Social reflection

The reflection in social psychology is a process of knowledge by the acting subject (the personality or communities) internal mental acts and states, how they are perceived and estimated by other people. Not just self-knowledge, and attempt to find out how people around know and features of his personality understand it.

In the course of communication of people represents itself on site the interlocutor, estimating itself from outside and, proceeding from it, adjusts the behavior. Such mechanism of self-knowledge and a self-assessment by means of communication allows not only to understand the interlocutor, but also to assume as far as he understands you that is a peculiar process of specular reflection of each other.

Studying of a social reflection

The research of a social and psychological reflection began at the end of the 19th century. In the western social psychology it is connected with studying of experimental dyads – steam of subjects interacting in artificial, laboratory situations.

J. Holmes described the mechanism of a social reflection on the example of communication of two conditional persons: Jonah and Henry. At least 6 people participate in this situation, according to J. Holmes: John what he is actually John by what it is imagined most and John what it is seen by Henry. The same positions are presented from Henry. Further T. Nyyuk and H. Sacks added 2 more persons: John with what he sees his own image in Henry's consciousness and also for Henry. In such examples of a social reflection it represents process of the doubled, mirror mutually display by subjects of persons of each other.

The Russian researchers, such as G. M. Andreyeva and others, consider that deeper understanding of a social reflection can be received if not the dyad, but more complex organized social groups combined by a certain joint activity in actual practice is an object of a research.

Value of a social and psychological reflection

According to Dyomina, the reflection in social psychology is a property of mentality to direct consciousness of the person to inner world, realizing and reflecting own states, experiences, the relations, managing personal values. If necessary, the reflection gives the chance to find the new bases for their reorganization and change.

But except self-understanding and self-knowledge the reflection includes processes of understanding and assessment of other people. With its help correlation of the consciousness, values and opinion, with the same categories of other individuals, groups, societies and, at last, universal is carried out. In life the social reflection allows the person to endure some event or the phenomenon, to pass it through "inner world".

Many psychologists gave different interpretations of this phenomenon. So, R. Descartes considered that the reflection gives the chance to the individual will switch with external, corporal, having concentrated on the maintenance of the thoughts. J. Locke shared feelings and a reflection, understanding as this phenomenon a special source of knowledge – internal experience, opposing it to experience external, got on the basis of sense bodys.

But all definitions come down to the fact that the social and psychological reflection is an ability of the personality to look at itself from outside, to analyze the actions and, if necessary, to change.

Types of a reflection

Traditionally in psychology allocate the following types of a reflection:

• Communicative – the mechanism of knowledge of other person at which his features and behavior, more precisely ideas of them, become a reflection object;
• Personal – in this case acts as object of knowledge the individual, his personal features, behavior and the relation with people around;
• Intellectual – a reflection which is shown at any solution of tasks as ability to analyze various ways of the decision in search of more rational.

Operation of the reflexive mechanism

According to the Russian researcher Tyukov, the sequence of operation of the mechanism of a social reflection includes 6 stages:

• Reflexive conclusion – occurs in cases when there are no other means and ways to learn other person and themselves;
• Intentionality – an orientation on a certain object of a refleksirovaniye for what it needs to be distinguished from other objects;
• Primary categorization – the choice of primary means promoting a refleksirovaniye;
• Designing of system of reflexive means – primary means combine a certain system which allows to carry out the purposeful and reasonable reflexive analysis;
• The schematization of reflexive contents – is carried out with use of various sign means (images, symbols, schemes, tongue designs);
• Objectification of the reflexive description – assessment and discussion of result.

At unsatisfactory result there is a restart of process of a social reflection.

The reflexive mechanism at self-knowledge consists in identification of the personality with other person and by itself. During it the subject marks out personal lines, features of behavior, the relations and communication of other person, analyzes them, defining the reasons of existence of this or that quality or commission of this or that act, and estimating them. Then it transfers these characteristics to itself(himself) and compares. As a result of people understands both personal features of others, and properties of own personality more deeply.

Process of a social reflection represents the complex work demanding time, efforts and some abilities. At the same time, it allows to overcome shortcomings and to give to self-knowledge process focus and sensibleness.