The self-concept has been widely discussed and debated for decades by people from diverse backgrounds, including influential figures such as John Locke, Mary Shelley, and Carl Rogers. A popular lens when exploring the concept of self lies in the nature versus nurture theory. The nature argument states that genetics creates and defines who someone is from birth, and the nurture argument suggests that the environment is what shapes them into who they are. While both arguments have merit, the concept of the self: what it is, who creates it, how it interacts with others, and more, is much more elaborate than these two factors. This essay will further explore the complexity of the self and how it is maintained in society, as well as describe how I can use impression management to create a new self. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay When analyzing the self, the first point that must be addressed is what it really is. One definition explains it as “the unique traits, behaviors, and attitudes that distinguish one person from another” (Newman 74). Having a self means being aware that everyone, including oneself, has a distinguishable self that can be manipulated by internal and external interactions. When I talk to a friend or colleague, I have a self that can see them, understand them, and possibly manipulate them, just as they can when they talk to me. I can also do these things towards myself, through internal conversations or thoughts I may have. The self, however, should not be confused with an identity that “consists of our membership in various social groups (e.g., race, ethnicity, religion, gender), the traits we display to others, and the traits they ascribe to us ( Newmann 72). An identity is shared between groups of people within society while the self is unique to each individual. For example, many people may be black or female, but no one can say that they are another person or another self. Everyone has themselves and multiple identities. Another important factor to analyze when exploring the self is where it comes from. Simply put, the self comes from the various interactions we have with people and society. Much of self-cultivation comes from something called socialization which is “how we learn to perceive our world; how to interact with others…what we should and should not do to and for others in certain circumstances; what our society defines as moral and immoral; and so on” (Newman 74). For such socialization to take place, there must be so-called socialization agents, which could be a parent, a friend, the school or even the media. All of these agents (and others) influence what a person deems culturally acceptable, normal, and appropriate in interacting with society. Early socialization, which occurs during childhood, is crucial to the development of one's morals, values ​​and behaviors as one grows older. Without people and the constant interactions between them, there would be no way to evaluate what is OK and what is not, or how to behave in certain social contexts. An additional significant component in self-acquisition is learning to distinguish between oneself. and another person. Even though we don't have this ability at birth, language and speech learning (which requires human interaction) play an important role in being able to do just that. Once a child can recognize that certain objects and people have distinct titles and names, he or she can begin to recognize himself or herself as a separate being within a “named world” (Newman 76). With this skill, they can then observe howcertain people behave towards such objects/people, which allows them to understand the meaning behind each object. For example, if a child watches their parents use a phone, they can now see what a phone is instead of just knowing what the word is. In the same way, people can understand and interpret themselves based on how others (re)act towards them. This is called the looking glass self, which essentially states that the reactions of others towards us serve as a sort of “mirror” that allows us to determine how we feel about ourselves. It also gives us a sense of self-concept, which includes three elements: “the imagination of how we look to the other person; the imagination of his judgment of that appearance and a sort of feeling of himself” (Cooley 375). Since everyone has a different judgment and perception of certain behaviors and actions, it is necessary to learn to adapt to the different expectations of specific people. This is called role-taking and consists of two phases: the game phase and the game phase. The play stage is when a child takes on “the perspective of one other person at a time” (Newman 74), as they do not know how to generalize across groups of people. For example, if a child's parent told him not to hold his nose, he would not do so while with the parent, but perhaps in other social contexts. However, in the play phase, the child may begin to generalize and consider the expectations of entire groups of people or society as a whole. In this case, the child would realize that nose picking is condemned by society's standards and therefore would not do it at all. In short, to truly understand where the self comes from, we must recognize that the interactions we have with people and society, whether it be a parent, a co-worker, a school, etc., are the most crucial to its overall development. Without other self-aware individuals, there would be no reason or possibility to develop a self. By knowing who I am now, I can see who I would like to become in the future. In all honesty, I had a very traumatic childhood and so I would like to become and experience the exact opposite of everything I have experienced. This means I want to be a successful woman (satisfied with my life), financially stable, with a career in education. Teaching high school in a low-income community of color is my main goal because I want to give back to places similar to where I come from. I would also like to have my own happy family and be a supportive parent to my children. With these goals in mind, I can use what's called impression management to build this new self. Impression management describes when people attempt to portray a positive public image of themselves to others in society. This can be analyzed through something called dramaturgy, which observes social interactions as if people were actors in a show, which includes lines, faces and faces. A line is a form of expression used to convey our perspective of a situation we find ourselves in and how we feel about the people we are interacting with. It could be something someone says or even a non-verbal gesture. Face is simply the positive public image a person claims through the use of lines. While it is possible to lose face, this can be avoided if one does not “betray the team's secrets between performances” (Goffman 381), “exploit their front-line presence” (Goffman 382)," avoid getting carried away with your show” (Goffman 383) and “determine in advance the best way to stage the show” (Goffman 384). If one.