Lesson 3: Sociological Perspective

Sociology

Scientific study of society, including patterns of social interaction, social relationships, and culture.

Sociology

Focuses on the influence of social relationship to attitude and behavior.

Sociology

Examines the differences among individuals as caused by the social structures.

Social Psychology

The study of social relationships or interactions

Lahey 2007

Defines Social Psychology as the branch of psychology that studies individuals as they interact with others.

Plotnik and Kouyoumdjian

States that it is a broad field whose goal is to understand and  explain how thoughts, feelings, perceptions and behaviors are  influenced by the presence of interaction with others

Gerrig and Zimbardo (2002)

Is the study of the effect of social factors on individual behaviour, attitudes, perceptions and motives

Culture

The total way of life shared by members of a community. 

It is composed of ideas, behaviors and material possessions

Material Culture

Attires, tools, weapons, architectural designs and religious implements

Non Material

Beliefs, values, norms and languages

Norms

Rules on what to do or what not to do in a certain situation

Values

Are ideal behaviors or principles that set the standard of what is acceptable and admirable from a person who is a part of a society

Society

Composed of people

Social Institutions

Are created which are sets of ideas, norms, practices and mechanisms organized and focused on addressing the needs of the community (McIntyre 2002).

Socialization

Is a lifelong process of learning, teaching, internalizing and living the culture of a society

Status

Our position in a society or particular group

Ascribed status

is inherited or given at birth

Achieved status

is personally acquired for achieving something

Self as a product of modern society

Modernization is the destruction of self, it delocalizes the self

Self as a necessary fiction

true or real self is only a myth that does not have any continuous identity or even social self.

Nietzsche

According to ________ a German philosopher, true or real self is only a myth that does not have any continuous identity or even social self.

Necessary fiction

is defined as the belief that cannot be proven to be true but necessary to sustain life since people need some sense of certainty in a world of constant change.

Postmodern view of self

Postmodernists argue that stable institutions in the ancient times do not influence how you perceive yourself now

Digital self

is how people piece together information from social media and affect their sense of selves

Multiphrenia

refers to the many voices in different cultures that tell who and what a person is

Protean

means that self is capable of changing constantly to conform with the present circumstances

Decentered self

A belief that there is no self at all because the self is constantly redefined and constantly undergoing change

Self in relation

means that a person’s life is not lived of himself/herself but in relation to people

Self identity is a reflective project

an endeavour that everyone continuously works and reflect on

Self as an attistic creation

It means you create, you maintain, and you revise a set of biographical narratives of yourself to transform yourself into a beautiful work of art

George Herbert Mead

Was an American philosopher, sociologist and psychologist (1863 – 1931)

Focused on the development of the self and the objectivity of the world within the social realm

Mead

 "the individual mind can exist only in relation to other minds with shared meanings

Idiot

is a Greek word which originally means someone who lived by himself and considered mentally incompetent

George Herbert Mead (2)

According to ____, when social interaction is absent from early experience, you as a person will have no ability to see yourself as others would see you.

Symbolic interactionism

a frame of reference to better understand how individuals interact with one another to create symbolic worlds, and in return, how these worlds shape individual behaviors.

Symbolic Interactionism (2)

It is a framework that helps understand how society is preserved and created through repeated interactions between individuals.

Symbolic Interactionism (3)

The interpretation process that occurs between interactions help create and recreate meaning

Symbolic Interactionism (Mead)

The focus on the interaction between the actor and the world

A view of both the actor and the world as dynamic processes and not static structures and

Symbolic Interactionism (Mead) (2)

The actor's ability to interpret the social world.

Thus, for symbolic interactionists, consciousness is not separated from action and interaction, but is an integral part of both.

Social Self

---

is not biologically given. It can only be realized in the process of interaction

Role-taking

imagining oneself in the position of the other person one is interacting with.

Language stage

Play Stage

Game Stage

Three main stages of development

Language Stage

Where children develop themselves by responding or communicating with others through symbols, actions and sounds

Play Stage

Where an individual pretends to be someone else and act accordingly apart from himself

Game Stage

There are rules to be obeyed and adhered to; otherwise, the players will not win and become successful

Me

the socialized aspect of the individual

Me (2)

Also called “generalized others”

Me (3)

Represents the behaviors and attitudes you have gained which society expects from you

I

Represents your identity based on your response to your “me”

I (2)

Individual impulses

The self as subject

constant dialogue

“I” and “me” are always in ___

The Me

prevents you from breaking social norms

Interaction

refers to mutual and reciprocal exchange of communications or action between two or more persons or group

The I

allows you to still express your individualistic creativity

Relationship

refers to a particular way in which two or more individuals, groups or even countries talk to, behave toward, or deal with each other

Person Perception

Refers to forming impressions and making judgements about another person’s likability after seeing or meeting him/her.

Person Perception

Assessment involves as well what kind of person one is, including his/her intentions, traits and behaviour

First Impression

Are formed within a very short time with little conscious thought and biased by past experiences

1. Physical appearance – hygiene, dress

2. Facial expression

3. Mannerism

4. Language/speech

Factors affecting First Impressions

Norms

pattern or traits characterized as typical or usual for a group

Norms

are shared rules of conduct that specify how people ought to think and act

Social Norms

refer to spoken and unspoken rules for behaving in a particular situation

Social Facilitation

Is the tendency for people to perform differently when in the presence of others than when alone

Social Loafing

Is the phenomenon of a person exerting less effort to achieve a goal when they work in a group than when they work alone.

Conformity

Defined as the tendency to act or think like members of a group refers to yielding to group pressure to act as everyone does even when no direct request has been made (Lahey,2009)

Sociogram

Is a graphic representation of social links that a person has. 

It is a graph drawing that plots the structure of interpersonal relations in a group situation.

Kinship/family

Economics/Market

Education/school

Politics/government

Religion/church

5 social Institutions

Kinship/Family

The most basic social institution of a society that organizes us based on our familial ties

Economics/Market

This system aims to regulate the flow of resources and services

Politics/government

This is usually composed of various organizations ensuring peace and order by legitimizing the use of power of certain people or groups

Education/school

To ensure that the knowledge of the past and the culture of the society gets transmitted from one generation to another

Religion/church

This is an organized set of practices,symbols and artifacts regarding the belief of the supernatural.