Recently I asked students what they thought “self” meant. One student said that self was the sum total of all his experiences in his life. Others noted facets of self such as racial identity, being a man or woman, etc. This fits with the Rosenberg (1986) definition give in your textbook. Rosenberg elaborated further on the self concept (1981:593)—he said “…the self-concept achieves its particular shape and form in the matrix of a given culture, social structure, and institutional system. Although the individual’s view of himself may be internal, what he sees and feels when he thinks of himself is largely the product of social life.” In other words, our self identity is shaped by who we live and work with and the institutions that we confront daily in our lives.
There are two views of the self as a concept. The first, biographical, refers to identities arising out of the interaction with social structures (education, religion, etc.). This sense of self is considered stable because social structures persist of time (See Stryker). The other view is that of a “situated self.” This view, based on the work of William James and others, assumes that the self is multifaceted and contingent on social contexts.
Self-Identities and Evaluations
Becoming self is an on-going process. Blumer argued that self identification is an internal dialog. We should also recognize that we have multiple selves, e.g. religious, professional, friend, family member, etc. Recognizing that we have multiple identities that we use depending on the situation makes this avenue of social science research complicated but very interesting.
I mentioned our sense of self is continually evaluated by us internally as well as by others. You may not be aware of it but the internet is full of websites devoted to evaluating what type of person you are (see http://www.personalitypage.com), what your religious identity is, gender identity , political identity. For point is there is probably a quiz, survey, online application for finding out who you are in almost every conceivable scenario . Whether these instruments are valid and reliable is another question!
As you know from above, there are a number of ways we evaluate ourselves. The less formal forms of assessment are those internal dialogues that we have about who we are and what we have done. But more formal assessments are readily available. A while back I completed the 9 Types and Personality Page online questionnaires listed above. Consider the Enneagram Personality Type Indicator that allows you to decide which of the nine personality types you probably are based on a set of questions. The personality types are:
- Type 1: The Reformer—rational, idealistic
- Type 2: The Helper—caring, nurturing
- Type 3: The Motivator—adaptable, success-oriented
- Type 4: The Artist—intuitive, reserved
- Type 5: The Thinker—perceptive, cerebral
- Type 6: The Skeptic—committed, security-oriented
- Type 7: The Generalist—enthusiastic, productive
- Type 8: The Leader—powerful, aggressive
- Type 9: The Peacemaker—easygoing, accommodating
Results indicated that my personality ranked by type is the Skeptic, then the Generalist, and finally, and the Reformer. On another test, I found that I am fit a Jungian archetype of introverted-Intuitive-Thinking-Judging (INTJ). This personality type fits with into the role of the Scientist. What does this all mean? Personality is based on personal characteristics like the ones I listed above such INTJ. But society is always present in terms of roles or the social categories I fit (scientist).
George Herbert Mead described the self as a combination of I, or the active self, and Me (the social self). The I has agency and the Me is based on societal assessments and expectations. It is the interaction between I and me that make us who we are.
Fortunately, Identity Theory allows us to make sense of how self comes about. First it is important to know that our actions are culturally patterned. Next, the positions and roles we find ourselves in are the result from the organization of social reality. Our positions influence what we think about ourselves. We become what we are in. Finally, our actions are continually informed and changed to accommodate changing social contexts. The last two assertions reflect the fact that the self is socially constructed. Moreover, our self conception is based on how integrated we are in the community or how committed we are to societal expectations.
Another aspect of self is our emotions. Affect Control Theory argues that our feelings are influenced by the social world as well. Emotions can be thought of as signals that verify our identity. Incongruence between self image and societal expectations leads to negative emotions.
Erving Goffman described how we manage our identities and emotions through something called impression management. What this means is that what I transmit and how you interpret my messages are continually monitored and held in check to meet what I feel fits with the group.
Goffman also talked about front stage and backstage. The front stage is where we present ourselves to others and the backstage is where we can let our guard down as well as rehearse our performances. All of this is part of dramaturgical analysis. We also have scripts based on our roles; there are props and scenes (contexts). The point of all this is that life is like theater (dramaturgical analysis).
Situated and Postmodern Self. The situated self is based on context (time and place). The postmodern self is composed of multiple identities that are quite difficult to manage or multiphrenia.
Evaluation of Self
Self Esteem is based on have a stable and positive feeling about ourselves (consistency and positivity). We do this through comparisons, reflection, psychological centrality (internal housekeeping), and self-perception.
Mastering involves a process similar to self-fulfilling prophecy. Robert Merton called this the Matthew Effect. The idea is that the more awards, accolades, etc. one receives leads to more of the same. In other words, put your money on the winning horse.
How does one become a master? In his book Outliers, Malcom Gladwell suggest that to master something we need to invest at least 10,000 hours or about 10 years to that particular skill or trait. Some of the time may be through vicarious experience, other time through accomplishments. Moreover, mastery is opportunities presented to us through our social context. It is a misconception that a person is successful on their own efforts.
Finally, Mattering, allows us to gain a sense of how important we are in the community. This follows Durkheim’s ideas about anomie or how integrated we are in society. The more committed we are in our families and communities, the more we feel we are needed—no brainer, right?
A lot of what I wrote above reminds me of Travis Hirschi’s Control Theory. The logic behind Control theory is that that people engage in positive or negative behavior based on their level of attachments, commitment, involvement, and support for the system. Attachment means how connected we are in our community (see mattering above). Commitment is how committed person is to community. Involvement indicates how much time a person spends engaging in community activities. And finally, beliefs deal with a person’s support of values and morals of the community. The idea is that decreased attachment, commitment, involvement, and belief support leads to higher deviancy.
RESOURCES
Gladwell, Malcolm. 2008. Outliers: The Story of Success. Large type large print ed. New York, NY: Little, Brown and Co.
Hirschi, Travis. 1969. Causes of Delinquency. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Rohall, David E. 2007. Social Psychology: Sociological Perspectives. Boston, MA: Pearson/Allyn and Bacon.
Rosenberg, Morris. 1989. “Self-Concept Research: A Historical Overview..” Social Forces 68:34.
Rosenberg, Morris, and Ralph H Turner. 1981. Social Psychology: Sociological Perspectives. New York: Basic Books, Inc.
I agree as an early childhood educator self esteem has a lot to do with identity and accepting who you are.