Looking-Glass self

(noun)

The looking-glass self is a social psychological concept, created by Charles Horton Cooley in 1902, stating that a person's self grows out of society's interpersonal interactions and the perceptions of others.

Related Terms

Examples of Looking-Glass self in the following topics:

  • Cooley

    • In 1902, Charles Horton Cooley created the concept of the looking-glass self, which explored how identity is formed.
    • An example of the looking-self concept is computer technology.
    • The looking-glass self is a social psychological concept created by Charles Horton Cooley in 1902.
    • An example of the looking-self concept is computer technology.
    • Discuss Cooley's idea of the "looking-glass self" and how people use socialization to create a personal identity and develop empathy for others

  • The Symbolic Interactionist Perspective

    • A good example of the looking glass self is a person trying on clothes before going out with friends.
    • In symbolic interactionism, this is known as "reflected appraisals" or "the looking glass self," and refers to our ability to think about how other people will think about us.
    • In 1902, Charles Horton Cooley developed the social psychological concept of the looking glass self.
    • There are three main components of the looking glass self:
    • This drawing depicts the looking-glass self.

  • Self-Knowledge and Evaluating the Personality Perspective

    • Three basic areas that are examined to address these research goals are traits, self-concept/self-knowledge, and situational influences.
    • Some researchers use notions such as self-concept, the looking-glass self, and the ideal self to understand individual ideas of self-knowledge.
    • The looking glass self is what a person believes others believe about him or her.
    • It is as though an individual is looking in a mirror, and what they see is what they assume that others see as well.
    • Self-knowledge is a key component in personality theory.

  • Socialization Throughout the Life Span

    • George Herbert Mead (1902–1994) developed the concept of self as developed with social experience.
    • Charles Horton Cooley (1902-1983) coined the term "looking glass self;" the self-image based on how we think others see us.
    • According to Mead, the key to developing the self is learning to take the role of the other.

  • Symbolic Interactionism

    • In symbolic interactionism, this is known as "reflected appraisals" or "the looking glass self" and refers to our ability to think about how other people will think about us.
    • And while they are deciding, the dialogue that is taking place inside their mind is usually a dialogue between their "self" (that portion of their identity that calls itself "I") and that person's internalized understanding of their friends and society (a "generalized other" called the "me").
    • Such an individual has incorporated the "social" into the "self" and will thus experience the world through an ongoing internal communication process that seeks to determine "if I do this, what will be thought of me. "
    • Processual Symbolic Interaction seeks to uncover the elaboration and experience of meanings in natural settings of social interaction through primarily qualitative methods (e.g., examining the process whereby people become and signify selves) while Structural Symbolic Interaction seeks to map the contours of the self through primarily quantitative methods (e.g., examining the structure of the self by asking who people believe themselves and others to be).
    • This drawing illustrates the idea of the "looking-glass self" by illustrating that we can internalize how other people view us and then reflect upon those external appraisals without having to actually converse with others.

  • Theories of Socialization

    • The looking-glass self is a social psychological concept, created by Charles Horton Cooley in 1902, stating that a person's self grows out of society's interpersonal interactions and the perceptions of others.
    • Mead's central concept is the self: the part of an individual's personality composed of self-awareness and self-image.
    • Mead claimed that the self is not there at birth, rather, it is developed with social experience.

  • Green Architecture: The Future of Architecture

    • In colder climates, windows can be placed to maximize the input of heat-creating light while minimizing the loss of heat through glass, which is a poor insulator.
    • Certain window types, such as double or triple glazed insulated windows with gas filled spaces and low emissivity (low-E) coatings, provide much better insulation than single-pane glass windows.
    • When new materials are employed, green designers look for materials that are rapidly replenished.
    • Some other examples of sustainable building materials include: recycled denim or blown-in fiber glass insulation; sustainably harvested wood; sheep wool; concrete (high and ultra high performance or self-healing concrete); panels made from paper flakes; baked earth; clay; vermiculite; cork; expanded clay grains' coconut fibers; calcium sand stone; and locally obtained stone and rock.

  • Graphic Arts

    • Primary media in the Gothic period included sculpture, panel painting, stained glass, fresco, and illuminated manuscripts.
    • Gothic architecture greatly increased the amount of glass in large buildings, partly to allow for wide expanses of glass, as in rose windows.
    • In the early part of the period, mainly black paint and clear or brightly colored glass was used but in the early fourteenth century, the use of compounds of silver painted on glass which was then fired, allowed a number of variations of color, centered on yellows, to be used with clear glass in a single piece.
    • By the end of the period, designs increasingly used large pieces of glass which were painted with yellows as the dominant colors and relatively few smaller pieces of glass in other colors.
    • Israhel van Meckenem and his wife, the first self-portrait in a print.

  • The Importance of Reliability

    • Nor would the Wikipedia entry for "euthanasia" be an appropriate place to look for information, since, while it can be useful for collecting colloquial information, Wikipedia is certainly not a scholarly source.
    • Be cautious about self-published books or books published by specific organizations like corporations or nonprofit groups.
    • If you use broader Internet searches, look closely at domain names.
    • If the answers to these types of questions are not readily available, it may be best to look in other places for a reliable source.
    • When you evaluate scholarly sources, look out for potential conflicts of interest and hidden agendas.

  • What to Look For

    • A public speaker should turn her mental magnifying glass inward to examine the values, beliefs, attitudes, and biases that may influence her perception of others.
    • The speaker should use this mental picture to look at the audience and view the world from the audience's perspective.
    • By looking at the audience, the speaker understands their reality.
    • Public speakers must look at who their audience is, their background, attitudes, and beliefs.
    • Speakers should use a metaphorical magnifying glass to examine their values, beliefs, and attitudes.