According to the social psychology of George Herbert Mead, the self is not an innate quality but rather emerges and develops through social interaction and communication with others. Mead defined the self as the sum total of an individual's conscious perceptions, feelings, and evaluations of their own identity as distinct from others in the social world. This sense of self develops through a process of social interaction that involves taking the role of the other, initially through play and games, and eventually by internalizing the attitudes and expectations of the broader society, which Mead referred to as the "generalised other." The self is thus a social construct, constantly being shaped and reshaped through ongoing interactions and the internal dialogue between the "I" (the spontaneous, acting self) and the "me" (the self as object, reflecting on how others perceive us).