Introduction to Sociology: Charles Cooley: Looking glass self

Socialization describes the process
by which people learn the attitudes,

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

and it typically occurs
through the observation of

and interaction with the
people we are surrounded by.

And this can include those
who are close to us,

like our family, friends, and teachers,

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

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

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

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

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

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

in order to describe this process.

And he theorized that our view of ourselves

comes not only from our direct
contemplation of our personal qualities

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

And Cooley thought that this
happened through three steps.

First, we imagine how we must appear

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

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

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

And third, we develop
feelings about ourselves

based on our impressions of their
evaluations and their observations.

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

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

but instead, we are being influenced

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

So let's say our student
gets their paper back

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

How might that student interpret this?

And how might that
influence their self-image?

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

Second, they think that the teacher

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

And then finally, our student
comes to the conclusion

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

So here, the student is acting
on an incorrect perception

of what they think the teacher believes.

And because our attitudes can
often influence our behaviors,

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

instead of more effort,
like the teacher originally wanted.

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

because it can also be influenced
by future interactions.

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

about why they graded so harshly.

At that point, the teacher might explain

that they think that the student
is on the right track

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

So because of this additional interaction,

the student was able
to revise [their] perceptions

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