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TOPIC 2: SOCIOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE
Gladys Lavarias, MA
Choose your self-presentations carefully, for what starts out as a mask may become your face” – Erving Goffman
How would you answer the question “Who are you?” How would you introduce yourself to a person or a group when it’s your first time to meet or interact with them? Would you be very willing to share and open-up your true self, or would you have some limitations first?
This topic (for 3 hours) on the sociological perspective of the self will let you explore the importance of the self in relation to the society. It will let you examine how your attitudes and behavior is influenced by social interactions and relationships. And as you try to understand fully yourself, this topic will facilitate you to accept and be more tolerant of the differences that you have and that of others for you to live in a harmonious way and be productive in society.
Sociology is the study of society, patterns of social relationships, social interaction and culture of everyday life. Man is a social being, who is born into existence in a community before he is able to know himself. Early in life, as children, you become aware of your social nature. And it is through socialization that begins in the family that you are exposed to behavior, social rules, and attitudes that lead to social development. And it is through social institutions – family, school, church, and the community you interact with every day, that will lead you to your deeper understanding of your social identity – that of understanding your social self.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
At the end of this lesson, you will be able to:
- define the self from a sociological perspective;
- appreciate the importance of the socialization process in the development of the self;
- evaluate the process of understanding the self, using the different sociological theories and concepts on self-development; and
- interpret the theory of Mead on the development of the self in terms of the differences of the “I” and the “Me” through examples.
SOCIALIZING THE INDIVIDUAL
Personality Development
In what ways are you like all other people? In what ways are you only like some other people? In what ways are you like no other people? In this topic you will examine the importance of the sociological self to look at what brings about the similarities and differences among people through the uniqueness of personality.
What is personality? The concept of personality is a descriptive one. It describes how an individual adapts to his or her cultural surroundings. Personality is the basic organization of individuals that determines the uniqueness of their behavior. The basic organization refers to the structure of the personality – how it is put together, and the relationships among the various parts. It consists of the total physical, intellectual, and emotional structure of the individual. Each one is unique. Your total personality structure will determine your particular way of behaving. Each one of you has your own way of interacting with others and with your social environment.
Some Aspects of Personality
- Physical characteristics – physical appearance is the most obvious part of an individual’s personality. Are you short or tall, fat or thin, light or dark in complexion, black or brown hair, a pointed or flat nose? These characteristics are inherited but can be altered by your culture. This will be further discussed in the topic of the physical self as people make efforts to change their appearance in order to fulfill the desired cultural values.
- Abilities – are skills that are developed within the culture. For example, one may develop ability in playing sepak takraw or football, to paint or do beadwork, to program computers or use an abacus. Other than abilities, you have the capacity to learn skills, or to acquire a particular body of knowledge – your aptitude. Aptitude is more related to heredity, as abilities are always related to culture.
- Interests – acquired from various kinds of things. You all differ in your interests. The things that you become interested in depend on the cultural alternatives that are available – and an awareness of your existence.
- Beliefs – about yourself, your friends, nature, religion, work, etc. It also includes attitudes, values, preferences, superstitions, prejudices, and knowledge. Some are based on fact, others are not. But all beliefs are related to the culture and learned from others in the society.
Imagine growing up in it. What would your family life, interests, values, and beliefs might be like? How might your personality be influenced?
- The cultural environment – every culture is different. These cultural differences affect your personality development. It is cultural environment that makes individuals human. It makes you embrace your similarities and celebrate your differences.
Research and few recorded evidences show that children or individuals who were raised without the influence of a cultural environment resulted to having no human characteristics except in their appearance. No reasoning, no manners, no abilities even in controlling bodily functions or to move like human beings. Your personality – our humanity – comes from our cultural environment.
LET’S PRACTICE
Try This! Read a Bit
Read the following additional reading material on the influence of heredity and environment in personality development, the 10 Heartbreaking Stories of Feral Children.
You can have it be downloaded at https://www.toptenz.net/top-10-feral- children.php
Then answer the following questions after reading the material:
a. What is a feral child? b. Who coined the term “nature vs. nurture”? c. Differentiate “nature vs. nurture” by giving examples to show its importance in your sociological and personality development? d. Which is more important in developing your self – nature or nurture? Defend your answer.
THE SOCIAL SELF
At birth, you cannot talk, walk, feed yourselves, or even protect yourself from harm. You know nothing about the ways of your culture or society. Then, through interaction with other people and your environment, you are developed into individuals who have knowledge of your culture – you become participants of your society. This process of cultural molding, how individuals learn the basic skills, values, beliefs, and behavior patterns of the society, is called socialization.
The Socialization Process
The following theories will help you understand how we become socialized and develop our identity, or self.
1. JOHN LOCKE (1632-1704)
John Locke was an English philosopher who insisted that each newly born individual was a tabula rasa – or clean slate, on which could be written just about anything. He claimed that you are born without qualities. You develop your personality as a result of your experiences. The basic assumptions about socialization are related to Locke’s views. Most sociologists think of socialization as a process by which you absorb those aspects of your culture with which you come into contact. Through the socialization process, you develop your social self. The social self is the way that you see yourselves as a result of interacting with others. You begin to have a sense of your own self from your daily interactions with other people.
2. CHARLES HORTON COOLEY (1864-1929)
Charles Horton Cooley was an American sociologist who developed the theory about the social self. He observed that you only begin to have a sense of your own self – of who you are and what you are like – after you notice how others see you.
According to Cooley, a newborn baby has no sense of person or place. Various people – parents, brothers, sisters, other family members, and friends – interact with the baby. These people as they relate to the baby provide the infant with a mirror that reflects the infant’s image. The image reflected back is created during the interaction between the baby and the other people. This theory puts a great deal of responsibility on parents and others who have contact with children. They contribute to the child’s sense of ability or
https://oll.libertyfund.org/people/john-locke
http://www.greatthoughtstreasury.com/author/char les-horton-cooley
may be in class, in the mall shopping, with your friends, or working. You are something more than what your role as a student, shopper, and so on indicates. It is subjective, or personal, and entirely constant. You can act in a way that is not expected of someone in your role because of your I-self. As you grow, you begin to expand beyond the significant others of the family. When you were kids, while playing the “bahay-bahayan” , you realize that one can take the role of a mother or a father. At this point, you begin to realize that there is more than one mother and one father. You see mothers and fathers as “generalized others” – people or roles to whom you relate in a more abstract, general way.
b) Generalized others and the me-self – in playing the game “bahay- bahayan” , each child takes on not only his or her own role, but also the role of the other. The father must be able to play (in his head) the role of mother as well. He must anticipate her responses and understand her duties and expectations. Likewise, the mother also mentally plays the role of the father. This can be seen in your role as a student, you relate to your teacher by anticipating the kinds of responses your teacher is likely to make. Human interaction and communication depend on the existence of many generalized others. The me-self is directly related to a particular social situation. We have many me-selves as the number of roles we occupy. It comes from our continual interaction with our social environment. It is our objective social identity.
The I-Self and the Me-Self
I-Self Me-Self
The result of your subjective, private self (personal) Comes from your objective, social self
Self as subject Self as object
Self-expression Conformity
Subjective behavior, quite constant Objective behavior that is quite predictable
Your unique personal qualities, your individual impulses
How you act according to the rules and expectations of a specific role in a given situation
To summarize, your personality is socially created, and develops through social interaction. Each time you step into a social situation, you respond to your surroundings. And you add to that your unique experiences. This combination produces your social self.
