evidence that the need for accurate self-knowledge is neither the only, nor most important factor that guides the social comparison process, the need to feel good about ourselves affects the social comparison process. Reflected appraisals Reflected appraisals occur when a person observes how others respond to them. The process was first explained by the sociologist Charles H. Cooley in 1902 as part of his discussion of the "looking-glass self", which describes how we see ourselves reflected in other peoples' eyes. He argued that a person's feelings towards themselves are socially determined via a three-step process: "A self-idea of this sort seems to have three principled elements: the imagination of our appearance to the other person; the imagination of his judgment of that appearance; and some sort of self-feeling, such as pride or mortification. The comparison with a looking-glass hardly suggests the second element, the imagined judgment which is quite essential. The thing that moves us to pride or shame is not the mere mechanical reflection of ourselves, but an imputed sentiment, the imagined effect of this reflection upon another's mind." (Cooley, 1902, p. 153) In simplified terms, Cooley's three stages are: We imagine how we appear in the eyes of another person. We then imagine how that person is evaluating us. The imagined evaluation leads us to feel good or bad, in accordance with the judgement we have conjured. Note that this model is of a phenomenological nature. In 1963, John W. Kinch adapted Cooley's model to explain how a person's thoughts about themselves develop rather than their feelings. Kinch's three stages were: Actual appraisals - what other people actually think of us. Perceived appraisals - our perception of these appraisals. Self-appraisals - our ideas about what we are like based on the perceived appraisals. This model is also of a phenomenological approach. Arguments against the reflected appraisal models Research has only revealed limited support for the models and various arguments raise their heads: People are not generally good at knowing what an individual thinks about them. Felson believes this is due to communication barriers and imposed social norms which place limits on the information people receive from others. This is especially true when the feedback would be negative; people rarely give one another negative feedback, so people rarely conclude that another person dislikes them or is evaluating them negatively. Despite being largely unaware of how one person in particular