Faith is not shelter against difficulties, but belief in the face of all contradictions, as faith is a subtle chain that binds us to the infinite. In contrast to the interactive-situated self-concept approach, the social structural-biographical approach stressed the stable, persistent features of both society and personality. The self-concept is essentially an attitude toward an object—the self—and can be understood within the framework adopted to understand attitudes toward other objects. Because certain special or distinctive features characterize the self-concept, however, the concept has been broadened to encompass the totality of the individual’s thoughts and feelings with reference to oneself as an object. Be a believer and take the limits off God, as there is so much more to our God. Allow yourself to discover what else he is. Keep your faith strong and you will see God’s goodness in amazing ways! Social psychologist adopting this perspective tend to view the self-concept as a highly complex entity and characteristically study some specific segment of this totality. Some social psychologist are primarily interested in specific self-concept components, for example, traits and statuses; others in the arrangement (structure) of thee components, such as their salience or importance in the individual’s phenomenal field. #RandolphHarris 1 of 8

Still, many social psychologist center attention on certain broader dimensions of the self-concept (for example, self-esteem; self-concept stability; self-confidence; crystallization) which can characterize both the parts and the aspects, elements, or dimensions of the self-concept to their social roots. The social structural-biographical self-concept approach is interested in understanding how patterned features of society operate to shape various aspects of the self-concept and how the self-concept, in turn, influences society. This approach begins with the recognition that societies are organized into systems of interrelated statuses and roles, are characterized by shared norms and values, operate to fulfill important needs and functions, and tend to be arranged in groups or social structures, functions, institutions, groups, and cultural elements. The question of interest is: how do these fundamental overarching features of society impinge upon the individual’s biographical (dispositional) self-concept, and how does this self-concept influence behavior in important institutional areas? One important socialization function of government seems to be diminishing—at east temporarily. Political figures used to serve as important models for young people and others. Increasingly, people are viewing politics as a dirty business because so many of our local representatives lack integrity. #RandolphHarris 2 of 8

A hallmark of totalitarian societies is that the people are apprehensive about being overheard or spied upon. Most politicians are the same all over. They promise to build a bridge even where there is no river. Even so, we sometimes think of our leaders as almost superhumans and are shaken to our foundation when they are involved in graft, intrigue, and scandal. It is doubtful that the extent of these activities is actually increasing, but because of the communications media public awareness of such activities is greatly increased. And the image of government leaders who violate the public trust—and a public that seems to accept such activities almost as a matter of course—are probably important socializing elements in themselves. Certainly, they have an important impact on our value system and the moral standards the individual expects to meet (the ideal self). Both the biographical and the situated identity approaches complementary ways of exploring the self-concept. Interpersonal interaction—the most elementary and ubiquitous feature of social life is face-to-face interaction. How does such interaction influence the formation of the individual’s self-concept? #RandolphHarris 3 of 8

Social identity is among the sociologically most relevant self-concept components of the individual’s social identity elements, for example, race, religion, gender, and social class. If we have just enough religion to make us hate, maybe we need more to teach us to love. “Charity is the pure love of God, and it endures forever; and whoso is found possessed of it at the last day, it shall be well God. Wherefore, my beloved people, pray unto the Father with all the energy of heart, that you may be filled with this love, which God has bestowed upon all who are true believers, for we shall see him as he is; that we may have this hope: that we may be purified even as he is pure (Moroni 7.47-48).” One issue to be considered is the fact that because many of the social identity elements are differentially evaluated in the society, this unequal social prestige might affect the individual’s self-esteem. In a social context, the question addressed is: how do the qualities or characteristics of other people in the environment affect the individual’s self-concept? And how does the individual’s involvement in selected institutional areas—economy, policy, educational system, legal system—relate to the individual’s self-concept, either as a social product or a social force? #RandolphHarris 4 of 8

We view the self-concept as encompassing all of the individual’s cognitions and emotions relating to the self. So conceived, the self-concept is evidently a great deal broader than self-esteem, with which it is all too often equated. The fundamental social process—the process that makes society possible and that makes the human being truly human—is communication. In order to communicate, it is essential to take the role of the other, to put oneself in the other’s situation, to see things, including the self, from the other’s perspective. None of us addresses the other in a language that we believe the other does not understand because, in speaking, we adopt the view of the other. However, communication obliges us to see the World from the viewpoint of the other, it inevitably cases us to view the self as well from the viewpoint of the other person. We are more or less unconsciously seeing ourselves as others see us. So many of the old traditional social taboos having become antiquated or no longer adequate, there has been a furious activity in making new laws and regulations, without a due recognition of the fact that old taboos can only be replaced by new taboos, and that mere legal enactments, enforced, or left unenforced, by paid officials or the police, to be effective must themselves become taboos, printed on the fleshy tablets of the individual citizen’s heart. #RandolphHarris 5 of 8

If we do not have taboos, which are few in number, indisputable in value, and so urgent that they are felt to be on the way to become instinctive, no society can live wholesomely by any other regulation. And State legislatures stultify themselves when they fail to realize that their part is mere to formalize, and record, and support, the growth and decay of taboos. Although it is not intended to imply that the self-concept and actual attitude of the other will be identical, it is plausible inference to suggest that the attitudes of the other will help shape the self-concept. To say that we come to see ourselves as others see us, however, it essentially a shorthand way of saying that we come to see ourselves as we think others see us, for after all, no one can ever see into the mind of another with unerring accuracy. If it means the making of new and personal taboos, it involves a slow self-development and self-responsibility, which is not only in itself a continual discipline, but runs the risk of conflict with others engaged in the same task and with the same sincerity. For what we may still term morals, since it has now become an individual outcome, will not be entirely the same for all individuals. #RandolphHarris 6 of 8

All our moralities, indeed, cannot fail to be modifications of a common pattern because we all belong to the same community; but the differences involve a greater degree of mutual understanding and forbearance than when uniform taboos were imposed from outside. We come here on a conflict such as lies at the foundation of all life. No imagery could more vividly represent the idea that we see ourselves through the eyes of others than the couplet that each to each a looking  glass/Reflects the other that does pass. A self-idea of this sort seems to have three principal elements: the imagination of our appearance to the other person; the imagination of one’s judgment of that appearance, and some sort of self-feeling, such as pride or mortification. The self is thus not a literal looking-glass image, an exact reflection, but rather an imputed sentiment, the imagination of the evaluation of this reflection within another’s mind. We are not only obliged to interpret the other’s perception of us, but also to interpret one’s probably response to what one has observed in terms of one’s own values and attitudes. And a consequence of seeing ourselves from the perspectives of others, our self-concepts will come to correspond at least partially to other people’s views of us. #RandolphHarris 7 of 8

And what is it that you shall hope for? Behold I say unto you that you shall have hope through the atonement of God and the power of his ability to resurrect, to be raised unto life eternal, and this because of your faith in God according to the promise. Wherefore, if a person have faith, one needs have hope; for without faith there cannot be any hope. God is sees through the eyes of infinity. Open our hearts Lord. The idea of the World is in our hearts are so engraved that your idea is no longer recognizable…let us find you inside of ourselves since we cannot look for you in the World because of our weaknesses…enter into our hearts and soul. Let a visionary state come upon us, let us have the mastery of the World of things so that we can see into the void and that this void can be seen in the World soul. Free us from the routines of labor, allow our genius to play, move us into a World of chance and probability, freeing us from complaining. Allow for the acceleration of the World, without the loss of qualities. Allow our faith to be above and beyond, giving us a boldness and confidence to believe for the extraordinary. #RandolphHarris 8 of 8