self andsociety

             "self and society are two sides of the same coin" - To what extent is this true?
             "The self is the individual as known to the individual" (Murphy 1947).
             The self as defined by Murphy above shows a definition of the self described as in internal occurrence but this idea is then subject to outside contributions - family, friends, colleagues - society in which you live. The definitions of self all seem to highlight a reflective process to achieve its identification (looking inwardly to determine who I am?) but could this identification process be possible without societal interactions.
             This essay will examine the reciprocal relationship between the self and society and the theories and research into this relationship (however acknowledgement is made as to the breadth of this area of social psychology and has due to limited time and space decided to concentrate on self construction, gender and cultural influences).
             The self and its existence within society is a topic which is a topic which has engaged psychologists from the 1800s through to the present. The modern theories of the self still echo the teachings of William James, who first notioned towards the self's intrinsic dualism back in 1890. Perceptions of the self are split between two main ideas: firstly self -concept (James referred to this as the "Known") our thoughts and beliefs about ourselves and secondly self-awareness (the "knower" or "I") the act of thinking about ourselves. These two aspect combine together to provide a unified self. "Your self is both (the) book...and also the reader of that book..." (Aronson). This concept of self is quite basic and is open to outside interactions and they the one sure thing which is liable to change how you view yourself - age. Investigations into children's changing self perception show this vividly. As children age their self concepts become more complex (as does their command of language), more mature de...

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