Week 5 - The Self

Symbolic Interactionism

  • how we come to understand the world through symbols and the way we learn what these symbols are and what they mean is through interacting with others in our lives

  • symbols + interaction

  • A major theoretic orientation in sociology 

Mead

  • pragmatism

    • ideas only get you so far, you have to see how they play out in real life

  • the self is created based on the experiences we have in the world and the interactions we have with others

    • as opposed to being born with a “self”

  • our sense of self is constantly evolving and an ongoing conversation 

    • inner dialogue of the past, present, and future

  • What means to have a self is that we are the subject and the object of our own attention.

    • I as the subject and me as the object

  • self image: how we see ourselves and how we think the are perceived

    • this comes through socialization and what the social norms in any given contexts are

  • The three parts of self

    • I (subjective)

      • how you see yourself

    • Me (objective)

      • how others see you

    • Generalized Other

      • how society at large sees you. the roles our social identities play into society

Cooley - The looking glass self

  • building off of Mead and the different types of self

  • metaphor: the looking glass (mirror) self

    • we see ourselves through the eyes of others. our feelings of ourselves are impacted by how we think others think of us.

    • we take into account who might judge us in these contexts

  • 3 steps

    • we think about how we come across to other people.

    • we imagine their judgement of our appearance.

    • we develop feelings about that judgement.

  • Definition: described by Cooley, is the process by which individuals develop their self image through imagining how others perceive and judge them, then internalizing those perceptions, which influence feelings like pride or shame. 

  • Significance: the self is not isolated but made though symbolic interaction. Its the interaction with others and norms form which provide social order

  • Goffman - The Presentation of Self

  • Dramaturgy

    • Everyday life is best understood as a dramatic performance

    • we manage impressions

    • and work together to create a shared reality

  • Merchants of Morality

    • we live in a moral world that has standards for how we should behave

    • but as we perform in the world, our concern is not actually following those standards but appearing that we do

    • contradiction and juxtaposition. whether or not we believe in these morals we still pretend we do for others.

    • sell an impression (merchant) of moral behavior (standards)

  • 2 parts of Goffman’s self

    • 1) the performer

      • the individual doing to work to build the character.

        • learning the lines, collecting the props, doing the thinking about how they want to present

    • 2) the character

      • the social image that gets produced.

        • what other people see

      • we don’t event these roles, we just step into it and play the role

    • The self is a combination dramatic effect

      • there are different roles that we play and put on different characters for different roles

      • the question is not, who are you really? but, is your performances sincere and genuine?

  • Regions of performances

    • the front stage    

      • where the audience is present

      • when you are interacting with others

    • the backstage

      • you can step out of character and not have to perform

      • when you are alone

      • it’s not pure authenticity, there are still norms that we do even when alone

  • The self is a social product

    • if the performance is successful then we are seen as sincere

Duck - The Interaction Order in Bristol Hill

  • Ethnographic study

    • community: poverty, drug markets, problems with unemployment

  • The code of the street

    • informal rules of behavior in areas where the police are distrusted

    • to say safe in this area they need an understanding of the situation and the appropriate ways to behave

      • ex: if there is a drug deal going down, you might keep your head down and walk quickly past it pretending that you don’t know what is happening so they don’t think you are a threat

  • Tension between values

    • decent (family, work ethic, etc) vs street

    • shared mainstream values of being neighbors and protecting each other

      • sense of reciprocity and mutual recognition

        • metaphor of a kingdom with very specific roles to play

        • the order happens through interactions

  • Culture

    • the culture is the response of the people’s poverty

    • they have worked together to create a new set of norms and culture

    • interaction order: originally formulated by Goffman, it is the set of rules, and practices locally that guide how people behave and interpret each other in face to face interactions

      • lens to understand how social life is produced moment to moment which helps connect individual action and structural forces.

Key Terms

Symbolic Interactionism: A major theoretic orientation in sociology focusing on how we understand the world through symbols and interaction.

Mead: A key theorist associated with symbolic interactionism, known for his work on the self. Specifically, the Me, the I, and the generalized other. 

The Self (Mead): Created based on experiences and interactions, constantly evolving, where one is both the subject ("I") and object ("Me") of attention.

Cooley: Theorist who built on Mead's ideas with the concept of the looking glass self.

The Looking Glass Self: Cooley's metaphor describing how our self-image is formed by imagining how others perceive and judge us, and then developing feelings about that judgment.

Goffman: Theorist known for his concept of dramaturgy.

Dramaturgy: Goffman's idea that everyday life is best understood as a dramatic performance where individuals manage impressions and create a shared reality.

Merchants of Morality: Goffman's concept where individuals pretend to follow moral standards, not necessarily believing in them, but to sell an impression of moral behavior.

The Performer (Goffman): The individual consciously working to build a character.

The Character (Goffman): The social image that is produced through performance.

Front Stage: The region of performance where an audience is present and interaction occurs.

Backstage: The region where one can step out of character and not perform, often when alone, though still subject to some norms.

The Interaction Order in Bristol Hill: Duck's ethnographic study highlighting informal rules of behavior in areas with distrust of police, specifically the "code of the street."

Interaction Order: it is the set of rules, and practices locally that guide how people behave and interpret each other in face to face interactions. It’s a lens to understand how social life is produced moment to moment which helps connect individual action and structural forces.