Sociological Perspective
1 | Self as Product of Modern Society
According to %%Gerry Lanuza%%, modernization offers us endless opportunities to delocalize ourselves or detach ourselves from the limitations posted by the society before (racism, discrimination, etc.). Modern society has given us the freedom to choose our own identity.
2 | Self as a Necessary Fiction
%%Friedrich Nietzsche%% was not a sociologist but another philosopher, but he also had an inclination to a sociological perspective. He viewed the self as the sum of an individual's actions, thoughts, and feelings (a representation) that we project to other people. Moreover, he believed that everyone needs some necessary fiction in life to keep us from the chaos of changing world. This refers to our firmly held beliefs or opinions about what feelings and behaviors mean at a given time. These may be right or wrong, but nonetheless vital
to unify oneself.
3 | Post-Modern View of the Self
In postmodern societies, our self-identity continuously change due to the demands of a multitude of social contexts, new information technologies, and globalization. It means the self is a narrative; a text written and rewritten and that we can freely choose what identity we want to have for self-cultivation.
\n 4 | Self as Artistic Creation** \n The self is viewed as an active, strategizing agent that negotiates for the definition of oneself. Artistic creation of oneself means giving one's life a form and meaning that does not simply follow established norms. Whether one is an artist or not, art is found in everyone's life expressed in their personal and non-conforming style of living.
5 | Self Creation and Collective Identity
Self creation is also influenced by our collective identity. Collective identity refers to one's way of defining himself/herself in relation to others and the outside world, i.e., identities that are socially influenced (Ashmore, Deaux, & McLaughlin-Volpe, 2004).
6 | Self Creation and Struggle for Cultural Identity
Pluralized selves and collective identity greatly contribute to one's sense of self. But sometimes, one's cultural identity could also fuel some issues concerning one's sense of personal identity and feelings of belongingness.
Sociologists study human societies and all the processes involved in their interaction that contribute to their development by examining the dynamics of its components such as communities, institutions, populations, age groups, and races (Form & Faris, 2020)
%%George Herbert Mead%% is well-known for his theory of the social self, which is based on the central argument that the self is a social emergent.
Theory of Social Self is the social conception of the self entails that individual selves are the products of social interaction and not the logical or biological preconditions of that interaction.
- : allows individuals to take on the “role of the other” and allows people to respond to his or her \n own gestures in terms of the symbolized attitudes of others.
- : individuals take on the roles of other people and pretend to be those other people in \n order to express the expectations of significant others.
- : the individual is required to internalize the roles of all others who are involved with him or \n her in the game and must comprehend the rules of the game.
– the spontaneous, driving force that fosters all that is novel, unpredictable, and unorganized in the self. \n – the objective self; the image of self seen when one takes the role of the other.