looking glass self
Summary
The looking-glass self is Charles Horton Cooley's idea that we build a self-concept by imagining how others see and judge us, then reacting to that imagined judgment. The testable point is that it rests on our perception of others' views, which may not match what they actually think.
Detail
Meaning: Cooley argued that the self is social and develops through interaction. Other people act like a mirror. The process has three steps: we imagine how we appear to others, we imagine how they judge that appearance, and we feel a self-sentiment such as pride or shame. That feeling can then change our behavior and our self-concept. The idea belongs to symbolic interactionism, which studies how shared meanings and interaction build the self.
On the MCAT: A passage describes a person whose self-image shifts after repeated feedback or perceived reactions. Examples are a student who starts to see herself as capable because teachers treat her as gifted, or a teenager who judges himself by how he thinks peers view his posts. You may be asked to name the concept, identify which step is described, or predict how a change in perceived feedback would change self-concept.
Common confusion: Students mix it up with George Herbert Mead's taking the role of the other and the generalized other. Cooley's concept centers on imagining others' appraisal of us and the emotional reaction to it. Mead's centers on adopting others' perspectives through stages of play. Also, the mirror is imagined: what matters is what we think others think, not their actual opinion.
Sources
- Introduction to Sociology
- Sociology: A Brief Introduction
- Psychology
Written for the MCAT and checked before it was published. For study reference only. Spotted an error? Let us know.