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Socialisation and Self in Symbolic Interactionism

Avalokita Awasthi (2030349)

School of Social Sciences

CHRIST (Deemed to be University)

SOC 131: Foundations of Sociology

Prof. Dr Rajeev K.

November 15, 2020

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Socialisation and Self in Symbolic Interactionism

Symbols that give meaning to our social world, basic human activities such as

walking on two limbs instead of four would remain unlearned without social interaction and

socialization.

Symbolic interactionism concerns itself with symbols, i.e the meanings we give to objects,

words, gestures, signs, people etc. in the social world. These meanings guide our social

interaction and People learn these meanings through everyday social interaction also known

as socialization.

Socialization refers to the process by which individuals learn the roles, attitudes, behaviour

that are required to act as functioning members of the society or a group. Socialization is a

life long process and is an indispensable part of human life, as this is what teaches us to be

“human”. Without socialization basic human activities such as walking on two limbs instead

of four, understanding the symbolic meaning of a frown, a nod in everyday interaction and

even the development of self would remain unlearned.

Symbolic Interactionism elaborates on the role of socialization in the development of self-

concept and proposes that one’s self-concept is based on the perception held about them by

others. The individual becomes aware of these perceptions because of their understanding of

symbols, which would not have been possible without the process of socialisation thus

making socialisation indispensable in the development of “self”. This was explored further by

symbolic interactionists George Herbert Mead and Charles Cooley.

“Looking- Glass Self” by Charles Horton Cooley

Charles Cooley proposed the looking glass self-theory a hundred years ago according

to which an individual’s idea of self is based on their assumptions about how other people
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perceive them. These people can be a part of the individual’s social circle or be strangers, but

the individual’s social interaction with them functions as a looking glass into their self.

According to the theory, the formation of self-concept occurs in three steps, First, the

individual forms an assumption about how other people perceive their appearance based on

certain characteristics. Secondly, the individual forms an assumption about the judgement

made by the people of their appearance, by interpreting their reactions. This interpretation is

based on symbols, such as eye contact, nodding etc. Thus leaving a lot of room for

misinterpretation. Thirdly the individual develops a positive or a negative self-concept based

on the type of judgement, they assumed the people made. (Henslin, 2012, p. 69).

An instance explaining this could be a job interview, where the individual would continue to

believe in their professional and competent appearance if the interviewer’s reaction is

positive ( firm handshake, direct eye contact etc.) and thus form a positive self-concept based

on their assumption. However, this assumption made by the person could be a false one, and

in reality, the interviewer could have been less than impressed. But the individual’s positive

self-concept would remain intact until the individual gets to know they have been rejected

and their self-concept would turn negative. Bringing us to the fact that socialization is an

ongoing process.

Role Taking by George Herbert Mead

One of the main pioneers to self and socialization theories was Mead who proposed

that role-taking, putting ourselves in the other person’s shoes is to anticipate their behaviour

or considering their perspective which is internalized as the “generalized other” which is the

general impression one has of other people (Henslin, 2012, p. 69).

He believes that people undergo three main stages before they develop self by role learning,

initially owe can on;y consider the perspectives of those close to us or adopt their roles such

as our parents (significant other) but as we grow older this ability expands and we can
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internalize the perspective of more people or even a group (generalised other). For instance, a

young kid may not be able to understand, or role take a deaf person’s situation while trying to

explain a concept to them but an adult or a teenager would be able to. (Henslin, 2012, p. 69).

According to Mead Role taking occurs in three stages: The first one is imitation where the

child mimics the actions/gestures. In the second stage called Play, the child role takes specific

characters such as cartoons or professions. During the third stage Teams, which begins with

organised sports game and schools the child can the role take multiple roles, especially while

playing games such as baseball, where they would consider the role of all the team players

when playing a match. (Henslin, 2012, p. 69).

Mead also describes self as having two parts “Me” which was the object and “I” which was

the subject. “Me” is the understanding of the ‘generalized other” whereas “I” is the

individual's response and impulse.

Conclusion

Through these theories, one can conclude that socialisation Is not a passive process but rather

an active one where the individual plays an important role and socialisation, even though it

may not seem like it initially plays an extremely important role in developing self
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References

Henslin, J. M. (2012). Sociology A Down to Earth Approach (10th ed.). Pearson