The problem is shown even in the difficulty we have in distinguishing between the concept of the ‘esteem’ in which we may or may not be held by others, and our own self-esteem. The evidence of our sensitivity to social evaluative threat’, coupled with the American psychologist’s evidence of long-term rises in anxiety, suggests that we may –by the standards of any previous society –have become highly self-conscious, overly concerned with how we appear to others, worried that we might come across as unattractive, boring, ignorant or whatever, and constantly trying to manage the impressions we make. And at the core of our interactions with strangers is our concern at the social judgements and evaluations they might make: how do they rate us, did we give a good account of ourselves? This insecurity is part of the modern psychological condition.
Greater inequality between people seems to heighten their social evaluation anxieties by increasing the importance of social status. Instead of accepting each other as equals on the basis of our common humanity as we might in more equal settings, measuring each other’s worth becomes more important as status differences widen.
We come to see social position as a more important feature of a person’s identity.
Between strangers it may often be the main feature. As Ralph Waldo Emerson, the nineteenth-century American philosopher, said, ‘It is very certain that each man carries in his eye the exact indication of his rank in the immense scale of men, and we are always learning to read it.’ Indeed, psychological experiments suggest that we make judgements of each other’s social status within the first few seconds of meeting.
No wonder first impressions count, and no wonder we feel social evaluation anxieties!
Psst...
Do you want to get language learning tips and resources every week or two? Join our mailing list to receive new ways to improve your language learning in your inbox!
Join the listEnglish Audio Request
|
287
Words
/
1 Recordings
/
0 Comments
|
Recordings
-
social anxieties2 ( recorded by
ccadoppi
),
American
Download
Unlock
Corrected Textmore↓The problem is shown even in the difficulty we have in distinguishing between the concept of the ‘esteem’ in which we may or may not be held by others, and our own self-esteem. The evidence of our sensitivity to social evaluative threat’, coupled with the American psychologist’s evidence of long-term rises in anxiety, suggests that we may –by the standards of any previous society –have become highly self-conscious, overly concerned with how we appear to others, worried that we might come across as unattractive, boring, ignorant or whatever, and constantly trying to manage the impressions we make. And at the core of our interactions with strangers is our concern about the social judgements and evaluations they might make: how do they rate us, did we give a good account of ourselves? This insecurity is part of the modern psychological condition.
Greater inequality between people seems to heighten their social evaluation anxieties by increasing the importance of social status. Instead of accepting each other as equals on the basis of our common humanity as we might in more equal settings, measuring each other’s worth becomes more important as status differences widen.
We come to see social position as a more important feature of a person’s identity.
Between strangers it may often be the main feature. As Ralph Waldo Emerson, the nineteenth-century American philosopher, said, ‘It is very certain that each man carries in his eye the exact indication of his rank in the immense scale of men, and we are always learning to read it.’ Indeed, psychological experiments suggest that we make judgements of each other’s social status within the first few seconds of meeting.
No wonder first impressions count, and no wonder we feel social evaluation anxieties!
Comments
You can use our built-in RhinoRecorder to record from within your browser, or you may also use the form to upload an audio file for this Audio Request.
Don't have audio recording software? We recommend Audacity. It's free and easy to use.
