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"self and society are two sides of the same coin" - To what extent is this true? "The self is the individual as known to the individual" (Murphy 1947). The self as defined by Murphy above shows a definition of the self described as in internal occurrence but this idea is then subject to outside contributions - family, friends, colleagues - society in which you live. The definitions of self all seem to highlight a reflective process to achieve its identification (looking inwardly to determine who I am? ) but could this identification process be possible without societal interactions. This essay will examine the reciprocal relationship between the self and society and the theories and research into this relationship (however acknowledgement is made as to the breadth of this area of social psychology and has due to limited time and space decided to concentrate on self construction, gender and cultural influences). The self and its existence within society is a topic which is a topic which has engaged psychologists from the 1800 s through to the present. The modern theories of the self still echo the teachings of William James, who first noticed towards the self's intrinsic dualism back in 1890.
Perceptions of the self are split between two main ideas: firstly self -concept (James referred to this as the "Known") our thoughts and beliefs about ourselves and secondly self-awareness (the "knower" or "I") the act of thinking about ourselves. These two aspect combine together to provide a unified self. "Your self is both (the) book... and also the reader of that book... " (Aronson). This concept of self is quite basic and is open to outside interactions and they the one sure thing which is liable to change how you view yourself - age. Investigations into children's changing self perception show this vividly. As children age their self concepts become more complex (as does their command of language), more mature descriptions of "who we are" seem to move from merely describing physical characteristics towards descriptions of more psychological states i.
e. "I have brown hair and a small nose" becomes "I am curious and confident." (These descriptions of psychological states are also curiously social in nature - relating to how people interact. ) As mentioned earlier these changes in self descriptions grow with language development, which is in turn developed due to social interactions. This is not claiming that thought does not occur as a consequence of language acquisition, but the ability to develop complex and abstract thought can be helped by language development (i. e. education) which is a very social process and only possible through interaction (also seen as key to self-formation).
Influence of language will be discussed again later on in the essay. Both Cooley (1902) and Mead (1934) view self-formation as a reflective process, with the key to self development being interactions with others. The idea that the self is socially constructed - with individuals looking to others for cues to know who we are. This idea of a "looking glass" society, has those surrounding us holding the mirror, displaying an image of who they think we are. To an extent this very true, we look to others for confirmations of our roles within our communities an also the ability to look at ourselves through other people's eyes is crucial to developing a sense of self. As through this we can learn to understand that we may see the world differently from how others do.
Experiments with great apes (Gallup, 1977) found that those held in social isolation were less likely to recognise or react to a reflection of themselves in the mirror, than those with social experience. Human children can recognise or react to a mirror image of themselves from the age of two, when a child is much more socially experienced. This experiment show a knowledge of who we are stems from being around others like us, interacting with people gives us a recognition of "self", from a recognition of what it is to be human. Would this recognition still exist if we lived in isolation, well if we were Great Ape's the answer would be no, but the idea that we humans gain such a sense of who we are from our social interactions is an idea echoed though out every book, journal and study which has contemplated "the self." If we do gain so much meaning and knowledge from our social environment (and the society surrounding us) what happens if the social environment is removed. All categories of mankind are phenomenological constructs employed by the members of mankind. When we remove the social environment in which we live do the words we use to describe ourselves still have meaning - do they still apply.
When listing descriptions of ourselves we tend to use words which apply to our "selves" as living in a social environment or how we interact within our relationships, seeing self-concept "as existing not within people but between them" (Vivien Burr, 1995). "I am shy, confident, a good listener, jealous, moody", if placed in a new environment devoid of contact would these descriptions still apply? These words lose all meaning if an individual lived alone on a desert island, without the presence of a social environment can a person claim to be "confident." Would such words carry meaning when devoid of the context in which they are used i. e. within a social interaction. The flip side of this is to claim that people are predisposed to act in these ways but only do so when the environmental cues are present. As humans we find we are defined by our environment "each you is constructed socially" (V.
Burr, 1995). We become the products of the social encounters which we have experienced, past and present - we are shy, thoughtful etc. due to the relationships we have had in our lives. What this does not really address is the issue that "The self" remains largely consistent throughout our lives.
The opinions and personality (subject to moods) I went to bed with last night is largely the same as I wake with this morning. Can a view that individuals are "constant" truly be possible if our relationships are forever building and shifting redefining themselves as our lives change (i. e. the relationship with a friend from school needs to change and be redefined once the friends have left school as that continual contact is now changed) and we age. Claiming that individual learn there self-concept from others does present a problem - it rather removes the control from the individual, instead placing this into the hands of the surrounding environment. We then merely role play to adapt to the present environment.
looking at the self as a process "continuously created and recreated in each social situation that one enters" (Berger, 1963) Berger se...
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Research essay sample on Social Environment Social Interactions
