Desires that feel innermost often derive from internalized social conventions.

Evidence

Any pursuit of social approval, however, may lead to conflict with the wayward desires of our inner self. These choices and desires always feel more authentic to us because they emerge directly from our consciousness. Charles Taylor writes that we “tend to think that we have selves the way we have hearts and livers,” with “our thoughts, ideas, or feelings as being ‘within’ us.” Yet we now understand that these desires, at least in part, derive from community conventions so internalized they become indistinguishable from instinct. Our convictions develop from social norms, and our aspirations borrow from high-status lifestyles. John Grimes in Go Tell It on the Mountain hopes to one day smoke Lucky Strike cigarettes because he lives in a world where they already exist as a brand with cachet. — W. David Marx, Status and Culture, 292

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to the social-construction-of-the-self theme in works like Blumer, Mead-driven sociology and the Frankfurt School’s critiques of internalized norms. — connects to: Social context becomes internalised and shapes desires. — Yael Arbell, The Circle of Commoning:…, 50; Social forms generate corresponding inner feelings, reversing the usual direction — Georg Simmel, The Sociology of Georg Simmel, 9148; Outward practices create inner desires rather than express them — Saba Mahmood, Politics of Piety: The Islamic Revival…, 1068 (+10 more)

Broader Connections

• Social context becomes internalised and shapes desires. #corroborates (0.95) — Yael Arbell, The Circle of Commoning, 50
• Social forms generate corresponding inner feelings, reversing the usual direction #corroborates (0.92) — Georg Simmel, The Sociology of Georg Simmel, 9148
• Outward practices create inner desires rather than express them #corroborates (0.90) — Saba Mahmood, Politics of Piety, 1068
• Internalized needs remain heteronomous products of dominant interests. #expands (0.85) — Herbert Marcuse, One-Dimensional Man, 115
• Social precepts can become interiorized until external compulsion becomes unnecessary #expands (0.85) — Georg Simmel, The Sociology of Georg Simmel, 6435
• A society’s time structures become deeply internalized as personality traits, not just external regulation. #exemplifies (0.85) — Hartmut Rosa, Social Acceleration, 86
• Apparent inner conflict often masks attempts to match local norms #corroborates (0.83) — , Rudman, Laurie A - On the Nature of…, 1937
• The individual’s inner mental relations mirror social relations among persons #corroborates (0.82) — Georg Simmel, on individuality and social forms_…, 354
• Internalizing religious goals makes them more central to the self. #exemplifies (0.80)
• The inner life depends on collective institutions that give it language #expands (0.78) — Alain Ehrenberg, The Weariness of the Self, 530
• People vary widely in how strongly they internalize nonprejudiced ideals #exemplifies (0.78) — John F. Dovidio, Peter Glick, Laurie A. Rudman, On the Nature of Prejudice, 2124
• Conforming to dress conventions creates a sense of belonging in social settings. #exemplifies (0.75) — Hamlin Garland Munseys, A Daughter of the Middle Border, 462
• Humans are constituted by their social relations rather than an intrinsic essence #qualifies (0.75) — Antonio Gramsci, Selections from the Prison Notebooks, 2517