Thomas’s notable Thomas theorem which states, “If men define situations as real, they are real in their consequences” (Thomas and Thomas 1928). Bear in mind that the institution, while socially constructed, is still quite real.Īnother way of looking at this concept is through W.I. This is an example of the process of institutionalization, the act of implanting a convention or norm into society. In a sense, it exists by consensus, both prior and current. If your school is older than you are, it was created by the agreement of others before you. Society is, in fact, “habit.”įor example, your school exists as a school and not just as a building because you and others agree that it is a school. Not only do we construct our own society but we also accept it as it is because others have created it before us. Habitualization describes how “any action that is repeated frequently becomes cast into a pattern, which can then be … performed again in the future in the same manner and with the same economical effort” (Berger and Luckmann 1966). In it, they argued that society is created by humans and human interaction, which they call habitualization. In 1966 sociologists Peter Berger and Thomas Luckmann wrote a book called The Social Construction of Reality. Rather than discuss their problems and configurations, we’ll now explore how society came to be and how sociologists view social interaction. Until now, we’ve primarily discussed the differences between societies. In a way, our day-to-day interactions are like those of actors on a stage. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.Figure 4.10 Who are we? What role do we play in society? According to sociologists, we construct reality through our interactions with others. Suls (Eds.), Perspectives on self and identity (pp. The strategic control of information: Impression management and self-presentation in daily life. Thus, impression management can be undertaken in the service of self-serving or more other-oriented goals and represents a central component of everyday social life. People commonly describe their friends in ways that help to support their friends’ desired images. Impression management can also be used prosocially to benefit friends. Of course, to the extent that people generally try to put their best foot forward, such carryover effects of impression management may have positive consequences. Conversely, impression management may sometimes be too effective for example, if you try to act like a rebel in one situation, your impression management may carry over such that you start to see yourself as relatively more rebellious and behave in a rebellious manner in subsequent situations. And engaging in highly deceptive forms of impression management runs the risk that people will see through the act (although “getting caught” seems to be the exception rather than the rule). Becoming excessively concerned over others’ opinions can cause anxiety, thereby increasing health problems. Impression management is not risk-free, however. Thus, engaging in impression management can help to ensure that social interactions go smoothly. You might exhibit such different behavior not only because of your own desire to be viewed somewhat differently by your friend versus your mother, but also because your friend and your mother have different expectations or demands regarding what sort of person you should be. For example, even if you feel like you can just “be yourself around close friends and family members, you may find yourself acting quite differently-or presenting a somewhat different version of yourself-around your best friend than around your mother, without really thinking about it. While early research reflected this assumption, more recent research has revealed that people engage in impression management even when they are not intentionally trying to do so. Of course, given that actors are pretending to be people they are not, this metaphor implies that impression management is intentional and duplicitous. The sociologist Erving Goffnan popularized this idea further, arguing that ordinary people in everyday life work to convey desired impressions to others around them, just as actors on a stage work to present their characters to audiences. Many writers and philosophers have observed that people engage in strategic behaviors to control the impressions that their audiences form. Impression Management History and Modern Usage
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