How People

Perceive Oneself

We have a concept of our own selves. What we are really like and why we do what we do? And how people form self concept? ‘’ I am a certain kind of person with such capacities, value beliefs, and attitudes behavior’’, even if we sometimes sugar coat those capacities with a layer of self-serving bias. But how do such human concept arise in the first place.

Human concept

One crucial element is some reference to other people. It is obvious that there can be no full-fledged ‘’I’’ without a ‘’you’’ or a ‘’they’’, for the human concept is a undoubtedly social concept. According to many authors, the child begins to see herself through the eyes of the important figures in her world and thus acquires the idea that she is a person. As the social interactions become more complex, more and more details are added to the self picture. In effect, the child sees herself through the mirror of the opinions and expectations of those others (mothers, fathers, siblings, friends) who matter to her. Her later behavior cannot help but be shaped by this early self theory‘’looking glass self’’. example of such birth, roles defined by race, gender, ethnicity, and so on.

Self perception and attribution

According to the self theory ‘’looking glass theory’’. we learn who we are by finding out through others, by noting how they treat us, how they react to us, and what they expect from us. But isn’t there a more direct methods? Can’t we discover who we are and what we feel simply by observing ourselves? According to some authors the answer is no. In their view, our self concept are attained through an attribution process no different from the one we use to form conception of other people. The advocates of this self perception theory maintain that, contrary to common sense belief, we do no know our own self directly. In their view, self concept ( self knowledge) can only be achieved indirectly, through the same attempts to find consistencies, discount irrelevancies, and interpret observations that help us to understand other people.

In the movie Donnie Brasco, an undercover FBI agent infiltrate the mob. As his involvement deepens, he grows uncertain of his own allegiance

One line of evidence concerns the relation between attitudes and behavior. Common sense argues that attitudes cause behavior, that our own attitudes behavior actions stem from our feeling and our values beliefs. To some extends, this is undoubtedly true. Those in favor of a strong military are likely to join a rally demanding cuts in the defense budget. But under some circumstances, the cause and effect relation is reverse. Some times our feelings or value beliefs are the results of our actions.


A demonstration comes from foot-in-the-door technique, originally perfected by traveling sale men. In one study, suburban homeowners were asked to comply with an innocuous request, to put a three inch square sign advocating auto safety in a window of their homes. Two weeks later, another experimenter came to visit those homeowners who had agreed to display the small sign. This time they were asked to grant a much greater request, to permit the installation of an enormous billboard on their front lawns, proclaiming ‘’Drive Carefully’’ in huge letters while obstructing most of the house. The results showed that agreement depended upon prior agreement. Once having complied with the first, small request, the homeowners were much more likely to give in to the greater one.


The foot-in-the-door and the environment
The foot-in-the-door effect can start at an early age. The photo shows young children induced to do their bit for environment. Whether the cans they collect now make much of a difference matters less than that those acts are likely to lead to greater efforts in the future, as the children come to think of themselves as environmentalist.





One interpretation of this and similar findings is a change in self perception. Having agreed to put small sign, the homeowners now thought of themselves as active citizens involved in a public issue. Since no one forced them to put up the sign, they attributed their action to their own convictions. Given that they now thought of themselves as active, convinced, and involved, they were ready to play the part on a larger scale. Fortunately for their less involved neighbors, the billboard was in fact never installed after all, the request was only part of an experiment. But in real life we may not be let off so easily. The foot-in-the-door approach is a common device for persuading the initial uncommitted; it can be used to peddle encyclopedias or harden political convictions. Extremist political movements generally do not demand violent actions from newcomers. They begin with small request like signing a petition or giving a distinctive salute. But these may lead to a change self perception that ultimately may ready the person for more drastic acts

This line of argument may have some bearing on our understanding of how social systems function. The social world cast people in different roles that prescribe particular sets of behaviors; representatives of labor and management will obviously take different positions at the bargaining table. But the roles determine attitudes behavior. If one acts like a union representative, one starts to feel like one. The same holds for the corporate executive. This point has been verified in a study of factory workers both before and after they were elected union steward or promoted to foreman. As one might have expected, the newly elected union stewards become more pro-union; the newly promoted foreman become more pro-management.

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