Sociological Perspectives of the Self

Sociological Perspective of the Self

Learning Outcomes

  • Reflect on the self within social contexts.

  • Describe the influence of social processes on the development of the self.

  • Explain different sociological views about the self by Mead, Cooley, and Goffman.

Modern Sociology of the Self

  • Emphasizes power, reflexivity, and social constructionism (Callero, 2003).

  • Traditional approach is associated with Mead’s symbolic interactionism, with reflexivity at its core.

  • Sociological theories explain how social processes influence the development of the self.

A. Symbolic Interactionism

  • Pioneered by George Herbert Mead (1863–1931).

  • Study of communication, interpretation, and adjustment patterns between individuals.

  • Mind is conceptualized as the individual's importation of the social process.

  • Self and mind are social processes where gestures and collective attitudes are taken in and reacted to.

  • Mind and self are products of communication.

  • Theoretical approach to understanding the relationship between humans and society.

Basic Notion

  • Human action and interaction are understandable through meaningful communication or symbols.

  • Humans are portrayed as acting, not being acted upon.

Main Principles of Symbolic Interactionism

  • Human action depends on the meaning given to something.

  • Meanings arise out of social interaction.

  • Meanings humans assign to things can change.

Self as Reflexive Process

  • Capacity to become an object to oneself, being both subject and object.

  • Characterized by Mead as the “I” and the “me.”

    • “me”: the social self.

    • “I”: the response to the “me.”

  • “I” is the individual's response to the attitudes of others.

  • “me” is the organized set of attitudes of others which an individual assumes.

  • “me” is the accumulated understanding of the “generalized other,” i.e., how one thinks one’s group perceives oneself.

  • “I” is the individual’s impulses.

  • “I” is self as subject; “me” is self as object.

  • Mind (stream of thought) is the self-reflective movements of the interaction between the “I” and the “me.”

  • Thinking process is the internalized dialogue between the “I” and the “me.” (Boundless.com)

Self as Social Construction

  • The self is both a social product and a social force (Rosenberg 1981 as cited in Callero, 2003).

  • The self is examined as:

    • A bounded, structured object referring to Mead's "me".

    • A fluid, agentic, and creative response referring to Mead's "I".

  • The socially constructed self is a joint accomplishment, neither completely determined by the social world nor pre-given at birth (Callero, 2003).

  • The self is a combination of the “I” and the “me,” entwined within a sociological existence.

  • Existence in a community comes before individual consciousness.

  • Participation in social positions allows one to take the perspective of others and become self-conscious.

  • Reflexiveness brings the whole social process into the experience of the individuals involved (Mead, 1934 cited in Callero, 2003).

  • Humans differ from lower animals: Animals react to the environment (stimulus elicits a response, while humans are able to use cognition before responding to the stimulus.

  • Lower level animals are unable to conceive of alternative responses to gestures, but humans can.

  • Symbolic interactionism asserts that there is no single objective “reality”; there are only various or conflicting interpretations of a particular circumstance.

  • Meanings are individualized through the creative minds of humans, and individuals may influence many meanings that form their society.

  • Human society is a social product.

    • Example: A teenager who smokes despite medical evidence does so because the symbolic meaning of smoking (being cool, projecting a positive image) overrides the facts.

  • Gender is a social construct based on beliefs about people, given what they look like.

  • Socially constructed meanings of gender influence who we interact with and how, and our interpretation of a person’s words or actions.

    • Example: The Filipino belief that a man should not cry and a woman should be responsible for household chores.

Mead’s Stages of the Self (Shaefer, 2010)

Stage

Definition

Is the ‘self’ present?

Example

Preparatory stage

Child imitates the actions of others

No

When adults laugh and smile, child laughs

Play Stage

Child takes the role of a single other

Developing

Child first takes the role of doctor, then the role of patient

Game Stage

Child considers the roles of two or more others simultaneously

Yes

In game of hide-and-seek child takes into account roles of hider and seeker

B. Looking Glass Self

  • Conceptualized by Charles Horton Cooley (1864-1929).

  • A person’s self grows out of society’s interpersonal interactions and the perceptions of others.

  • People shape their identity based on the perception of others.

  • People reinforce other people’s perspectives on themselves.

Three Main Components of the Looking-Glass Self

  • First, we imagine how we must appear to others.

  • Second, we imagine the judgment of that appearance.

  • Finally, we develop our self through the judgments of others.

  • Self-image is shaped by others, but through the mediation of our own mind.

  • There is no way to truly know what others think of us.

  • “The mind is mental because the human mind is social.”

  • The mind’s mental ability is a direct result of human social interaction.

  • Humans begin to define themselves within the context of their socializations starting from their childhood.

C. Dramaturgical Model of Self

  • Developed by Irving Goffman.

  • Life is like a never-ending play in which people are actors.

  • Socialization consists of learning how to play our assigned roles from other people.

  • We enact our roles in the company of others, who are in turn enacting their roles in interaction with us.

  • We are always playing out some role on the stage of life.

  • In everyday life, we spend most of our lives on the front stage, where we perform.

  • Sometimes we retreat to the back stages, where we can be our real selves and prepare for our return to the front stage.

Impression Management

  • Desire to manipulate others’ impressions of us on the front stage (the idealized self).

  • We use various mechanisms, called Sign Vehicles, to present ourselves to others.

Sign Vehicles

  • Social setting.

  • Appearance.

  • Manner of interacting.

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References

  • Psychology Department. (2019). Understanding the self. Unpublished.

  • Taag, G. C., Cuyan, A. S., Awingan, W. A., Balinggan, G. T., Carrera, W. D., & Perez, E. N. Understanding the self. Revised edition. Meycauayan City: IPM Publishing, c2019. This source was utilized to explain the multifaceted influences impacting the development and understanding of the individual self within sociological contexts.