Through the Looking Glass Analysis Beal1

Through the Looking Glass Analysis

Jess Beal

Seton Hill University

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The through the looking glass theory explains how we view ourselves

through the eyes of others within our culture and community. Charles Horton Coley

says the amount of personal insecurity one displays in a social situation relates to

what that person believes others think of them (Isaksen 1-). A person’s view on

themselves bases in social interactions with others and how one perceives their

peers view them. For example if one is surrounded by their friends and their friends

perceive them as an idol, they will most likely act like one. On the contrary, if a

teacher sees a lot of potential in a student they will grade that student harshly in

order to bring out that student’s full potential. Not all students will pick up on this

strategy and could identify the teacher’s behavior as signaling that they are not

intelligent or that the teacher doesn’t like the student. This could cause the student

to loose motivation in the class based off a very wrong assumption. Cooley’s concept

of through the looking glass self shows how sensitive humans are to their peers’

reactions that it affects the way that one views themselves in a social situation.

This begs the question if one is able to truly tell who we really are as a

person. The real “social world” as it is perceives is often not only incorrect but

might serve as an illusion (Isaksen 1-). For this, people should not be caught up in

the opinions of others but rather focus on our personal opinions of ourselves. Those

with a weak self-image can end up living their lives in accordance to other peoples’

expectations; this is terrifying because essentially the opinions of others can run

one’s life (Isaksen 1-). Everyone wants to be accepted and loved by their peers

however no one would ever find happiness if they were to constantly live their life

to impress others before they impress themselves. “Low self esteem and poor self-
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image has long been associated with a whole range of psychological problems, and it

is necessary to counter the passive individual that depends heavily on the social

world for building self-image (Isaksen 1-).” As long as one will interact in our

society, one remains vulnerable in changing their self-image; one must value how

they view themselves and cast aside any conflicting opinions from their peers.

Asperger syndrome is a developmental disorder containing difficulties in

social interaction and non-verbal and/or verbal communication along with

repetitive patterns of behaviors and interests. Hobson proposed that the linguistic

and cognitive disabilities that characterize forms Asperger’s result from

abnormalities in inter-subjective interaction during the early stages in their lives,

which results in impaired reflective self-awareness (Hare 697). This study was

conducted to investigate the levels of self-understanding within these individuals.

Ten participants with Asperger’s syndrome were compared with ten controls

without Asperger’s using the Self-understanding Interview created by Damon and

Hart (Hare 697). “Self” was divided into two main components: the self-as-object or

“me” and the self-as-subject or “I.” The self-as-object (me) is defined by one’s

material characteristics that include physical features and possessions, social

characteristics such as relationships, roles, and personality, and their spiritual

characteristics that are consciousness, thoughts, and psychological mechanisms

(Hare 697). The self-as-subject consists of experiential features involving awareness

of self-agency over life events, awareness of uniqueness of life experiences,

awareness of personal continuity, awareness of one’s own awareness (Hare 697-

698). In other words, if humans only contained the self-as-object, actions would be
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automatic, consistent, and in a way robotic while self-as-subject brings the more

emotional side and is a person’s freely chosen response to a given situation (Hare

698). The idea of this research is to discover if and in what part of social cognitive

skills do these people lack; researchers will find this out through the interview

process. People with autistic spectrum disorders have lower social cognitive skills

therefore the development of “self” would be impaired, more specifically these

people will have more under developed self-as-object statements during the

interview. To conclude this study, it was proven that the people with Asperger’s

tested lower in social cognition than the people without it.

The second study investigated was Through Alice’s Looking Glass: Studying

Ourselves to Learn More about our Students. This study was conducted by Tammy, a

teacher educator whom taught the graduate course that Teresa, a middle school

special education teacher was enrolled in. Together they came up with ten self-

study activities for the students in the graduate course; these studies were designed

to target specific traits, characteristics and experiences of student with learning

disabilities in and out the school setting (Abernathy 4). Only five examples of these

studies were included in the article. One study identified the types of “masks”

students wear in the classroom; some students wear the class clown mask, some

wear the invisibility mask, and the majority of students wear the mask of not caring.

Students wear these masks to deal with difficult situations as their way to cope

(Abernathy 5). When teachers understand which mask their students wear it is

easier for them to differentiate learning based off their students personalities.

Another self-study Tammy made her students participate in was to complete the
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Learning Styles Indicator by Bernice McCarthy; this study allowed the participants

to see what type of learner they are. This study distinguished between students

perceiving concretely verses abstractly and active verses reflective processing

(Abernathy 4). This also helps teachers realize how unique each of their students

are and will give them a better understanding of how their students process

information. When an educator welcomes the different learning styles into their

classroom, only then will they be able to construct a learning environment suitable

for everyone.

As a future educator, I would conduct a research design for Through the

Looking Glass within an inclusive high school classroom. My hypothesis would be

that student-athletes have higher self-concepts than the students that do not play a

sport. My second hypothesis would be that the special education students have

lower self-concepts than general education students. These are descriptive

hypothesizes because they are each focusing on a single variable. The variable of

this study would be measuring the self-concept of every student within that

classroom. This variable would be ordinal because the data can be arranged in an

order. I plan to measure my variables using a survey dealing with how the students

both perceive themselves as themselves and in social situations. This would be

applied research because I would use the information I gathered in my classroom.

These subjective indicators will help me better understand my students and also see

the students I need to help build their self-confidence. In order to obtain my sample,

I would use random selection of one classroom. I select a school that has a high rate

of inclusive classrooms. Then I would randomly select a classroom out of the entire
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school that would not be grade level specific. I would finally make sure my project is

ethical by providing my participants with informed consent so they aware of what

they are signing up for, anonymity and confidentiality to protect the identities of the

participants and most likely minors, and to ensure them that no harm will be done

to them.

Cooley’s through the looking glass self theory offers insight on our own

thought process as well as the ability to analyze how we form our identity through

the eyes of others. Pending on one’s social status typically affects how one views

themselves because of how others view them. Also gaining an understanding of how

others view themselves will help one understand their thought process and how to

bring out the best in that person; this is essential for teachers to incorporate into

their classroom. Through the looking glass theory creates realization of how others

perceive themselves through the perspective of their peers.

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Resources:

Abernathy, Tammy V., Agey, Teresa. Through Alice’s Looking Glass: Studying

Ourselves to Learn More about our Students. Retrieved December 3rd 2017

https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED463114.pdf

Hare, Dougal. Jackson, Paul. Skirrow, Paul. Asperger Through the Looking Glass: An

Exploratory Study of Self-Understanding in People with Asperger’s Syndrome. Retrieved

November 26, 2017, from

https://link-springer-com.setonhill.idm.oclc.org/content/pdf/10.1007%2Fs10803-011-

1296-8.pdf

Isaksen, J. V. (2013, June 14). The Looking Glass Self: How Our Self-image is Shaped by

Society. Retrieved November 26, 2017, from

http://www.popularsocialscience.com/2013/05/27/the-looking-glass-self-how-our-self-

image-is-shaped-by-society/