The Looking Glass Self By Charles Horton Cooley

People always judge! A clichà © statement demonstrating of how the people’s perceptions vary throughout one’s entire life. We humans usually tend to influence our actions, our behaviours and attitudes according to what our friends, relatives or family thinks. And hence this is the very basic of the human sociological nature, where we tend to live by what the people think and say about us. Such a theory was introduced in the field of sociology by Charles Horton Cooley, an American sociologist in the early 1900s, famously known as the ‘looking-glass self’. The name of the theory itself gives ideas of a person looking through glass to determine their inner self. Whereas, this glass is a mere reflection of the person in the eyes of the people. The basic looking glass theory lays the foundation of how a person self grows in life based on the social interaction of that person, i.e. the influence a certain group on the mind-set of that person. Cooley lays emphasis of how situations involving people will sometimes put us in self-doubt or a feeling of insecurity. Hence how one perceives themselves as a person; character and personality wise, really comes from the perception of others, rather than the person himself/herself. This is a general notion that many would agree to. Take a normal family for example; our parents brought up to meet certain expectation will o nly make us perceive our self as how they see us. If they deem as a certain figure, we would look at ourselves in a similarShow MoreRelatedCharles Horton Cooley s Concept Of The Looking Glass Self870 Words   |  4 PagesIn 1902, Charles Horton Cooley fashioned the concept of the looking-glass ‘self,’ this concept was researched to learn how identity is shaped. The authors concluded that people shape their identity based on the perception of how they think others view them. 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Society and individuals do not denote separable phenomena, but are simply collective and distributive aspects of the same thing†¦Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ (Thomas Francis O Dea)Read MoreWhat I Have Learned From A Social Theory Class1240 Words   |  5 PagesMead Cooley In this sociology paper I will present what I have learned from this social theory class. We learned about many miraculous theorists such as Karl Marx, Auguste Comete, Herb Spencer, Emile Durkheim and many more theorists. I will present what I have learned by comparing and contrasting George Herbert Mead and Charles Horton Cooley. This paper will examine what both of these great theorists studied, some of their background info and theory. George Herbert Mead George Herbert MeadRead MoreMy Social Science Requirement For My Associate Degree923 Words   |  4 PagesSchaefer, and I became interested in the theories that sociologist came up with. 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Cooley was intrigued by the idea of self and how this sense of self is developed throughout life and which factors contribute to that development. In his own works, Cooley sought to highlight the connection between society and the individualRead MoreThe Publisher Of Our Sociology Textbook861 Words   |  4 Pageswhose lives I have explored are Charles Horton Cooley, Jane Addams, and Harriet Martineau. I chose to look up Charles Horton Cooley because I liked that he preferred to look at smaller units first when using the sociological perspective. I was surprised to learn that he was quite introverted and insecure, but glad to know that he did step out of his father’s shadow. Cooley’s belief that an individual’s self grows from their relations with others, the looking glass self, was intriguing. I chose to readRead MoreThe Looking Glass Self1648 Words   |  7 PagesThe Look ing-Glass Self by Charles H. Cooley I will be talking about the looking glass self, made famous by famed American sociologist Charles Horton Cooley. This concept stems from our interpersonal perception of what another individual’s impression is on us and how we form ourselves towards that initial perception. Out of all the theories that are at our disposal in sociology, this is the theory that interested me the most and here is why. To me the looking glass self is not just a concept orRead MoreThe Self Essay532 Words   |  3 PagesThe Self Every situation that an individual is exposed to throughout life, helps mold our â€Å"self.† As humans we have the ability to see ourselves from the outside, and all through life we try to see what others see and our â€Å"self† revolves around the generalized other. We observe how others perceive us and we make conclusions depending on our observations. How we act