According to Mead the idea of self develops when the individual becomes self-conscious. Explain. (UPSC CSE Mains 2022 - Sociology, Paper 1)
- Symbolic Interactionism is a social theory that focuses on the analysis of the patterns of communication, interpretation and adjustment between individuals. The theory outlines the understandings on how individuals interact with one another and inside the society by attaching meanings to various symbols.
- The impact of Mead’s analysis of the Symbolic Interactionism was said to be so commanding that other sociologists considered him as the one “true founder” of Symbolic Interactionism school of thought.
- Mead felt that the self has two parts, the “I” and the “me.” The “I” is the creative, spontaneous part of the self, while the “me” is the more passive part of the self-stemming from the internalized expectations of the larger society. These two parts are not at odds, he thought, but instead complement each other and thus enhance the individual’s contributions to society. Society needs creativity, but it also needs at least some minimum of conformity. The development of both these parts of the self is important not only for the individual but also for the society to which the individual belongs.
Mead’s saw the self as the product of social experience.
- First, said Mead, the self is not there at birth; it develops. The self is not part of the body, and it does not exist at birth. Mead rejected the idea that personality is guided by biological drives (as Freud asserted) or biological maturation (as Piaget claimed).
- Second, the self develops only with social experience, as the individual interacts with others. Without interaction, as we see from cases of isolated children, the body grows, but no self emerges.
- Third, Mead continued, social experience is the exchange of symbols. Only people use words, a wave of the hand, or a smile to create meaning. We can train a dog using reward and punishment, but the dog attaches no meaning to its actions. Human beings, by contrast, find meaning in almost every action.
- Fourth, Mead stated that seeking meaning leads people to imagine other people’s intentions. In short, we draw conclusions from people’s actions, imagining their underlying intentions. A dog responds to what you do; a human respond to what you have in mind as you do it. You can train a dog to go to the hallway and bring back an umbrella, which is handy on a rainy day. But because the dog doesn’t understand intention, if the dog cannot find the umbrella, it is incapable of the human response: to look for a raincoat instead.
- Fifth, Mead explained that understanding intention requires imagining the situation from the other’s point of view. Using symbols, we imagine ourselves “in another person’s shoes” and see ourselves as that person does. We can therefore anticipate how others will respond to us even before we act. A simple toss of a ball requires stepping outside ourselves to imagine how another will catch our throw. All social interaction involves seeing ourselves as others see us—a process that Mead termed taking the role of the other.
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