

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