What term did Cooley use for the internalized image of ourselves reflecting others' appraisals?

• A. the looking glass self
• B. the self image
• C. the social self
• D. the reflected self

Answer: (A)

The looking-glass self captures how our sense of self forms through social reflection. Cooley argued that we develop our self-image by imagining how we appear to others, imagining their judgments of us, and feeling pride or shame based on those imagined evaluations. In other words, the self is shaped by internalizing the reflections others offer about us. This mirror-like process is precisely what the term conveys, making it the best label for this idea. Other terms like self-image, social self, or reflected self touch on related aspects, but they don’t name the specific process Cooley emphasized—the internalized image that comes from others’ appraisals reflected back to us.