Impact of Society on Idea of Self

Kratika Agarwal (2020CE10256)

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Introduction:

We generally tend to think of "Self" as a simplistic term but as we dive into the realm of "Self", we can easily see that it's way more than a simplistic idea. It's how we identify ourselves. It's how we feel about us but with respect to what?  The idea of Self can not stand on it's own, it has to originate from something but what exactly is this 'something'. 

The idea of self is generally a mixture of society's perception of us and the way we see ourselves, this simply means that we can not have a complete picture of "Self" without realizing our social standing. We, the humans, being a social being, rely heavily on society for forming our self image. This tendency of human race can have a positive or even a negative impact on our self image which in turn governs our motivation, goals and well being. 

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Factors impacting idea of self: 

A good perception of "Self" can help us to achieve more than our limits and help in bringing out the best version of "Self" but if this is so simple why not directly have a positive self-perception and get it over with? Well, to have a positive Self-image and to completely believe in it, are 2 totally different things and as you might have already guessed, the combination of both is necessary. So what does it take to completely believe in it? We need validation to believe in the image we have created of us and what is the source of this validation, it's yet again SOCIETY!

  

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The way society shapes our perception of self is usually attributed through either comparisons or comments/compliments. For instance, how would we know we are good at something, maybe through giving a test but how would we analyze the result, we would compare it with either the maximum score or the score of our peers. This way we can get a full picture of our knowledge of the subject matter considering that the test was well compliant with all round questionnaire and no possibility of bias. 

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Now to think of compliments or comments, they can have a big role in shaping our perception of self. Yes, we can definitely argue that it need not be the only important factor for shaping our perception and we can set a limitation on how much do we let it impact us. But even after all that we can all agree that it does have an impact with it's extent being debatable. For instance, if someone says you are looking good today or this attire suits you, you would instantly feel happy and more confident. In long run, this may turn out to be even your favorite attire from the wardrobe. Does this mean that it has changed suddenly, No. But your perception of that particular piece of clothing changed because you got a validation that it is a good attire which suits you. We can extend the extent of this idea by applying it to any mean comment that we may have ever received in past. It is bound to hurt however hard we try not to. 

Conclusion:

In summary, I would like to say that society plays a vital role in shaping our "Idea of Self". We have to acknowledge that it's impact are both positive and negative, hence we need to make a balance so that we don't get completely carried away by society's perception of self and try to stick to our individuality as much as possible because at the end of the day it all boils down to how we feel about ourselves and positive affirmation will definitely lead to a healthier and happier mindset and life. 

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