Autonomy and Conformity in Cooley's Self‐Theory: The Looking‐Glass Self and Beyond

The totality of Cooley's contribution to self‐theory, as reported in most sociology texts and much of the contemporary self literature, is erroneously equated with his concept of the “looking‐glass self”, in its passive, dependent, and chameleon form. In this paper, we highlight Cooley's own qualifications to the looking‐glass self, which properly place this popular concept in the context of Cooley's broader and more assertive view of self‐concept formation. These qualifications include Cooley's emphasis on selectivity and interpretation in the process of reflected appraisals, his writings on core values and the continuity of character, and his discussion of efficacious action and appropriative activity in the early formation of the self.