(topic 2)

Sociology

the scientific study of human society & social behavior.

Sociological perspective

the self is based on the assumptions that human behavior is influenced by group life.

interconnectedness

Sociology as a scientific study of social groups and human relationships generates new insights into the _____ between the self and other people.

Looking-Glass Self

Charles Horton Cooley

Looking-Glass Self

The interactive process by which we develop an image of ourselves based on how we imagine we appear to others-other people act as a mirror, reflecting back the image we project through their reactions to our behavior

Step 1

Looking Glass self Step: We imagine how our personality and appearance appears to others

step 2

Looking glass self step: We imagine how other people judge the appearance we think we present in step one

step 3

looking glass self step: We develop a self-concept based on how we feel we are judged in step two

Charles Cooley

"I am not who you think I am;

I am not who I think I am;

I am who I think you think I am."

George Herbert Mead

Mead's Development Stages of the Self

I

The self as subject who makes decisions and takes actions based on his or her desires

me

The self as object as the person is regarded by others

Significant others

those people whose judgments are most important to our self-concept (mother, father, grandparents, playmates, etc.)

Role taking

the process which allows us to take the viewpoint of another individual and then respond to ourselves from that imagined viewpoint. A cognitive process that permits us to play out scenes in our mind.

language

develops self by allowing individuals to respond to each other through symbols, gestures, words, and sounds.

play

develops self by allowing individuals to take on different roles, pretend, and express expectation of others. Play develops one's self-consciousness through role-playing.

games

develop self by allowing individuals to understand and adhere to the rules of the activity. Self is developed by understanding that there are rules in which one must abide by in order to win the game or be successful at an activity.

didactic

The 'me' and the 'I' have a ____ relationship.

Clifford Geertz

Geertz and his concept of the self as an Unfinished Animal

Clifford Geertz

We are, in sum, incomplete or unfinished animals who complete or finish ourselves through culture..."

Harry Triandis

THE COLLECTIVE SELF

Private self

The way a person understands him-or himself (I'm a hard-working student)

Public Self

The way that a person is perceived by others (others think I'm smart).

collective self

A person's sense of belonging to a social group

SOCIAL IDENTITY THEORY

TAJFEL AND TURNER, 1979

SOCIAL IDENTITY THEORY

all about becoming part of different groups, and how membership to these groups helps construct our identities.

Categorization, Identification, Comparison

Tafjel and Turner decided that Social Identity can be considered in four ways; for our studies we will look at three:

CATEGORISATION

This looks at the way in which people put others (and ourselves) into categories. We label one another based on interest, ethnicity, gender, occupation and other factors.

IDENTIFICATION

Once a social identity has been identified, people will choose to associate with certain groups.

COMPARISON

People compare themselves and their groups with other groups, seeing a favourable bias towards the group in which they belong.

Individualist

culture is a culture in which the goals of the individual take precedence over the goals of the group.

Collectivist

culture is a culture in which the goals of the group take precedence over the goals of the individual.

individualist

• In an _____ culture, members are responsible for themselves and, perhaps, their immediate families.

collectivist

In a _____ culture, members are responsible for the group as a whole.