550 THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF SOCIOLOGY
see in ourselves that which we consider estimable, droops when we see in our own qualities or character, or abilities or achieve- ments nothing we can hold dear. Shame and self-loathing appear when we must confess to that in ourselves which inspires scorn or disgust when seen in others. 1
A high estimate of one's self, the sense of rare worth or excellence, is a source of distinct pleasure and exhilaration. It is bound up with the feeling of power, a poignant consciousness of self, a vivid feeling of being alive and of triumphing, which elates and rejoices. Self-contempt, on the other hand, is attended by slow heart beats, reduced circulation, drooping of spirits and a sense of oppression and anguish.
From this it follows that men will aspire to that which they deem precious in order to possess it and make it their own. Whether something outward, such as dress, ornament, retinue, title or genealogy; or something personal, such as grace, beauty, strength or dexterity; or something inward, such as courage, temperance, savoir faire, manners, erudition, conversational abil- jity, eloquence or fidelity it remains true that the thing or (quality one admires one strives to acquire. Admiration, there- fore, has a real dynamic power. It is a transforming agent of Jhe first order, seeing that the object of admiration becomes the goal of endeavor. In the field of character, what is admired becomes the ideal toward which one strives. To control ideals, therefore, is to control character.
The main original factors of one's admirations and abomina- tions are instinct and idiosyncrasy on the one hand and social environment on the other. For most men it is the social milieu that gives us the key to their dominant emotional reactions. In one circle the bruiser is admired, in another the dandy, in another the priest. The soldier, the organizer or the thinker each has his following. An outsider introduced into one of these circles finds it difficult not to adopt the tone and take the hue of his
r "That -we dislike in others things which we tolerate in ourselves is a law of our aesthetic nature about which there can be no doubt. But as soon as generalization and reflection step in, this judging of others leads to a new way of regarding ourselves." JAMES, Psychology, Vol. II, p. 435.
