Understanding the Self

Quiz 2 Lesson 2

Sociology

The word SOCIOLOGY derives part of its name from the Latin word socius which means 'companion' or 'fellowship’

Sociology

a social science that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life.

Five monkeys experiment

A reflection of society, “it’s just how things are done around here.”

George Mead

The social self. Mead’s theory of the self maintains that the conception a person holds of himself/herself in his/her mind emerges from social interaction with others.

Mead’s “Me”

Represents the expectations and attitudes of others organized into a social self. Self as object.

Mead’s “I”

Represents the individuality of a person. Self as subject.

Mead’s theory

Existence in a community comes before individual consciousness. First one must participate in the different social positions within society and only subsequently can one use that experience to take the perspective of others and become self-conscious.

Stage 1: The Preparatory Stage

The preparatory stage starts from the time we are born until we are about age two.

In this stage, children mimic those around them.

Stage 2: The Play Stage

From about age two to six, children are in the play stage.

During the play stage, children play pretend and do not adhere to the rules in organized games. (Rath, 2016). instead, they play ‘pretend’ as the significant other when they play “bahay-bahayan”, pretending to be the mommy or the daddy that they know.

Stage 3: The Game Stage

From about age seven onwards, children can begin to understand and adhere to the rules of games. They can begin to play more formalized games because they begin to understand other people’s perspective or theperspective of the generalized other.

In this stage, when children play ‘pretend’, they may still play “bahay-bahayan” , but are independent of the one that resides in their home.

Charles Horton Cooley

The Looking-Glass Self

Looking-glass self

States that part of how we see ourselves comes from our perception of how others see us (Cooley, 1902).

The degree of personal insecurity you display in social situations is determined by what you believe other people think of you.

Labeling bias

occurs when we are labeled, and others’ views and expectations of us are affected by that labeling.

Self-labeling

may occur if we are repeatedly labeled and evaluated by others.

Internalized prejudice

Occurs when individuals turn prejudice directed toward them by others onto themselves. Has a negative self-concept and poor psychological adjustment.

Social comparison

occurs when we learn about our abilities and skills, about the appropriateness and validity of our opinions, and about our relative social status by comparing our own attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors with those of others.

Erving Goffman

Constructing Situations and Drama, ”People routinely behave like actors on a stage. Everyday social life become theatrical. There are roles, scripts and actions. Daily life is a series of stagecraft rules.”

Interaction order

What we do in the immediate presence of others

Dramaturgy

Focuses on how individuals take on roles and act them out to present a favorable impression to their “audience”

Impression Management

Goffman argues that people are concerned with controlling how others view them.

The self is a social construction

Frontstage and Backstage

Frontstage

people play different roles throughout their daily lives and display different kinds of behavior depending on where they are and the time of day

Backstage

when people engage in backstage behavior, they are free on the expectations and norms that dictate front stage behavior

Agents if Socialization

Family, School, Peers, Media and Religion

Family

The most important agent of socialization. They introduce children to the expectations of society. Socialization is different based on race, gender and class.

School

Teachers and other students are the source of expectations that encourage children to think and behave in particular ways.

Peers

An important source of identity. Through interaction with them, children learn concepts of self, gain social skills, and form values and attitudes.

Media

Television is the dominant medium, although half of all youth use a computer daily.

Religion

Children tend to develop the same religious beliefs as their parents. Very often, those who disavow religion return to their original faith at some point in their life, especially if they have strong ties to their family of origin and after they form families of their own.