The Looking Glass Self

• The looking Glass Self is a social psychological concept, created by Charles Horton Cooley in 1902 (McIntyre 2006), stating that a person's self grows out of society's interpersonal interactions and the

  perceptions of others. The term refers to people shaping their self-perception based on their understanding of how others perceive them. In this case, a child who is perceived by her parents as smart will be raised with certain types of expectations. As a consequence, the child will eventually believe that she is a smart person.
• In an article published by Joachim Vogt Isaksen for Popular Social Science in May 2013, the concept of the looking glass self theory constitutes the foundation of the sociological theory of socialization. The theory is that people in our close environment serve as the "mirrors" that reflect images of ourselves.
• This has three steps. First, the assumption of how we appear to another person, sometimes this assumption is correct, but may also be incorrect since it is merely based on speculations. Second, the

  assumption of how people judge us based on our appearance. Lastly, we imagine how the person feelsabout us, based on the judgments made of us As a result we often change our behavior based on how we feel people perceive us.
• This process of self evaluation is done unconsciously and may consequently bring a whole range of psychological problems, such as poor self-image and low self-esteem. To remedy this, adolescents should develop a self-image based on their evaluations rather, than basing it on how others perceive them.