Charles Cooley

American sociologist (1864–1929)

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Lived 1864–1929, aged 65United States

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Era
1864–1929
Aged 65

Summary

Updated 2026-06-09

He gave us the phrase and the idea behind it: the "looking-glass self," the notion that who you think you are is built from how others see you — or how you imagine they do.

Biography

About

Charles Horton Cooley was born August 17, 1864, the son of a Michigan Supreme Court judge. He studied and later taught economics and sociology at the University of Michigan, spending his career there. In 1905 he helped found the American Sociological Association; by 1918 he'd risen to its eighth president. His central contribution was the looking-glass self, the theory that identity forms not in isolation but through the mirror of social interaction — self-concept as a reflection of perceived judgment. He died May 7, 1929.

Voice

In their own words

Sourced, dated quotes from Charles Cooley

Charles Cooley

said1927

Society is an interweaving and interworking of mental selves.

— Charles Cooley (1927). Life and the Student: Roadside Notes on Human Nature, Society, and Letters. p. 200

Charles Cooley

said1922

We are ashamed to seem evasive in the presence of a straightforward man, cowardly in the presence of a brave one, gross in the eyes of a refined one, and so on.

— p. 184-5 (1922)

Charles Cooley

said1902