Looking-glass self
The term looking-glass self or mirror image effect (also known as looking glass effect ) describes the self-concept as a developing result of the perceived impressions and evaluations in social interaction. The term was introduced by Charles Cooley in 1902 .
The three elements
Cooley postulated three fundamental elements which, in their totality and interaction, lead to the development of one's own experienced identity:
The person acts and knows (assumes) that they are being watched:
- How is it seen / experienced by other people
- How is she then rated by these other people
- What feelings does she experience based on this evaluation?
It is not about actual evaluation by significant other people, but about what the individual believes about it (everything is subject to interpretation by the individual).
In this way, according to Cooley, each is a mirror to the other.
rating
This early approach in sociology explains the development of identity as a result of social togetherness and is therefore a forerunner of the approaches of symbolic interactionism . Recent attempts to empirically substantiate this approach have found evidence of the influence of other people on identity development (especially if these other people have a high social status). In Gregg Henriques' Tree of Knowledge System , which assumes that the justification of one's own actions towards others leads to the development of the self, there is a modern successor to the looking glass effect.
reception
The German - American political scientist Alexander Wendt uses the first interaction between two actors (the concept of ego and alter to explain). In Wendt's constructivist approach , conceptions of the self and interests tend to "mirror" the practices of a significant other over time. Because of this, the first time he interacts, he suggests action based on probabilities rather than assuming the worst .
literature
- Shaffer, Leigh: From Mirror Self-Recognition to the Looking-Glass Self: Exploring the Justification Hypothesis. Journal of Clinical Psychology 61, 47-65 (2005)
Individual evidence
- ^ Charles Horton Cooley: Human Nature and the Social Order . New York: Scribner's, 1902, p. 183.
- ↑ King-To Yeung and John Levy Martin: The Looking Glass Self: An Empirical Test and Elaboration. Social Forces 81 (3), 843-879 (2003).
- ↑ Alexander Wendt : Anarchy is what States Make of It: the Social Construction of Power Politics . In: International Organization . No. 46, 1992, p. 404.