George Herbert Mead Psychological Perspective

George Herbert Mead, was an American sociologist from the late 1800s. He was born in 1863 and died in 1931. His study was primarily based in the Chicago school of sociological thought. Mead was and to this day is, one of their most prestigious sociologists from that school. He is also regarded as one of the founding fathers of social psychology in America. Mead was also a psychologist and philosopher and one of his most famous works was his theory of the social self, which incorporated the concepts of 'self,' 'me,' and 'I.' The concept of Self is based upon the belief that one's self is developed over time through various experiences in society and also activities within society. Mead argues that the self emerges from various social interactions …show more content…
He believed that the self is developed by three activities or stages. They are language, play and games. During the language stage (which has also been called the preparatory stage or the Imitation stage) George Herbert Mead states that individuals develop the self by learning to respond to each other through, gestures, words, symbols and sounds. The use of Language helps the individual to learn how others show attitudes and opinions toward a given subject, event or another person. Mead states that emotions, such as jealousy, sadness, anger or happiness, are all conveyed through language. George Herbert Mead's three stages act chronologically after an individual passes through the language stage, the second stage "Play" begins to develop. The play stage develops self as individuals learn how to take on different roles. Children learn how to play pretend. An example of this would be children playing "cops and robbers" in the schoolyard. Mead theorized that as the child learns to become both subject and object they begin to be able to build a self. This however, is a limited self as the individual can only take the role of distinct and separate others, the child still lacks a more general understanding and true sense of themselves. Through play acting or role playing they begin to form their own self-consciousness. By "playing" the self develops as the individual is able to imagine the perspective of …show more content…
The 'me' has been conditioned by accumulated life experiences and experience gained from interacting with society. The 'me' is formed as a result of past learned behaviours, attitudes, and also what the individual comes to expect of society and of others. This has also been called the generalized other. Mead states that The 'me' is a phase of the self that is in the past. The 'me' has been created and formed based upon the gained knowledge gathered about society and also knowledge and experience gained from social interactions throughout the individuals life. Following on from this the 'I', therefore, can be regarded as the self in the present and future phase. Mead theorizes that the 'I' represents the individual's identity, an identity which is based on responding to the 'me. (Hamilton) The 'I' will inform the individual that "Society expects me to behave in a certain way. Society will expect me to conform in a certain way and interact in a certain way, and so I know how society wants me to act so therefore I should act the same way". George Herbert Mead proposes that by this action/thought that is what becomes the idea of self. The 'I' and the 'me' make up the