George Herbert Mead's theory of the social self posits that the self develops through social interaction and seeing oneself through the perspective of others. He described three stages of self-formation - the preparatory stage involving imitation, the play stage of role-taking, and the game stage of seeing from a generalized other perspective. Mead's work influenced later sociologists like Cooley, who discussed the looking-glass self formed through imagining one's self-presentation and the evaluations of others, and Goffman, who viewed social interaction like a theatrical performance requiring impression management and face-work.
George Herbert Mead's theory of the social self posits that the self develops through social interaction and seeing oneself through the perspective of others. He described three stages of self-formation - the preparatory stage involving imitation, the play stage of role-taking, and the game stage of seeing from a generalized other perspective. Mead's work influenced later sociologists like Cooley, who discussed the looking-glass self formed through imagining one's self-presentation and the evaluations of others, and Goffman, who viewed social interaction like a theatrical performance requiring impression management and face-work.
George Herbert Mead's theory of the social self posits that the self develops through social interaction and seeing oneself through the perspective of others. He described three stages of self-formation - the preparatory stage involving imitation, the play stage of role-taking, and the game stage of seeing from a generalized other perspective. Mead's work influenced later sociologists like Cooley, who discussed the looking-glass self formed through imagining one's self-presentation and the evaluations of others, and Goffman, who viewed social interaction like a theatrical performance requiring impression management and face-work.
George Herbert Mead's theory of the social self posits that the self develops through social interaction and seeing oneself through the perspective of others. He described three stages of self-formation - the preparatory stage involving imitation, the play stage of role-taking, and the game stage of seeing from a generalized other perspective. Mead's work influenced later sociologists like Cooley, who discussed the looking-glass self formed through imagining one's self-presentation and the evaluations of others, and Goffman, who viewed social interaction like a theatrical performance requiring impression management and face-work.
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SOCIOLOGY
o One of the disciplines in the social science
which aims to discover the ways by which the The Game Stage social surrounding or environment influences o Here the child is about eight (8) or (9) people’s thoughts, feelings and behavior. years of age and now does more than just role-take. George Herbert Mead o The child now begins to see not only his own perspective but at the same time the o Born: February 1863 in Massachusetts, USA. perspective of others around him. o Died: 1931 Cause of Death: Heart failure o In this final stage, the child now has the o Main interests: Philosophy & Psychology. ability to respond not just to one but o It was his students who put together his several members of his social numerous writings edited them for publication. environment. o Mead used the term generalized-other to explain the behavior of the person when Mead’s Social Self he sees/considers other people in the o Social Behaviorism – is the approach he course of his actions. used to describe the power of the environment in shaping human behavior. STAGES OF SELF FORMATION o He described the Self as a ‘dimension of STAGE EXISTENCE CHARACTERISTICS personality that is made-up of the OF SELF individual’s self-awareness and self- Preparatory None Imitates other image.’ Play Developing Role-taking o George Mead stated that the self cannot Game Present Generalized other be separated from the society. Mead’s Theory of the Self The Preparatory Stage o The self is not present at birth but begins o He believed that a self did not exist at as a central character in a child’s world. birth. o Children sees themselves as the center of o During this stage, children’s behavior their ‘universe’ and is having difficulty are primarily based on imitation. understanding others around them. As o As children grow, they become familiar they grow up they mature, there is a with the symbols that people use in their change in the self. interactions. o FAMILY has a significant role in formation of the self. They are the significant others who strongly The Play Stage influence the child’s development. o Skills at knowing and understanding the symbols of communication is important for this constitutes the basis The ‘I” and “Me” for socialization. Through communication, social relationships are o The ‘I’ Self formed. When the person initiates or o Children begin to role play and pretend performs a social action, the self, to be other people. functions as a subject. The o Role-taking in this stage is the process subjective element of the self is of mentally assuming the perspective of the I. another person to see how this person Ex: I will go on a date. might behave or respond in a given I will cook dinner situation. tonight o The ‘Me’ Self When the person takes the role of Impression Management the other, the self, functions as an o This is the process of altering how the object. The object element of the person presents himself to others. self is the Me. o People early in their social interactions Ex: The choice for the learned to slant their presentation of best drawing was themselves in order to create preferred awarded to me. appearances and satisfy particular Students around the people. school voted for me. Dramaturgical Approach Charles Horton Cooley (1864-1929) o Goffman sees similarities of real social o An American sociologist. interaction to a theatrical presentation. o He made us of the sociopsychological approach Hence, this is the reason for the label in understanding how societies work. dramaturgical approach. o He discussed the formation of the self through o The concept of Dramaturgy, life is like interaction. a never-ending play which people are actors. Looking-Glass Self o Goffman believed that when we are o Looking-glass self or the self that is a born, we are thrust onto a stage called everyday life, and that our socialization product of social interaction. consists of learning how to play our o The view of the self is significantly assigned roles from other people. We influenced by the impression and enact our roles in the company of others, perception of others. who are in turn enacting their roles in interaction with us. He believed that 3 Phases of Developing a Self whatever we do, we are playing out 1. People imagine how they present some role on the stage of life. themselves to others. 2. People imagine how others evaluate them. Face-Work 3. People develop some sort of feeling o Face-work is a term to describe another about themselves as a result of those aspect of the self. impressions. o This was usually observed in situations where face-saving measures are resorted o In his three phases he made us of the to, in maintenance of a proper image of word IMAGINE, this may mean that the self in a frustrating or embarrassing there is a possibility that people develop situations. self-identities based on the wrong perception of how others see them. o Wrong perceptions can still change based on positive social experiences.
Erving Goffman (1922-1982)
o A Canadian-American sociologist. o Known for his role in the development of Modern American Sociology. o One of his popular work was The Presentation of the Self in Everyday Life.
Olaoluwa Olusanya - Emotions, Decision-Making and Mass Atrocities - Through The Lens of The Macro-Micro Integrated Theoretical Model (2014, Ashgate Pub Co)
