Charles Cooley

Charles Horton Cooley was a sociologist, born on 17 August and passed away on 8 May 1929 because of cancer. His dad was a Michigan Supreme Court Judge. Cooley had five sibling and they were all raised in Ann Arbor Michigan. He did not have a strong relationship with his dad because he was more sensitive and passive than his dad. Cooley studied in college for seven years because of medical reasons and traveling a lot. He was diagnosed with a lot for illnesses, some diagnosed with psychosomatic disorder which is a disease that involves the body and mind. The disease could get worse by anxiety and stress. Cooley graduated to his father's satisfaction with a degree in engineering but he was not interested in it. So he went against his dad's will and studied politics and sociology . Cooley got married to Elsie Jones Cooley in 1890. He had 3 kids, one son two daughters.

His Theory

Charles Horton is best known for his theory of Looking Glass Self. This theory started self image and identities of how others see us. Even if our opinion about how others see us is right or wrong, it's those opinions that create our ideas about ourselves. Our belief of the reaction we get from others towards us are important about reality. The Look Self Glass has three main elements ; our imaginations of how others see our appearance, our imagination of others judgment of our appearance and some sort of self feeling such as pride or shame, is determined by our imagination of others judgment of us.

How He Came To This Theory

Cooley studied human ecology, he focused on the effect of transportation. Since Cooley did not interact with his dad anymore, his work became easier for him and helped him reflect on his own inner thoughts. It was during this time that he came up with the theory of Looking Glass Self and began to explore how one's self is affected by society. Cooley was kept to himself most of the time and when he got tired of studying himself, he began studying the development of his children.