Charles Cooley

Stop for a minute and reflect. Do you consider yourself beautiful? And intelligent? Do you think you have a good sense of humour? Are you good at Maths? To answer these questions, you may reflect upon occurrences where someone has praised or commented on you.

You may believe you are an attractive person if you have been told so by many. You may also view yourself as intelligent, but not one who particularly excels in Maths, perhaps because a teacher has assigned extra work to strengthen your mathematic skills.

People hold beliefs about themselves based on other people's perspectives. This process of identity formation can have both positive and negative consequences.

Charles Horton Cooley discusses the above in his famous concept of the 'looking-glass self'. He analyses how individuals base their sense of self on how others view them. Let us look at Cooley's work in sociology in more detail.

In this section, we will review the following:

• We will look at the important events in Charles Horton Cooley's life.

• We will discuss his most important works and his contribution to sociology.

• Then, we will look at Cooley's theory of socialisation.

• After a couple of his quotes, we will consider Cooley and symbolic interactionism.

Charles Horton Cooley: important events

Charles Horton Cooley was an American sociologist who played a prominent role in the development of the discipline of sociology.

Early life and education

Cooley was born in 1864 as one of six siblings. His father, Thomas Cooley, was a Supreme Court Judge and a professor at the University of Michigan, and his mother, Mary Horton, was a socially active woman with a keen interest in public affairs.

As a successful career-driven individual, Thomas Cooley had high expectations for his children regarding career and education. Unfortunately, this outlook strained relations with his son, impacting Charles' health and communication skills in his adolescence. Charles studied Mechanical Engineering at the University of Michigan at the behest of his father, but his interest remained in philosophy and economics.

An avid reader and writer, Charles studied philosophers and theorists, such as Herbert Spencer and Charles Darwin in his spare time, increasing his interest in sociology. In 1890, he gained his second Master's degree in Sociology and Political Science.

Sociology was not a separate discipline in his time, but this did not stop him from presenting his ideas on societal development. His continued interest led him to complete his PhD at the University of Michigan in 1894.

Fig. 1 - Charles Cooley made important contributions to sociology.

Career

In 1892, Cooley started teaching at the University of Michigan, initially working in public sector organisations related to population and economics. In 1899, the University of Michigan introduced sociology as a separate subject, prompting him to teach there as an assistant professor.

His progression led him to later work there as a full professor from 1907 until the end of his life.

Cooley was known for using an empirical, observational research method, specifically preferring case studies as the basis of his research. He often observed his own children's behaviour as part of his research.

He was actively involved with sociological associations. He co-founded the American Sociological Society in 1905 and became its eighth president in 1918.

Cooley's most important works

Let us discuss Cooley's most important publications before we move on to a detailed account of his contribution to sociology.

The Theory of Transportation (1894)

Cooley presented the theory of transportation in his PhD thesis, suggesting that the beginning of the industrialisation era contributed to the increase in the development of cities. As a result, cities tend to develop in a location with sound transport systems rather than in places without a similar system.

Human Nature and the Social Order (1902)

It was in this book that Cooley introduced his concept of the 'looking-glass self', which we will consider in detail later on. In short, Cooley argued that one's sense of self is created through two major processes: through their own experiences and through their perception of how others view them.

Cooley concluded here that the mind was a social construct while society itself was the creation of our minds.

George Herbert Mead built his theory of socialisation and the whole perspective of symbolic interactionism on Cooley's work.

Social Organisation: A Study of the Larger Mind (1909)

In this work, Cooley expanded on the concept of the looking glass self. He also discussed the most important moral teachings such as loyalty, justice and freedom being the products of social interaction and the securers of social cohesion.

Social Process (1918)

This was Cooley's last significant work. He went back to the topic of social interactions and collective existence and adopted the Darwinian principles of natural selection to it.

He highlighted how social organisations often work in non-rational ways, which can seriously affect social cohesion. Furthermore, he also analysed the role of competition in the formation of society. He concluded that the major issues at the time were the result of a clash between primary group values, individual values and institutional values.

Charles Cooley's contribution to sociology

Cooley has worked on diverse topics within the field of sociology. In his research, he was greatly inspired by the works of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Charles Darwin and Henry David.

Based on their theories, Cooley has developed ideas on social consciousness, collective society, primary groups and self-perception. We will look at the most important areas of his research.

Social research

While examining his children as his research subjects, Cooley used observations and case study methods. His suggestion for sociologists was to use empirical, observational and sympathetic introspection research methods.

His preference for empirical methods was likely due to his experience working as a statistician in public sector organisations. He reasoned that empirical methods can provide more realistic results that can be compared to each other over time.

Primary groups

In Personal Competition (1899), Cooley observed that people became more individualistic and self-centred in the process of industrialisation and technological advancement. He found that the importance of traditional family values and the significance of community declined in industrialised countries. People became competitive and more and more distant from each other.

Cooley believed that social unity and social cohesion could be re-established by focusing on 'primary groups'.

The sociologist claimed that the breakdown of primary groups (due to individualism) would result in the breakdown of human behaviour because people would lose their first 'source' of self-development.

Cooley believed that by rising attention to primary groups he could contribute to the revival of traditional family values and the concept of social cohesion, which he thought were essential for society.

Charles Cooley's theory of socialisation

In 1902, Charles Cooley developed an argument for socialisation and introduced the term 'looking-glass self'. What was this theory of socialisation, and what does the term 'looking-glass self' mean exactly?

Cooley argued that we form our identities not only based on our conception of ourselves but also based on what we believe others think of us. According to Cooley, the perception society holds about us and the social interactions we participate in are extremely influential in the process of self-identification. In other words, we see ourselves in a mirror through the eyes of society.

Cooley claims, this happens in three steps:

1. One imagines how they are viewed by others, such as family, friends, colleagues and strangers they meet.

2. Then, one imagines how they should be evaluated according to how they had been perceived by others. For example, one can be evaluated as smart or stupid, outgoing or reserved etc.

3. Finally, one begins to develop a sense of self which is based on further reactions from others about his behaviour and personality. For instance, if someone is labelled as smart, they might start acting more confident in their field. If they experience further agreement from another person to them being smart, their view of themselves as smart will be strengthened. On the other hand, if someone gives a less favourable perception and reaction, they might question their wisdom.

Cooley highlighted that people take feedback from others differently based on their relationship with the person giving it, and based on how they evaluate the individual providing feedback. We might value the opinion of someone we trust or hold high more than a stranger's.

Another crucial point, Cooley mentioned, is that people formulate their personalities based on what they think others think of them and not on what others actually think of them.

Many sociologists today point to the role social media plays in the creation of self-perception. They draw attention to the dangers of individuals evaluating themselves based on the number of likes they received on their posts. Previously, in Cooley's time, social interactions largely happened in person. People formulated their identities based on interactions they had with others they actually met in person.

Now social interactions moved to the online field. We care about how the perceptions of people we have never met, and probably never will. Online, it is even more difficult to detect the motives of people acting in certain ways towards us, which can lead to severe misunderstandings and misconceptions of our own selves and others.

Fig. 2 - Cooley termed the concept of the 'looking-glass self'.

Charles Cooley's quotes

Charles Cooley described looking glass self in these famous quotes:

Charles Cooley and symbolic interactionism

George Herbert Mead introduced symbolic interactionism in consideration of Cooley's concept of the looking glass self. It was, however, one of Mead's students, Herbert Blumer, who coined the term 'symbolic interactionism'.

Cooley's idea of symbolic interactionism explains how people attach meanings to the symbols and gestures during their interactions and form their identities. Mead also stated that individuals form their identities based on the meanings attached to their interactions or symbols.

Criticism of symbolic interactionism

The main criticism of symbolic interactionism is that it can be very subjective. Social interactions and the meaning people attach to them can vary across time, space and culture. Certain symbols mean different things in different societies or even families, and thus it is very difficult to make generalised arguments about them.