Introduction
Personal experiences influence the development of the “self’. This assertion implies that the environment plays a key role in shaping the attributes of an individual (James, 1968). Additionally, a person’s perception of what other people in the society think about him/her is a crucial aspect of determining the self (Mead, 1934). Notably, people with disability experience diverse perceptions dominated by stigmatization, thus resulting in negative personal perceptions. To understand the various factors that influence the development of a sense of self, various scholars have created concepts to address the issue.
The common concepts that illustrate the development of the “self” include “speech acts”, “the looking-glass self”, “adjacency pairs”, and “the transmission model of communication.” These concepts foster an understanding of how individuals construct their personalities in different social contexts of interaction. The application of the concepts could also fit in the contemporary age of mass media influence where people adopt trending issues to perceive the personality of others and themselves.
Therefore, this paper demonstrates how the production and shaping-up of the “self” occur from a personal observation point of view. Additionally, an incorporation of the different concepts of “self” construction would be discussed in this paper, and it bases its explanation on cultural rules and the mass media especially regarding the disabled individuals in a given society.
Information Transmission and the Self
Information dissemination is the key essence of communication among different individuals and parties in the society. Particularly, the accuracy of the information relayed through a given channel determines how the recipients interpret it (Hartley, 2012). In this light, the way people interpret information prompts them to perceive different phenomena and act out of the construed understanding.
For this reason, the “transmission model of communication” concept holds that the transmission of information is the essence of communication and interaction. The creator of this concept, Shannon and Weaver, insisted that one needs to select a channel of communication that relays the message effectively. In this regard, developing the “self” is largely reliant on the information fed to the individual since it influences perception, behavior, communication, and interaction with others (Carey, 2008).
In this regard, understanding the concept of the “self” is important for the application of other complementary concepts that construct it. Mainly, James (1968) associates the concept of “self” with three aspects that entail the material, social, and spiritual. In this light, I have severally observed that individuals consider their financial worth to determine their personalities and this aspect mostly results in the creation of an imbalance in the construction of the self. For example, a blind woman could create a perception that she is less important in the society due to the lack of material wealth that puts a person in a particular social class. In this case, a self-demeaning approach to the construction of the personality sends a message that stirs divergent reactions after interacting with others. For these reasons, the disadvantaged and underprivileged populations in the society have contributed to their stigmatization and exclusion, thus threatening their personal growth and development.
To promote the designing of balanced and profound characters, the mass media today addresses the aspects of spirituality, social interactions, and wealth. Remarkably, the mass media exposes its influence in facilitating information transmission by covering the various aspects of creating the self (Carey, 2008). Evidently, communication is a crucial factor that shapes up the interaction between different parties in the society regardless of the background, thus resulting in the establishment of diverse personalities.
The Essence of Communication in the Development of the “Self”
Communication involves the delivery of information about a particular issue from one party to another [the recipient]. Essentially, communication facilitates the transmission of the desired values, beliefs, attitudes, norms, and traditions that make up the culture of a given community. In this light, the dissemination of information about certain individuals and groups such as women with disabilities creates new perceptions about them besides affecting the subject’s psychological balance (Mead, 1934). Therefore, since communication facilitates interaction among different parties, it has the potential of influencing one’s personality significantly. For this reason, the pioneer of the “speech acts” concept, J. L. Austin, intended to depict the influence that communication has on personality establishment.
The speech acts concept underlines that communication represents utterances that trigger performance. Thus, communication prompts individuals to behave in a particular way that conforms to their culture, thus creating a sense of identity (Carey, 2008). For example, I attended a particular initiative that sought to empower women with disability by emphasizing the theme of “Disability is not Inability” to motivate the involved individuals to engage in entrepreneurial engagements as an empowerment strategy. The experience revealed that interactions that seek to communicate ideas that lead to action influence the involved parties considerably since the women actualized the communication by establishing an income generating project.
Furthermore, the mass media, as a crucial communication channel, has a great influence on shaping-up the self. For example, I have observed that the mass media, especially the television, the Internet, and radio platforms continually sensitize the significance of protecting the rights of persons with diverse forms of disability to promote equality. As such, the advocacy strategies employed by the mass media play a central role in altering the perceptions of the audience concerning particular social groups. Furthermore, the mass media fosters the construction of new values and attitudes towards the underprivileged individuals and groups in the wider society as seen in their contribution towards the development of a culture that appreciates the disadvantaged (Mead, 1934).
Besides, the concept of “adjacency pairs” facilitates the establishment of a sense of identity through effective communication. Developed by, Harvey Sacks, the “adjacency pairs” concept focuses on the turn-taking aspect of communication. Thus, through discourse in a given language, the speaker sends a particular message to the audience, which interprets the message before responding. Essentially, the “adjacency pairs” concept deals with the aspects of questions, greetings, and complaints (Sacks, 1972). Mainly, the speakers’ utterances reveal their attitudes, beliefs, and values regarding the subject of discussion, thereby unearthing their personality significantly. Similarly, the other party’s response portrays its perception regarding the speaker besides revealing its character.
Therefore, the concepts of “speech acts” and “adjacency pairs” are complementary since they form essential aspects of communication, which is a necessity for effective interactions (Carey, 2008). For example, I observed that greetings could prompt further conversations, thus enabling the interacting parties to share and learn more before deciding to take a particular course of action. Additionally, communication plays a central role in fostering an understanding of different cultures and their impacts on the construction of the self. For instance, the Arabic culture regards the essence of greetings throughout the day. In this light, the greetings facilitate the establishment of an identity that upholds courtesy. Therefore, greeting a woman with disability denotes one’s perception about such individuals besides the values and attitudes that one upholds.
Moreover, the mass media plays a chief role in demonstrating the concept of adjacency pairs as a factor of personality conception (Sacks, 1972). For example, interviewing a person with disability entails a series of questions and answers that characterize the interaction between the interviewer and the respondent, thus exposing one’s “self” to the audience. Therefore, apart from triggering a particular course of action, utterances depict the extent to which the interacting parties uphold values such as courtesy.
The Power of Reflection
The self and society form two inseparable aspects of identity development (Hartley, 2012). Therefore, when individuals interact, they reflect what others think about them by analyzing their utterances. In this case, people could consider the other party being communicated with as a reflection of themselves especially regarding the cultural values, rules, and attitudes upheld by the community. As such, “the looking-glass self” concept, which was developed by Charles Horton Cooley, provides an essential understanding of how mental reflections facilitate the construction of the self.
Mainly, “the looking-glass self” concept underlines the inseparability of the individual and the society. Particularly, communication fosters the unification of the self and the society as individuals reflect how others identify them (Hartley, 2012). For example, I observed that offering assistance to the physically disabled creates an image that the society accepts them regardless of their impairment. The experience created the notion that showing compassion and support to the disabled creates a sense of responsibility towards combatting the stigmatization and exclusion of such groups since they also form part of the society. Similarly, helping a disabled woman creates a reflection that she is equally important in the society.
Axiomatically, the mass media demonstrates how the individual reflections influence the understanding of diverse social phenomena (Harter, 1999). For example, the news media today airs developments regarding the issue of religious intolerance being propagated by the Islamic extremists towards Christians. Such bulletins trigger individuals to reflect on the detriments of religious discrimination, and thus a concerned individual would adopt religious tolerance in spite of the prevailing cultural differences for the sake of enhancing social interactions globally. Therefore, embracing the “looking-glass self” concept is essential in creating a mirror that reflects one’s identity in the society.
Spatial Requirements and the Self
Individuals require adequate space to move and interact with others as social beings (Henley, 1977). Since the development of the self is highly dependent on interactions bolstered by sound communication, the provision of the necessary space is significant. As such, the concept of proxemics holds that spatial requirements influence interactions amongst different genders, races, ages, and social classes among other elements.
In this regard, if individuals are allowed to move further and meet different personalities, their “self” becomes a fusion of diverse attributes (Henley, 1977). For example, providing a disabled woman with the ability to travel to different towns if not countries increases her scope of knowledge, thus influencing her behavior, communication approach, and interaction with people from diverse backgrounds. In this regard, the proxemics principle promotes a grasp of the territorial issues associated with interaction and personality construction.
Furthermore, as opposed to men, women do not travel often, thus they acquire fewer experiences that shape-up the self, which gives rise to the concept of mansplaining (Baird, 2016). For this reason, I observed that, in most cases, men initiate interactions as opposed to women, thereby hinting the impact of space on communication. Similarly, some cultural and religious values bar women from making a lot of movement since it is the responsibility of men to move around and provide for the family. For instance, in some parts of the Middle East, the cultural constructs require women to stay at home for long periods and this aspect limits their interaction with other people in society. In this case, such experiences deny women the exposure required to develop a profound character of the self.
Additionally, through the mass media, individuals in a given society could understand the experiences of other communities in different regions and learn from them in the absence of face-to-face interactions. In this respect, the trend of TV addiction reveals the detriments of poor social interactions that prompt people to develop their characters founded on the experience of others in different territories (Henley, 1977). Therefore, amid the information dissemination facilitated by the mass media across extensive territories, the relevance of personal and interpersonal relationships at the social level is important owing to the practicality of such experiences. Therefore, the proxemics concept holds that the spatial needs of an individual are in the quest for new experiences with people of diverse cultural and ethnic backgrounds that influence the production and the shaping of their self.
Conclusion
The construction of the self that consists of the social, spiritual, and social aspects is dependent on several other concepts that facilitate interactions. Notably, communication that plays the role of transmitting information between different individuals and groups in the society is a key element that produces and shapes the self. Concepts such as proxemics, the looking-glass self, and the speech acts bolster an understanding of how individuals perceive one another leading to different social treatment.
References
Baird, J. (2016, April 20). How to explain mansplaining. The New York Times.
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Harter, S. (1999). The construction of the self: a developmental perspective. distinguished contributions in psychology. New York, NY: Guilford Press.
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Henley, N. (1977). Body politics: Power, sex, and nonverbal communication. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
James, W. (1968). The principles of psychology. Mineola, NY: Dover.
Mead, G. H. (1934). Mind, self, and society. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.
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