Question

6. How does Mead explain the importance of social interaction in the development of the self? In your response, define the concept of the self and explain the stages through which the self is developed according to Mead, including an explanation of why the generalized other that emerges during the game stage is so important for the self and society to function smoothly.

Answer 1

Concept of self

Self concept is the image that an individual has him/her self. Self concept is a generalised thought or  the individual perception, as one's own behaviour ,abilities and unique charecteristics. It refers to a mental picture of who I am as a person.Examples- Thouht or perception of a person as "I am not a hard working person"," I am emtionally very strong".etc. In short self concept is a collection of belifs about oneself and responses to others.

George Herbert Mead is an American Philosopher.Mead's theory of the emergence of mind and self out of the social process of significant communication has become a sinificant base for the studies in social  psychology.

Mead's concept of mind

According to Mead one's identity emerges out of external social interactions and internal feelings of one self.Self is not evident at birth ,but emerges over time through language , play and games.According to him the self consists of " me" and "I". "me is the social self. "I is the response to "me".That is "I" is the response of an individual to the attitudes of others,while "me" is the organized set of attitdes of others , which an individual assumes.

Stages through which self is developed

Mead suggests that self develops through three stages. These stages include

1. The preperatory stage.

This is the first stage ,from girth to about the age of two. At this stage children are mimicing the sounds that they hear without understanding the meaning of what they are saying. They are not understanding the meaning behind their words ,actions, or tone of voice.

2.The play stage

This is a stage about two years to six years .At this stage children play 'pretend'.At this stage while playing games they are not able to understand the rules of the game and so obviously will not obey the rules of the game.Parents cannot enforce any rules upon them while playing.For example when playing a 'game house' they will pretend to be the mother or father of their home .because at the time of playing they are pretending to be the adults they are seeing.

3. The game stage.

The game stage is from about the age of seven years onwards .At this stage while playing children might be able to understand the rules of the games and obey them. They can play formalised games and that time they are able to understand other people's perspective, understand rules of the game and obey the rules while playing.

At this children might be able to better recognize thier own physical srength and compare it with others.At this stage children may have different stages of development.

The generalised other that is emergeing through game stage

'Generalised other' in game stage refers to the ability to understand and take in to accout the attitudes and view points of those in our society, as well as our expected roles wihin the society.Generalized other is the final stage in the development of self. The generalised other refer to the view point of the social group at large.The child is getting the ability of understanding other's perspective in this stage.

Importance of social interaction in the development of self

Mead' theory of social self is based on the perspective that the self emerges from social interaction,such as obseving and interacting with others,responding to others openions, about oneself. they also internalizes external openions and internal feelings about oneself.Self is developing through the process of self sociaalization which allows one to reflect and argue with ourselves so that we can develop an accurate self image.