The Things We Do When No One is Looking

For the past few weeks, I have been really focused on identity and how it pertains to doctor/patient interaction, since this is the topic of my inquiry and convincing paper. However, last night, I was reading some of my fellow classmates’ blogs, and it made me realize that the theories of identity we studied in class can be applied to everyday situations, and both small and significant events that take place in our own lives. I was reading my classmate Julie’s blog, and she had some thoughts about how people do things like community service and volunteer work just so society will perceive them as good people, and not for purely altruistic reasons as they should. This difference between a person’s identity in a public sphere and his individual identity led me to think of a how a person’s internal values and morals affect his identity. I started questioning why we value the things we do. Is it because of something we personally believe due to how we were raised or experience, or something we hold to just because that’s what is generally accepted in society? Cooley’s looking-glass self can play a role here because people can center their values based on how they want others to view them, and think of themselves as they would want society to see them. I think parts of a person’s true identity can be revealed by the things he does when no one is looking. For instance, suppose a person who considered himself to be honest found a 50 dollar bill on a crowded street. That person could easily pick it up and take it. After all, with so many people on the street, who would notice? However, if he did take the money, then that would show that he is not completely honest, even though that is how he identifies himself. His rationale would be that, since society did not see him commit this act that might be considered theft, he still has the reputation of an honest man, and thus views himself in the same way. However, he has his own conscience to deal with, and even though society views him one way, as an individual, he knows what he did, and that can affect his perception of himself. This can cause dissonance between James’s self as a subject, “I”, which is the self that takes action, and Mead’s social self.

Similarly, suppose you were driving on an empty road at night, and there was a red light. Would you run it? There are no other cars in vicinity, and no police around, so that reduces the negative consequences for your actions. Some people would stick to their values of being law-abiding citizens and not run the light, while others carry the philosophy that it is ok to do something considered “wrong” in society as long as no one is watching and they do not get caught. Goffman’s theories about how the world is a stage and we are all actors can be applied here. People seem to follow a script, of societal norms, so others will perceive them as good people, even if some norms are not what they personally believe. It is in situations where no one else is looking that a person’s actual values surface, away from their social selves.