Quick questions on Self and Identity - TCE Sociology (Tasmania) - Level 3

George Herbert Mead, a founder of symbolic interactionism, explained that children develop a self by learning to take the role of the other. First they imitate significant others such as parents, then through play and games they internalise the generalised other, the wider expectations of society. Mead distinguished two parts of the self: the I, the spontaneous and creative part that acts, and the me, the socialised part that reflects on how others see us. The self is the ongoing conversation between them.

Erving Goffman used a dramaturgical analogy, treating social life as a theatre. We are all actors managing the impressions we give, performing on a front stage where we present an idealised self and relaxing in the back stage. Impression management means we actively shape our identity for different audiences. An everyday Australian example is the different self a person presents on a job interview, with friends, and on social media, each a tailored performance.

How freely is identity chosen? Interactionists emphasise agency: we negotiate and perform our identities. Structural theorists reply that the categories available to us, such as class, gender and ethnicity, are imposed by society and limit our choices. Feminists note that gender identity is heavily socialised, and writers on ethnicity point out that ethnic identity can be both chosen and ascribed by others.