Table Of ContentSOCIETY
AND THE ADOLESCENT SELF-IMAGE
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S O C I E T Y
A N D T H E
A D O L E S C E N T
S E L F - I M A G E
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BY MORRIS ROSENBERG
PRINCETON XJNIVERSITY PRESS
PRINCETON, NEW JERSEY
1965
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Published by Princeton University Press, 1965
ALL BlCHTS RESERVED
This book, in manuscript, was co-winner of the
American Association for Ihe Advancement of
Science Socio-PsychoIogical Prize for 1963.
Printed in the United States of America
by Quinn & Boden Company, Inc., Rahway, N.J.
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To Irving, Bill, and Sylvia
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PREFACE
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HERE are few topics so fascinating both to the research
investigator and the research subject as the self-image.
It is distinctively characteristic of the human animal that he
is able to stand outside himself and to describe, judge, and
evaluate the person he is. He is at once the observer and the
observed, the judge and the judged, the evaluator and the
evaluated. Since the self is probably the most important
thing in the world to him, the question of what he is like and
how he feels about himself engrosses him deeply. This is
especially true during the adolescent stage of development.
This study takes as its point of departure the assumption
that the self-image is central to the subjective life of the
individual, largely determining his thoughts, feelings, and
behavior. At first glance this topic would appear to be a
purely private, personal, and idiosyncratic phenomenon.
And yet it is equally plain that the individual's self-picture
is not purely non-objective art, reflecting the impulses and
inspiration of the creator, but is rather a more or less clear
portrait based upon the information provided by his social
experience.
It is the nature and influence of this social experience that
I have been especially interested in understanding. The
child is raised in a family, whether broken or intact; he may
have brothers or sisters, in varying combinations; he has
parents who have certain feelings toward him. From this
ferment of social interaction a self-picture begins to emerge.
This family lives in a neighborhood, belongs to a social class,
usually identifies with a religious group, derives from a
national background. These social groupings impose on the
child a characteristic style of life, set of values, and system
of beliefs and ideals which covertly, imperceptibly, uninten
tionally, but no less powerfully, provide the bases for self-
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PREFACE
judgment With a different background the child would be
different and would see himself differently.
While clinical and experimental studies have taught us a
great deal about the nature of the self-image, less informa
tion has been available regarding the broader social experi
ences which contribute to its formation. Convinced of the
importance of these experiences, I undertook a survey of
over 5,000 adolescents, attempting to understand how they
saw themselves, how they felt about themselves, and what
criteria for self-evaluation they employed. The outcome of
this undertaking is reported in the following pages.
In a study of this scope, the investigator must call upon
the aid and cooperation of many people, and this aid was
given most generously. My chief debt of gratitude is owed
to Erma Jean Surman, secretary and assistant, whose intelli
gence, loyalty, and diligence were unstintingly granted to
this study from beginning to end. I am also grateful to Joan
Praitice Collings, who succeeded in maintaining order in a
research project permanently on the brink of chaos during
her two years' service as assistant.
My major professional debt is owed to my friends and
colleagues, Melvin Kohn, Leonard I. Fearlin and Carmi
Schooler. I hope they know how deeply I appreciate their
generous expenditure of time and effort; they did not blunt
the sharpness of their critical acuity on the grounds of warm
friendship. I am also grateful to the following people who
read and criticized a late draft of the manuscript: Edward
A. Siifihmfln Paul F. Lazarsfeld, Sheldon Korchin, Stanley
l
Coopersmith, Earle Silber, and Joan Snyder. To absolve
these people of any responsibility for the flaws in this report
is more a reflection of truth than an expression of courtesy.
Since I pledged to maintain the anonymity of the high
schools, I cannot acknowledge by name Ae various school
superintendents, principals, and research directors who
granted permission to conduct this study and who cooper
ated so generously in the collection of the data. To them,
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PREFACE
to the teachers who administered the questionnaires, and
to the students who completed them, my thanks are due.
Margaret Browell Renfors was responsible for most of the
machine tabulations, a task she handled with impressive
care, accuracy, and intelligence.
Several of the chapters are slightly modified versions of
papers that have appeared elsewhere. Chapter 4 appeared
in the American Journal of Sociology, Vol. 68, July 1962, pp.
1-10 (copyright 1962 by the University of Chicago); Chap
ter 7 in Sociometry, Vol. 26, March 1963, pp. 35-49; Chapter
8 in the Journal of Psychiatric Research, Vol. 1, 1962, pp.
135-152; and Chapter 10 in the Public Opinion Quarterly,
Vol. 26, 1962, pp. 201-211. I am grateful to the University
of Chicago Press, the American Sociological Association,
the Pergamon Press, and the Princeton University Press,
respectively, for permission to reprint this material. My
thanks are also due to Harper and Row for permission to
quote material from Robert R. Sears, Eleanor E. Maccoby,
and Harry Levin, Patterns of Child Rearing, 1957; to the
Journal of Personality for permission to quote from Andras
Angyal, "A Theoretical Model for Personality Studies," Vol.
29, 1951; and to the American Sociological Association for
permission to quote from Melvin L. Kohn and Eleanor E.
Carroll, "Social Class and the Allocation of Parental Re
sponsibilities," Sociometry, Vol. 23, 1960.
MOBBIS ROSENBERG
Bethesda, Maryland
September 1964
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