Emotion-Based Self Theory

Abstract

The self has been a long-standing topic of investigation within sociology. Supported by the original work of Mead (1934), sociologists have sought to examine the self, its internal structure, and its relationship to interpersonal processes. Although significant progress has been made toward a rich understanding of the development and structure of the self, only in recent decades have emotions been significantly incorporated into these sociological investigations. The emergence of the sociology of emotions in the late 1970s has been a boom for the study of self. Although a comprehensive theory of the self has not yet been developed that incorporates emotions as a central component of self-based processes, advances in the study of emotions have provided the foundational groundwork necessary for such an endeavor.