The social theory of the mind was refined by Cooley who maintained that thought consists of an imaginary conversation with the self and that society is the mind of all individuals. Thus, society is a relationship among ideas, and the ways in which individuals imagine each other are concrete facts.
Similarly, Mead pointed out that society is grounded on reflectivity or the ability of the self to reflect upon itself. The self is a point of view and every individual possesses a plurality of selves. Thought is a form of conversation conducted by indiviudals with themselves.
Mead's social theory of the mind exerted a profound influence on the doctrine of the rational man. Accordingly, society is conceived of not as a structure but as a process. People don't assume ready-made roles, but rather create and re-create them according to the situation at hand. Social institutions exist only insofar as individuals come into contact with each other and jointly construct actions.
Social action comes about because individuals project various 'me's onto future situations; they then assume the role of the 'Other'; predict consequences and model their actions accordingly. This process of continous negotiation yields definitions of the situation and the social construction of reality. This concept of definition of the situation was developed by Thomas who asserted that 'If one defines a situation as real, then it is real in its consequences.' Reality is fluid and susceptible to rapid changes, and if the way people define a certain situation changes, then so does the type of behavior that it induces. Social life has a peculiar tendency to become whatever people think it is.
