Symbolic Self Completion

R. A. Wicklund, P. M. Gollwitzer

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2013
• eBook ISBN: 9781317838548
• Topic: Psychology
• Subtopic: Mental Health in Psychology
• Index: Psychology

First published in 1982. The problem addressed in this volume is the human pursuit of self-definitions. Self-definitions can vary widely with respect to the context in which they are found, and in regard to who aspires to possess them. Violinist, mother, humanitarian, intellectual, equestrian, and French-speaker are all examples of self-definitions.

I

EXTENDING LEWINIAN THEORY

1

A Special Part of Human Nature

An English-speaking adult receives a personal letter written in Spanish. Upon opening the envelope the person realizes that a quick understanding of it will be impossible. Based on a two-semester sequence of Spanish, some 10 years ago, there will be definite obstacles. To enable a readable translation a dictionary is brought to the scene, as well as an old Spanish grammar book, a piece of paper, and a pencil.

The picture we have of the person at this point would be quite congruent with the conceptions of many psychologists and other observers of human behavior. The person is committed to a goal, and the state of goal attainment will be clear to the person working toward the goal. We can add to this description the existence of a tension state, and postulate that the tension will exist until that goal is reached (or perhaps until the person becomes distracted). Again, much of psychology would agree with this description.

Progress on translating the letter moves steadily and deliberately. Every second or third word is looked up in the dictionary, grammatical rules are sifted from memory or from the textbook, all of this proceeding at the rate of about one sentence per 5 minutes.

Progress toward the goal of having a completely translated letter can be measured easily in terms of paragraphs written out in English, and to some extent in elapsed time. The psychologist watching this goal-oriented act could easily draw a parallel between the translator’s progress and a rat moving down a runway. It poses no problem for the observer to say, “the translator has now completed five of the 15 paragraphs,” or “the translator has now completed 10 of the 15 paragraphs.” An important part of this series of observations is the observer’s view of the way the translator is viewing the work. The translator is seen as having a clear picture of the progress down the “runway”: few psychologists or other observers would disagree with the idea that the translator would be thinking, “Now I have completed five paragraphs,” and so forth.

Once the last sentence is translated the letter is read through. It makes sense in English, and the goal has thereby been reached. If the observer is a psychologist who would refer to tension systems, then goal attainment would also signify a lowering of tension. At the point of goal attainment one can also say that the goal ceases to exist, as a meaningful orientation point for behavior. Further, and important to the example, there is no reason to think that the person’s essence has changed as a result of having striven after the goal or having attained the goal. The purpose was realized, and the person who received the letter returns to a state of non-activity resembling that which existed prior to receiving the letter.

A SKETCH OF THE SELF-DEFINING HUMAN

The theoretical conception we plan to spell out in the following chapters assumes a human goal-orientation qualitatively different from the case just described. But perhaps ironically, the kind of goal-directed behavior we have in mind can be seen rather easily in examples just as simple as the instance of the translator. The objective goal in the example was the fact of the completion of the translation, but one could conceive of a self-defining goal, overriding the objective goal, pertaining to the way the translator thinks of himself qua translator. Over and above the objective fact of getting to the end of the translation is the sense of possessing a certain quality, conceived by the person as relatively lasting, which we shall refer to as a self-definition.

What of these self-definitions? Why do we say they are “qualitatively” distinct?

Multiple Indices of Goal Attainment

Simple goal-directed activity that is not self-defining can be viewed in terms of a tissue deficit, or in terms of bringing about some change in the objective environment (e.g., the transformation of a Spanish letter into an English one). The hallmark of goals that do not pertain to self-definitions is that there is one clear criterion by which we know whether or not there is goal attainment. If the goal is to get a drink of water, boil a potato, assemble a radio, or translate a Spanish letter, the criterion for judging whether the goal has been reached is quite evident. But how does a person go about arriving at the self-definition of “fluent in Spanish?” It is perhaps easy, yet naive, to postulate that “People are fluent when they can ask for directions in Barcelona.” The adult world spends much of the day trying to convince itself that an involving and complex self-defining goal has one, unequivocal criterion. If we took people at their word, we would have to conclude that the self-definition “parent” is attained, or complete, “if only we had a child.” And the self-definition “musician” is complete, “if only I could play Scherzo in B-flat by Chopin.”

It is not our purpose to pronounce judgment on whether people are duping themselves when they engage in these single-criterion remarks about their ego-involving ambitions. Rather, we wish only to make the observation that any self-defining goal has numerous criteria by which its attainment is assessed. A fluent Spanish speaker, for example, can be defined as someone who can ask directions in Barcelona, but a second person could argue equally compellingly that a fluent Spanish speaker is someone who can compose poetry in Spanish, and still another person would view the vital earmark as having lived in Spain for several years. None of these positions is wrong. The essence of a self-definition is in its multiple possibilities for being defined, and this is one vital way to distinguish the self-defining goal from other classes of goal-oriented action.

Symbols and Societal Recognition

The self-definition is a creation of society. We cannot be a Spanish-speaker, parent, or musician without the concurrence of the community around us. The person who strives after a self-definition emanates, or displays, indicators of the self-definitional essence that are then potentially reacted to by the community. These indicators, which we shall call symbols, come in a variety of forms. The most rudimentary of these is the positive self-description, “I am fluent in Spanish.” It is easy to enumerate symbols of a less blatant character. Letting it be known that one lived in a Spanish peasant community, displaying an academic degree, having graduated as a Spanish major, and associating with Spanish-speakers, are all symbols of this self-definition. As symbols, they have a quality that goes beyond their physical essence. The purpose of the symbol as it has evolved is to stir up a readiness in the community to respond to the symbol. And the type of response is not a complicated one. The symbol is effective as long as it causes the community to acknowledge the person’s self-definition. This means, in a word, that the person proceeds toward the attainment of the self-definition by using symbols appropriate to that self-definition, and attains a sense of completeness about that self-definition when these symbols are instrumental in leading the community to acknowledge the person’s Spanish-fluency, or “parenthood,” or “musician-status.”

What of the goals that are not self-defining? Sometimes the sense of having attained them can be had only through feedback from others, and sometimes the sense of attainment can come about totally asocially. Satisfying thirst or hunger, at least in their most primitive forms, does not require any sort of appeal to others. The Spanish-speaker’s knowledge of having completed the translation, in the example above, was not dependent on social feedback. But it is equally easy to think of cases that demand the acknowledgement, or particular feedback, of others. “Has the dog been fed adequately?” is a judgement that can be arrived at by direct feedback from the dog. Children who assist their parents with house work may be uncertain about whether enough dirt has been swept up, and may therefore have to ask whether they have already reached the goal.

Apparently, then, goals that are not self-defining can require information from the social milieu in order that one knows the goals have been reached, just as self-defining goals are dependent on acknowledgement from the community. The next question, then, is obvious: Is there any difference between the two kinds of goals in this respect?

The Nature of the Goal: A By-gone versus a Permanence

In the instance of the objective goal of “finishing the translation,” the person whose goal-attainment is recognized by others is actually acknowledged for having gotten something out of the way—for bringing an action to an end. Psychologically, the goal comes to an end at the moment the goal is attained; it is a by-gone, and has no further psychological importance until the person is again committed to a similar line of action. With a self-defining goal we have just the opposite case. The person is acknowledged for possessing a certain essence or human quality that has implications for future behavior. In moving toward a self-defining goal the issue is not to “have something out of the way,” but instead, it is to build a certain status-quo (fluent Spanish speaker, parent, musician). In other words, it is a constructive process. To return to the previous question: When a person needs recognition from others in order to have a firm sense of having reached a goal that is not self-defining, the fact that is recognized is simply that of having gotten through the necessary behavior sequence. The recognition brings the action and goal-striving to an end, and at the moment of recognition there is suddenly no more goal. With a self-defining goal, one is recognized for possessing a certain essence. The symbols that a person manifests, which are associated with the self-definition, bring forth an acknowledgement from the community that the person does possess the self-definition in question. Thus the person’s claim to possessing the self-defining quality persists.

Substitution and Impatience

The distinction between these two kinds of goals can be carried still further. The self-defining goal is associated with numerous symbols that the person can use to work toward the self-definition. Given that a tension system underlies the pursuit of self-defining goals, the fact of there being numerous symbols associated with each self-definition allows the tension to manifest itself in the form of impatience. It will be helpful in illustrating this point to take up the case of the Spanish translator once again. In working toward the non-self-defining goal of finishing the translation, the person’s progress is variously characterized as systematic, deliberate, paced, or patient. The person watching the translator, as well as the translator himself, is not likely to say that the translation is finished when in fact it is not finished. Because there is only one, objective criterion of attaining the goal, the person is forced to be patient, in the sense of there being no way to perform a psychological “end run” toward the goal. To tell others that “I have finished the translation,” when in fact only three lines have been set into English, or to convince others that “I am not hungry,” when in fact there are still pangs of hunger, has no bearing on the tension state. In order to move toward the goal it continues to be necessary to revert to the one behavioral sequence that terminates with the singular criterion of goal attainment.

The possibility of employing any of numerous possible symbols to progress toward a self-defining goal means that if a person falls short by the measure of one symbol, an alternative symbol can be put into service as a psychological substitute for the first. The Spanish translator might have been told by his former teacher that, “To be fluent requires living among Spaniards for at least several years.” If the self-defining goal is to be a fluent Spanish speaker, this person clearly would need a considerable delay of gratification to make any progress. But the ever-presence of alternative symbolic routes allows an outlet. The person can display the finished translation to others, thereby gaining acknowledgement for the quality of “Spanish-speaker.” Or one can begin to associate with people who speak pure Castilian, again gaining acknowledgement for being a member of the Spanish-speaking community. Or the person can undertake teaching others the elements of the Spanish grammar or travelling phrases, again gaining acknowledgement as a Spanish-speaker.

The implication of this substitution phenomenon is that the person who is pushing toward a certain self-definition is not likely to admit, “I have just begun to build up my condition as Spanish-speaker,” or “I am about one-third of the way toward being fluent.” Such self-characterizations have no place in the dynamics of self-definitions, for if the person falls short on one symbol, another will be substituted in its place. It is as though the person wants to be that self-definition at the very moment that there is a commitment to that self-defining condition.

At this point we may summarize the distinction between self-defining goals and goals that are not self-defining. A concrete goal such as translating a letter or building a fire is best viewed as being associated with just one indicator of its attainment. There is only one reasonable indicator by which we would be ready to say that “The letter is translated”; and “building a fire” also carries a single, undisputable indicator of goal attainment. If there is an interruption en route to the goal, or if for any other reason progress ceases, the resumption of progress would have to take a form resembling the original activities. This is because the indicator by which we know whether the goal has been reached does not change. “A translated letter” and “a burning fire” are irreplaceable indicators of goal attainment.

The self-defining goal is on a much different plane. First, the goal is connected to the self, in the sense that some quality such as “translator” or “fire-builder/outdoorsman” is predicated of oneself. Second, there is no single, definitive indicator of having attained the self-defining goal. Rather, numerous symbols of possessing the self-defining quality exist, enabling the person to pursue one in lieu of another.

The Mastery of Skills

Mastery of skills is a concept that, quite ironically, belongs primarily to the goals that are not self-defining. The development of proficiency requires long-term concentration, training, or practice, such as developing an effective speaking style, mastering interpersonal relations, or perfecting a tennis serve. Each self-improvement amounts to the development or perfection of a behavior sequence, and is necessarily not easy to come by. The patience required is considerable. The important point is that what is commonly called “self-improvement” consists of the concrete goal of improving a specific behavioral competency or mode of conduct.

The impatient pursuit of a self-definition has little to do with developing behavioral proficiencies, for the impatience working together with the system of alternative symbols results in the individual’s taking the quickest route. If social acknowledgement for one’s self-definition can be arrived at quickly, by whatever symbolic means, then the arduous working out of behavioral competencies will not be placed as a foremost pursuit. Another way of saying this is that those who are busy symbolizing the self as complete, in a self-definition, are not about to focus their energies on developing a behavioral competence as a symbol, as this would require a considerable patience. The person who defines the self as Spanish-speaker, parent, or tennis player, might ultimately be forced to develop such competencies, but the push toward building a self-definition will, by itself, not guarantee the development of skills.

One-Sidedness of Interaction

Although the person who is actively pursuing a self-definition is heavily dependent on others for acknowledgement, there is simultaneously an ironic quality of being uncivilized that accompanies that quest after a self-definition. The reason is that the person pursuing a self-defining goal does not care about others in the sense of “real” communication, which would involve the give-and-take of perspectives. Rather, the sole concern is to gain acknowledgement from those others. The result is a disregard of others’ perspectives, needs, and even of one’s own needs in the interaction setting—unless the need happens to be the self-defining one. Quite in contrast, the person whose orientation is toward external goals that are not self-defining is more inclined to enter into the give-and-take of communication—to act upon others’ perspectives. Certainly the development of behavioral proficiencies depends on the individual’s readiness to take another’s perspective. In later chapters we shall try to show how the quest after acknowledgement from one’s community...

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Half Title page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Contents
• Preface
• Part I: Extending Lewinian Theory
• Part II: Self-Symbolizing and Social Reality
• Part III: Various Forms of Self-Symbolizing
• Part IV: Conceptual Issues Underlying the Theory
• References
• Author Index
• Subject Index