7.1: Le sens du soi : Auto-évaluation réfléchie et comparaison sociale

According to Charles Cooley, we base our image on what we think other people see (Cooley 1902). We imagine how we must appear to others, then react to this speculation. We don certain clothes, prepare our hair in a particular manner, wear makeup, use cologne, and the like—all with the notion that our presentation of ourselves is going to affect how others perceive us. We expect a certain reaction, and, if lucky, we get the one we desire and feel good about it. But more than that, Cooley believed that our sense of self is based upon this idea: we imagine how we look to others, draw conclusions based upon their reactions to us, and then we develop our personal sense of self. In other words, people’s reactions to us are like a mirror in which we are reflected—a process that he termed “the looking glass self.”

Later, George Herbert Mead (1863–1931) studied the self, a person’s distinct identity that is developed through social interaction. In order to engage in this process of “self,” an individual has to be able to view him or herself through the eyes of others. Through socialization we learn to put ourselves in someone else's shoes and look at the world through their perspective. This assists us in becoming self-aware, as we look at ourselves from the perspective of the "other."

Socialization Agents

How do we learn to use the objects of our society’s material culture? How do we come to adopt the beliefs, values, and norms that represent its nonmaterial culture? This learning takes place through interaction with various agents of socialization, like peer groups and families, plus both formal and informal social institutions.

Family

Family is the first agent of socialization. Families, and later peer groups, communicate expectations and reinforce norms. People first learn to use the tangible objects of material culture in these settings, as well as being introduced to the beliefs and values of society.

Mothers and fathers, siblings and grandparents, plus members of an extended family, all teach a child what he or she needs to know. For example, they show the child how to use objects (such as clothes, computers, eating utensils, books, bikes); how to relate to others (some as “family,” others as “friends,” still others as “strangers” or “teachers” or “neighbors”); and how the world works (what is “real” and what is “imagined”). As you are aware, either from your own experience as a child or from your role in helping to raise one, socialization includes teaching and learning about an unending array of objects and ideas.

Peer Groups

A peer group is made up of people who are similar in age and social status and who share interests. Peer group socialization begins in the earliest years, such as when kids on a playground teach younger children the norms about taking turns, the rules of a game, or how to shoot a basket. As children grow into teenagers, this process continues. Peer groups are important to adolescents in a new way, as they begin to develop an identity separate from their parents and exert independence. Additionally, peer groups provide their own opportunities for socialization since kids usually engage in different types of activities with their peers than they do with their families. Peer groups provide adolescents’ first major socialization experience outside the realm of their families. Interestingly, studies have shown that although friendships rank high in adolescents’ priorities, this is balanced by parental influence.

Institutional Agents

The social institutions of our culture also inform our socialization. Formal institutions—like schools, workplaces, and the government—teach people how to behave in and navigate these systems. Other institutions, like the media, contribute to socialization by inundating us with messages about norms and expectations.

School

Most U.S. children spend about seven hours a day, 180 days a year, in school, which makes it hard to deny the importance school has on their socialization (U.S. Department of Education 2004). Students are not in school only to study math, reading, science, and other subjects—the manifest function of this system. Schools also serve a latent function in society by socializing children into behaviors like practicing teamwork and following a schedule.

The Workplace

Just as children spend much of their day at school, many U.S. adults at some point invest a significant amount of time at a place of employment. Although socialized into their culture since birth, workers require new socialization into a workplace, in terms of both material culture (such as how to operate the copy machine) and nonmaterial culture (such as whether it’s okay to speak directly to the boss or how to share the refrigerator).

Different jobs require different types of socialization. In the past, many people worked a single job until retirement. Today, the trend is to switch jobs at least once a decade. Between the ages of eighteen and forty-six, the average baby boomer of the younger set held 11.3 different jobs (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2014). This means that people must become socialized to, and socialized by, a variety of work environments.

Religion

While some religions are informal institutions, here we focus on practices followed by formal institutions. Religion is an important avenue of socialization for many people. The United States is full of synagogues, temples, churches, mosques, and similar religious communities where people gather to worship and learn. Like other institutions, these places teach participants how to interact with the religion’s material culture (like a mezuzah, a prayer rug, or a communion wafer). For some people, important ceremonies related to family structure—like marriage and birth—are connected to religious celebrations. Many religious institutions also uphold gender norms and contribute to their enforcement through socialization. From ceremonial rites of passage that reinforce the family unit to power dynamics that reinforce gender roles, organized religion fosters a shared set of socialized values that are passed on through society.

Government

Although we do not think about it, many of the rites of passage people go through today are based on age norms established by the government. To be defined as an “adult” usually means being eighteen years old, the age at which a person becomes legally responsible for him- or herself. And sixty-five years old is the start of “old age” since most people become eligible for senior benefits at that point.

Each time we embark on one of these new categories—senior, adult, taxpayer—we must be socialized into our new role. Seniors must learn the ropes of Medicare, Social Security benefits, and senior shopping discounts. When U.S. males turn eighteen, they must register with the Selective Service System within thirty days to be entered into a database for possible military service. These government dictates mark the points at which we require socialization into a new category.

Mass Media

Mass media distribute impersonal information to a wide audience, via television, newspapers, radio, and the Internet. With the average person spending over four hours a day in front of the television (and children averaging even more screen time), media greatly influences social norms (Roberts, Foehr, & Rideout, 2005). People learn about objects of material culture (like new technology and transportation options), as well as nonmaterial culture—what is true (beliefs), what is important (values), and what is expected (norms).

This text is adapted from OpenStax, Introduction to Sociology 2e. OpenStax CNX.

En naviguant dans le monde social, quelqu’un peut réfléchir à « qui il est ». En réalité, le récit de soi est créé comme le produit de processus constructifs.

C’est-à-dire que les individus construisent leur sens de soi en se basant sur de nombreuses sources influentes, y compris les principaux agents de socialisation – des personnes comme les membres de la famille, les amis et les enseignants – ainsi que les contextes sociaux.

Par exemple, dès son plus jeune âge, les parents de la femme l’encourageaient à suivre des cours d’art quotidiens, assistaient à toutes les expositions et célébraient les réalisations prestigieuses. Par conséquent, être une artiste est au cœur de son sens de soi.

Au cours de l’acquisition de la connaissance de soi, elle peut également être motivée à se voir favorablement, en partie à travers deux convictions : la réflexion et la comparaison sociale.

D’une part, dans l’auto-évaluation réfléchie, le sens de soi d’une personne est probablement basé sur ses croyances perçues sur ce que les autres pensent d’elle. Ici, lorsque son amie rit de son commentaire, c’est comme si la réaction de l’observateur était reflétée, et elle croit qu’elle a le sens de l’humour.

De plus, dans un autre contexte, la même personne peut exprimer une caractéristique différente. Maintenant que son professeur préféré est à proximité, elle adopte un comportement sérieux. Ce cas fait référence au concept de soi de travail, c’est-à-dire l’idée qu’un sous-ensemble de la connaissance de soi est évoqué à l’esprit, compte tenu du contexte particulier.

De cette manière, les gens peuvent changer de manière prévisible qui ils sont. Ils peuvent retrouver leur sens de l’étude avec quelqu’un comme un professeur et la paresse lorsqu’ils ne veulent pas étudier.

D’autre part, les gens peuvent rechercher activement les autres pour s’évaluer. Dans cette circonstance de comparaison sociale, une personne compte sur quelqu’un d’autre pour en savoir plus sur ses propres capacités, attitudes et traits.

Par exemple, si elle se considère comme travailleuse, elle pourrait se tourner vers les autres pour leur comparer à quel point elle travaille dur. Elle est susceptible de choisir quelqu'un qui travaille moins dur qu'elle pour se sentir mieux, ce qui est un exemple de comparaison sociale descendante.

Cependant, ce type de comparaison peut être nuisible car il entrave sa capacité à s’améliorer et à apprendre de quelqu’un qui en sait plus qu’elle.

En revanche, une comparaison sociale ascendante – dans laquelle elle se compare à quelqu’un qui travaille plus dur qu’elle – peut la motiver à travailler plus dur.

Quoi qu’il en soit, le sens de soi est construit, maintenu et ajusté au fur et à mesure que les gens rencontrent d’autres personnes ou même passent d’un contexte à un autre. Pourquoi ne pas créer des alter ego stimulants !