WEBVTT

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Socialization describes the process
by which people learn the attitudes,

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values, and behaviors that are appropriate
and expected by their culture and community.

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and it typically occurs 
through the observation of

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and interaction with the 
people we are surrounded by.

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And this can include those 
who are close to us,

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like our family, friends, and teachers,

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but it can also include everyone else
that we come across in our daily lives:

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our doctors, nurses, celebrities 
that we see on TV and in the movies,

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even the people standing in line 
next to us at the supermarket.

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They all have something to teach us about
how we should act within our community.

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But socialization also shapes
our self-image, or how we view ourselves,

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and sociologist Charles Cooley
used the term "looking glass self"

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in order to describe this process.

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And he theorized that our view of ourselves

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comes not only from our direct 
contemplation of our personal qualities

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but also from our perceptions about
how we are being perceived by others.

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And Cooley thought that this 
happened through three steps.

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First, we imagine how we must appear

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to others (to our families or friends,
or just people on the street).

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Second, we imagine how they must evaluate
us based on their observations of us.

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So do we come across as intelligent?
or funny? or shy? or maybe just awkward?

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And third, we develop
feelings about ourselves

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based on our impressions of their 
evaluations and their observations.

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And one critical aspect of this theory that 
want to point out is that Cooley believed

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that we are not actually being 
influenced by the opinions of others,

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but instead, we are being influenced

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by what we imagine the opinions
of other people to be.

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So according to this theory,
we might develop our self-identities

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based on both correct and incorrect 
perceptions of how others see us.

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So let's say that we have this teacher
and they're grading a paper very harshly,

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they're grading it very critically,
and they're doing this because they think

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that the student who wrote this paper
actually has a lot of potential,

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so they're grading that student's paper
harshly in order to help them reach it.

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So let's say our student 
gets their paper back

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and notices that it's full of red ink 
marks and corrections from the teacher.

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How might that student interpret this?

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And how might that
influence their self-image?

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First, they might observe that the teacher
criticized them harshly on this paper.

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Second, they think that the teacher

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probably did so because they see 
the student as not being very intelligent.

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And then finally, our student
comes to the conclusion

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that based on this, they're probably 
not very good at literary analysis.

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So here, the student is acting 
on an incorrect perception

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of what they think the teacher believes.

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And because our attitudes can 
often influence our behaviors,

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this might result in the student
putting less effort into the class

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instead of more effort,
like the teacher originally wanted.

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But this doesn't have to 
be the end of our story

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because it can also be influenced
by future interactions.

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So let's say that the student
talks to the teacher after class

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about why they graded so harshly.

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At that point, the teacher might explain

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that they think that the student
is on the right track

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but that they need to put in
a little bit more effort.

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So because of this additional interaction,

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the student was able 
to revise [their] perceptions

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and this could lead the student
to developing a different self-perspective.