Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Contributors
- Preface and acknowledgments
- Introduction: The self–society dynamic
- 1 Exploring the relevance of social cognition for the relationship of self and society: Linking the cognitive perspective and identity theory
- 2 Toward a sociology of cognition
- 3 The cerebral self: Thinking and planning about identity-relevant activity
- 4 Growing up: The development and acquisition of social knowledge
- 5 The social contexts of self-feeling
- 6 Self-processes and emotional experiences
- 7 An affect control view of cognition and emotion
- 8 The self-concept as a basis for a theory of motivation
- 9 Attitudes, behavior, and the self
- 10 From changing selves toward changing society
- 11 Possible selves and social support: Social cognitive resources for coping and striving
- 12 Is the road to helping paved with good intentions? Or inertia?
- 13 Social structure and the moral self
- 14 The production of selves in personal relationships
- 15 Conclusion
- Indexes
14 - The production of selves in personal relationships
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 23 September 2009
Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Contributors
- Preface and acknowledgments
- Introduction: The self–society dynamic
- 1 Exploring the relevance of social cognition for the relationship of self and society: Linking the cognitive perspective and identity theory
- 2 Toward a sociology of cognition
- 3 The cerebral self: Thinking and planning about identity-relevant activity
- 4 Growing up: The development and acquisition of social knowledge
- 5 The social contexts of self-feeling
- 6 Self-processes and emotional experiences
- 7 An affect control view of cognition and emotion
- 8 The self-concept as a basis for a theory of motivation
- 9 Attitudes, behavior, and the self
- 10 From changing selves toward changing society
- 11 Possible selves and social support: Social cognitive resources for coping and striving
- 12 Is the road to helping paved with good intentions? Or inertia?
- 13 Social structure and the moral self
- 14 The production of selves in personal relationships
- 15 Conclusion
- Indexes
Summary
Introduction
Innumerable words have been written and uttered on the fundamental relationship between the person and society, many of them inspiring discussion of the social nature of the self. As Rosenberg (1981: 593) summarizes,
social factors play a major role in … formation [of the self]. …[It] arises out of social experience and interaction; it both incorporates and is influenced by the individual's location in the social structure; it is formed within institutional systems …; it is constructed from the materials of the culture; and it is affected by immediate social and environmental contexts.
The significance of this simple point cannot be overstated: It has been one of sociology's guiding principles for many years, it has been offered as an epiphany to generations of undergraduates, and it has inspired countless research studies. Nevertheless, the concrete social processes captured in the simple but elegant notion of the social creation of the self remain, after all these years, only vaguely understood. The picture is incomplete. Surely social interaction generates selves, but the question that continues to deserve our attention is how.
From the early work of Cooley (1902), it has been a commonplace to locate much of the development of self in primary groups, by which is generally meant families and similar intimate relationships.
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- The Self-Society DynamicCognition, Emotion and Action, pp. 305 - 322Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 1991
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