The Concept of Self - Essay Example

Concept of SELF - An Assessment Introduction The objective of this paper is to assess the concept of "Self", as developed by G.H Mead, H. Blumer, and E. Goffman. "Self" is one of the most important concepts in psychology. According to G.H.Mead, only humans possess self, which is a result of symbolic interaction (G.H.Mead, 1932). Blumer followed in the foot steps of Mead and further extended his ideology. Erving Goffman was another researcher on this subject who had alternate views. He has presented his views in the book - The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life (1959). Views of G.H.Mead - The Self Mead's concept of the self is essentially a social self. Mead set the trend of thinking about interaction in human society. According to him, self is an interpreted concept of a person, as perceived by the society, based on verbal interactions. The self develops out of a conversation, by using symbols. Mead was responsible for developing the concept of symbolic interaction, the most important factor in human social relationships. Symbolic interaction consists of interpretation, that is, comprehension of the meaning of other person's actions. The foundation of cooperation is social relations and it relies on the communication process in which meanings are conveyed. Non-symbolic interactions are those in which partners respond to each other's actions directly. Mead clearly distinguishes the self and the body. He claimed that humans can lose parts of the body without any serious invasion of the self. Mead distinguishes three stages in the development of self: Play - specific perspectives of a limited number of others is considered. Game - several others' particular perspectives lead to the formation of multiple self-images. Generalized other - the overall, general perspective of the community of others (social norms, group) is assumed. Mead emphasized that the interactions and even cooperation, as seen in animals is purely biological. As against this, humans can interpret and mutually define their actions, rather than just reacting to them. In Mead's opinion, human thought, experience and conduct are essentially social. Human beings interact with each other in terms of symbols; the most important of which are contained in language. Without symbols, humans will not interact and therefore no human society. Mead was of the opinion that animals respond through gestures, but their interactions are unconscious and non-rational. Only human beings are capable of abstract thinking. The human mind can have inner conversation and adopt an attitude towards oneself. Human cognition has a symbolic nature. Animals, according to Mead, do not possess this ability, for they do not possess self. According to Mead, self distinguishes humans from the world of nature. He distinguished two aspects of self: subjective I and objective Me. I is responsible for interpretative reactions towards social stimuli. This aspect is responsible for creativity, spontaneity, and unpredictability at times. I is the basis of self-image. The me aspect is the social self, developed in accordance with other people's views and expectations. This social fact is what separates human beings from animals. Views of H.Blumer - The Interacting Self Blumer opined that human interaction is influenced by symbols, interpretation, or addition of significance to other humans' actions. He maintained that symbolic interaction is typically human field of operation. He said that the mental and cognitive aspect of constructing meanings excludes both interaction between human and nonhuman animals and interaction between nonhuman animals themselves. According to Blumer, a human being can be an object of his own action. He can act toward himself and guide himself toward others on the basis of the object he is to himself. This process involves a selection of the objects considered relevant for the individual and an appropriate handling of the meanings of those objects. As against Mead, Blumer stresses on the I side of the self. This I is built socially, as it is a result of the situation. People assume roles without a pre-existing script and can construct new social form. Blumer emphasizes on role making, rather than role taking. Views of Goffman - The Self in Staged Interaction Erving Goffman observes that sending and receiving non-verbal messages is a basis for communication and functioning of an individual in society. Exchanging non-verbal messages also played a crucial role in the emergence of self in primates. According to Goffman, humans sustain their public and private life by the ritual performances of the everyday and in this interaction process, the self is created and manipulated. He focuses on the different techniques and processes that are involved with the constitution of the self in interaction. There are two basic emotions required in the process of constructing identity and social bonds: pride and shame. They take various forms; they are indispensable in the construction of self and they always take part in human behaviour. Analytical Comments There is a lot of incoherence and ambiguity in Mead's reasoning. The mind, according to Mead, is an entity based on an inner linguistic conversation and for this reason, supposedly, animals do not possess it. Mead totally rejects the notion of consciousness based on feelings and bodily sensations. He has marginalized non-verbal communication as an element of corporality and communication. In actuality, the concept of self is created based on non-verbal communication, relation of bodies in physical space, kinesthetic empathy, and emotions connected with body, mind, and the self processes. The communication between humans and animals is established on the principle of so called "kinesthetic empathy". Humans observe the movements and gestures of animals in order to understand their intentions and the meaning of their behaviour, whereas animals do the same with human intentions. Conclusion Mind and body have been completely separated in G.H Mead concept. Body is not a self according to Mead. He ignores a very important function of body in an interaction, which is that the body conveys an individual being's inner feelings to others. The emergence of self, according to Mead, is closely related to the ability of using the vocal gestures having meaning, with the acquisition of competence in using the language of symbolic nature. Recent researches have shown the existence of a certain form of self, "self - feeling" before acquiring the language. A child attempts to attract other people's attention by means of some non-verbal actions such as screaming, crying, and so on. Depending on the effects of its actions and the reactions of others to those actions, the child experiences happiness or sadness. This proves the existence of some rudimentary form of social self. The influence of Mead on present day thinking about communication among animals and humans and between animals and humans and also about self as a typically human quality and a boundary between humans and animals is very strong. However, G.H. Mead may not have been completely correct as far as the views on language and communication, language and human - animal communication, on self and symbolic interaction and corporality are concerned. The following table summarizes the views of Mead (and Blumer)'s views and the alternate views (in particular, that of Goffman): Factor Mead's Views Alternate Views Language and communication Language facilitates the creation of community; Is not possible in the animal world because of absence of the verbal language. Community can emerge on the basis of non-verbal communication. Human - animals communication Impossible, as the means of communication is different - gesture in animals and symbol in humans. Symbolization is not a necessary condition for communication. On possessing self Only humans possess the feeling. Symbolic interaction by verbal language and not the body is the basis of "self". Some species of primates possess self or its rudiments. Interpretation of body language is accepted. Works Cited list 1. Mead George H. 1932, 'Mind, Self and Society from the Standpoint of a Social Behaviorist', Chicago: University of Chicago 2. Goffman, Erving. 1959, 'The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life', New York: Doubleday. 3. Blumer, Herbert. 1966, 'Sociological Implications of the Thought of George Herbert Mead', American Journal of Sociology, 71: 534-544 4. Konecki, Krzysztof T. 2005, 'The Problem of Symbolic Interaction and of Constructing Self', Qualitative Sociology Review, Volume I, Issue 1 Available at: http://www.qualitativesociologyreview.org/ENG/Volume1/Article4.php 5. Micro and Macro Social Theory, Available at: http://www.palgrave.com/pdfs/0333995708.pdf 6. Deflem, Mathieu. 1999, 'Classical Sociological Theory', Unpublished notes. Available at: www.mathieudeflem.net Read More