The Looking-Glass Self in Family Context: A Social Relations Analysis

Family relationships provide the most valid context for studying a key hypothesis of Symbolic Interaction Theory (SIT), that how one is perceived by significant others determines one's view of the self ( C.H. Cooley, 1902 ). Implicit in this hypothesis is another hypothesis, that people are acc...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of family psychology 1998-09, Vol.12 (3), p.299-309
Main Authors: Cook, William L, Douglas, Emily M
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adolescents
Adult Attitudes
Biological and medical sciences
Couple and family
Families & family life
Family Relations
Family relationships
Female
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Human
Influences
Male
Offspring
Parental Attitudes
Parents & parenting
Perceptions
Psychology
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychology. Psychophysiology
Self image
Self-Concept
Selfperception
Social Perception
Social psychology
Social relations model
Symbolic Interactionism
USA
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Summary:Family relationships provide the most valid context for studying a key hypothesis of Symbolic Interaction Theory (SIT), that how one is perceived by significant others determines one's view of the self ( C.H. Cooley, 1902 ). Implicit in this hypothesis is another hypothesis, that people are accurate in perceiving how they are perceived by others. This study investigated the accuracy of young people's perceptions of how they are viewed by their parents (i.e., metaperception accuracy). Social relations analysis ( D.A. Kenny & L. La Voie, 1984 ) was applied to data from 51 2-parent, 2-child families. College students were accurate in their metaperceptions of father but only for perceived assertiveness. Adolescents demonstrated generalized accuracy in their metaperceptions of cooperation. The results partially support a modified version of SIT.
ISSN:0893-3200
1939-1293
DOI:10.1037/0893-3200.12.3.299