Both William James and Cooley explain the development of the self? In what way a

Question

Both William James and Cooley explain the development of the self? In what way are these theories similar and/or different? According to James, our physical, social and psychological development, all influence our self perception. What factors during development could result in positive and negative outcomes to the development of self? What might be some positive outcomes? What might be some negative outcomes? Which environmental factors do you think result in the development of a conflict between the true self (our perception of our self) and the false self (the self that we show the outside world)? How do you think that culture may or may not influence the development of self?

Explanation / Answer

Answer.

The Harvard psychologist William James (1842-1910) was perhaps the first social scientist to develop a clear concept of self. James recognized that humans have the capacity to view themselves as objects and to develop self perceptions and feelings about themselves. The concept of habit is important in his theory of behaviour as he proposed that beyond instincts, an individual’s behaviour can be changed if there is acquisition of new habits in relation to his/her response to the external social environment.

Another crucial term in James’ theory of self is consciousness and according to James, individuals have self as an object, the content of all conscious thought, feelings and the self as a subject- the one that knows, acts and perceives. This division allowed James to contemplate on the idea of multiple selves and he proposed that an individual can have as many social selves as the number of people who think about him/her in different ways.

Like James, Cooley too believed that the environment has a major influence on the perception of the self as an object. However, Cooley developed this idea further and proposed that individuals do not merely passively act based on an already established stimulus response association. Rather, individuals act based on society’s expectations from them which may not necessarily be congruent with how they themselves wanted to act. Thus unlike James who attributed the development of self to na individual’s will, Cooley attributes the development of self exclusively to interactions with others in society. Thus, Cooley’s conceptual category of the looking glass self adheres to a larger contorlmof social processes as the determining factor in the development of selfhood. However, James conceptualised the self in terms of ‘true self’ and ‘false self’ to highlight the continuing tension between individuals’s own self- perception and the self image shown to the outside world.

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