HW: Read this NY Magazine piece about Carolyn Dweck's Mindset.
As you enter, please open the Twenty Statements Test and fill in 20 responses to the question, "Who am I?"
Try to fill in all 20 statements about yourself. Work quickly and individually.
The "self"
The Twenty Statements Test is a survey that has been used in various studies for over 50 years. (Note: this lesson is based on Rusty Schnellinger's lesson) It is a qualitative measurement of how people think about themselves, or who they are as a person. This conscious understanding of who we are as individuals is an example of what sociologists call a "self." Similar to metacognition and how people think about thinking, a "self" is how individuals consciously think about who they are as an individual.
Coding your responses.
When conducting qualitative data analysis, sometimes sociologists will code the responses to make sense of the data. Code your responses to the Twenty Statements Test:
A mode responses: Physical characteristics.
Ex. I am blonde, I am short, I am strong.
B mode responses: Socially defined statuses that associate you relative to a group.
Ex. I am an SHS student, I am Catholic, I am a quarterback, I am a daughter, I am a store clerk.
C mode responses: Personal traits, styles of behavior or emotional states.
Ex. I am a happy person, I am competitive, I am loud. I am tired.
D mode responses: General, more abstract or existential responses.
After you code your responses, answer the following questions on your notes page:Ex. I am me, I am part of the universe, I am human, I am alive.
1. Individually: Which did you have the most of? Hypothesize what your totals reveal about your sense of self. Which responses came to mind first/easier? How do you think you will compare to the class as a whole?
Culture And your Sense of Self
Without reading any further, hypothesize how these responses might have changed over time. How might culture shape your responses to these?
As Peter Kaufman explains in A Sociology Experiment (2019),
In summary, culture shapes how we think about what is important and what we value.
Erving Goffman's Dramaturgy
2. Choose one of your responses that is from B. Which one did you choose? How do you express yourself to fit into this response? In other words, how do you dress, talk and act in order to be like _______ (B)?
Discussion: What were some examples for your answer to number two? For number two, this is exemplifying a sociological theory called Dramaturgy by Erving Goffman. Goffman wrote The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life which theorized that people present themselves to the world based on their ideas about their "self". They create an image of how they want to be perceived. It is like being in a play - when you go on stage you are dressed up to play your role. Goffman's theory in the form of an extended metaphor is known as dramaturgy. How do these fit into Goffman’s theory?
Presentation of Selfies in Everyday Life
Drawing on Goffman's theory, Jay Livingston of the Montclair Socioblog posted about selfies at this post, also cross-posted at SocImages. Here's Livingston's take on selfies:
A girl takes a selfie, posts it to Instagram, and waits. She doesn’t have to wait long – a minute or two - before the likes and comments start rolling in. “Gorgeous,” “So pretty OMG,” “Stunning,” “Cutest.” ...the selfie-Instagram-comments syndrome is not about narcissism – seeing yourself as standing shiningly above everyone else. It’s about fitting in – reading the social map, finding where you stand, and maybe changing your location in that social space.... All these moves – the posting, the commenting and liking – have a meaning that girls know intuitively but that must be decoded for outsiders...It’s hard to find narcissism or vanity in any of this. The girls are not preening, not basking in their triumphs, not nursing an ego wounded from some social slight. They are reading a constantly changing sociogram or network model of their world.
If you look at the individual –a girl posting a selfie and reading the laudatory comments –you see a personality trait, narcissism. But the behavior that looks like narcissism is really an aspect of the social structure (girls’ friendships networks) and the institution those networks are embedded in (school).
Agents of socialization
3. Regarding your answer to number 2 above, what are some of the places that you have learned to talk/dress/act/ like this?
Discussion: Examples of where?
These are examples of agents of socialization. Esp: Family, School, Peers/friends, Media. Agents of Socialization are the most important groups that shape an individual's sense of self.
4. Charles Horton Cooley's Looking Glass Self
Can you think of a time when one of your responses to B was received positively by another person or group? Who was it? How did they react? What did they say?
Can you think of a time when one of your responses to B was received negatively by another person or group? Who was it? How did they react? What did they say?
These are examples of Charles Horton Cooley’s theory called the “Looking Glass”. By “Looking Glass” he is referring to a mirror. His theory is that we learn to act a certain way because of our interactions with others and how they react to us.
HW: Read this NY Magazine piece about Carolyn Dweck's Mindset.
4. Charles Horton Cooley's Looking Glass Self
Can you think of a time when one of your responses to B was received positively by another person or group? Who was it? How did they react? What did they say?
Can you think of a time when one of your responses to B was received negatively by another person or group? Who was it? How did they react? What did they say?
In Sum
People look at themselves in the mirror and see themself in a particular way. However, what we don't see is all of the messages that have been told to us through the most significant groups in our lives. These groups are called agents of socialization. All of them exist within a culture as well.
HW: Read this NY Magazine piece about Carolyn Dweck's Mindset.
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