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The Influence of an Untoward Public Act on Conceptions of Self 1
Author(s) -
Davis Sharon Kantorowski
Publication year - 1978
Publication title -
symbolic interaction
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.874
H-Index - 47
eISSN - 1533-8665
pISSN - 0195-6086
DOI - 10.1525/si.1978.1.2.106
Subject(s) - criticism , psychology , event (particle physics) , social psychology , process (computing) , self , aesthetics , literature , computer science , art , physics , quantum mechanics , operating system
This study focuses on the process of making sense of the experience of being exposed to. It looks at audience interpretations of the experience of having viewed a stranger's genitals in a public place and the effects on viewer self concepts. The study is based on in‐depth interviews with 25 adult women. Findings indicate that women typically incorporate their definitions of the experience into their self‐images which, as a result, are impuned and discredited. Women often saw the self as having played a role in the production of the event. Although women generally were critical in their assessment of themselves and their management of the situation they used vocabularies of non‐responsibility when recounting the experience thereby reducing the likelihood of criticism by others.