SOCIOLOGY

THE SELF AND THE FIELD OF SOCIOLOGY

Introduction 

• We rely on others to provide a “social reality” to help us determine what to think, feel, and do (Hardin & Higgins, 1996).

SOCIAL VIEWS OF THE SELF

The Self as Product of Modern Society Among Others

• With modernization, the self becomes a “delocalized” self which is free to seek its own identity; defining religion, theological tradition; free from customary constraints hence, deviating from the traditional way of life. Stability of one’s self identity is no longer based on pre-given traditional broad definition of the self. 

• Clifford Geertz (1973) believes that the struggle for one’s individuality is on possible in modern society where religio-theological traditions are gradually replaced by rational and scientific calculations; and the intimate personal affiliations are replaced by exceedingly impersonal associations brought about by urbanized way of life. Modernization or the destruction of the traditional way of life “delocalizes” the self. This poses certain problems as:

1. The newfound freedom threatens the very authenticity of the self (e.g. love) 

2. Alienation (Marx) – human beings haunted by the very images they have created

3. Objectification of the body (e.g. medical practice)

4. Dehumanization of self

Self as necessary Fiction 

• Self for Nietzsche, is the sum of individual’s action, thoughts and feelings. Self is nothing more than a metaphor, a representation of something abstract; symbolic. 

• Self has a continuity even if it is only in memory i.e, either heard of witnessed which did not happen to you. A true given self is not what unites these experiences, but it is presumed unity of these experiences that gave rise to a concept of the self

Post-modern View of the Self

• Self is a narrative, a text written and rewritten. Self is a story. It is dynamic. Self is a product of modern discourse that is historically and socially imprisoned by what is acceptable by norms, etc. 

• According to N. Green, self is “digitalized” in cyberspace a virtual version of who we are. The self is seen in websites or social media- facebook, twitter Instagram, etc.

The following are the manifestations: 

1. Information technology dislocates the self, thus, self is “digitalized” in cyberspae. 

2. Global migration produces multicultural identities.

3. Post-modern selves are “pluralized” selves.

Social Construction of Self

• Self is not discovered; it is made through the socialization process. But, individuals are not just hapless victims of socialization. The individual is an active, strategizing agent that negotiates for the definition of himself. (Ikaw ang gumagawa ng kung ano ka”). 

• Self is acquired socially through language, like symbols. We construct ourselves based on our social roles through socialization agents – family, school, community, etc. 

Rewriting the Self as an Artistic Creation

• Nietzsche states that the unity of the self is not pre-given but accomplished through conscious effort- transform self through beautiful work of art. Individual must fashion, care and cultivate themselves. We can recreate ourselves to get hold of a present, forgive the past, and plan the future. 

• Rorty: contingencies of selfhood – conceal the “ugly” by reinterpreting the overall aesthetic contours of the self. This does not mean that by rewriting the narrative of herself she will discover something deep about herself… redescribing one’s self is just a way of reinterpreting and redescribing one’s past.

Self Creation and Collective Identity

• Memories (photographs, videos) play significant role in creating the self and identity. Memory and forgetting are most important powers in recreating a person’s identity.

• Another important aspect of this view of the self is that self creation is formed within “imagined communities”. Selves obtain their nature from cultural traditions, embodied in various social institutions. These are preserved in a collective narrative which becomes the reservoir for the project of self-creation. Self creation along cultural lines must be done in maximum cultural recognition of differences among and between individuals and cultural groups.

Self Creation and the Struggle for Cultural Recognition

• This is a challenge of self-identity amidst recognition of racial and ethnic identities. Self creation is necessarily grounded on collective solidarities. We create ourselves by struggling with cultural hassles then owning the created self. We hide the ugly part of our cultural nature. We learn to adjust.

Beyond Self Creation

• The quest or search for self-identity is a product of modern society but this is complicated by the socio-cultural sensibilities of postmodernity, new information technologies and globalization, reconfiguring ourselves as to gender, sex, ethnicity, and creating one’s own style, signature. 

• Yet the project of self creation is embedded within imagined communities. The self constantly lives in a paradox: to pursue self creation within pre-given, not willfully chosen social circumstances.

Mead’s Theory of Self

• George Herbert Mead (1863-1931) is an American sociologist best known as a founder American pragmatism, a pioneer of symbolic interaction theory, and as one of the founders of social psychology. 

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

• The self, according to Mead, is made of two components: 

  • The “me” represents the expectations and attitudes of others (the “generalized other”) organized into a social self. The individual defines his or her own behavior with reference to the generalized attitude of the social group(s) he/she occupies.

  • The “I” is the response to the “me", or the person’s individuality. It is the essence of agency in human action. So, in effect, the “me” is the self as object, while the “I” is the self as subject (Crossman, 2017). 

• In other words, the “I” is the response of an individual to the attitudes of others, while the “me” is the organized set of attitudes of others which an individual assumes. 

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

• The “I” is the individual’s impulses. The “I” is self as subject; the “me” is self as object. 

• The “I” is the knower, the “me” is the known. The mind, or stream of thought, is the self-reflective movements of the interaction between the “I” and the “me”. 

Mead’s Three Stages of Development of Self 

Stage 1: The Preparatory Stage 

• The first stage is 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. This is why parents of young children typically do not want to use foul language around them (Rath, 2016).

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 like patintero or basketball (Rath,2016).

Stage 3: The Game Stage 

• The third stage is the game stage, which is from about age seven onwards. In this stage, children can begin to understand and adhere to the rules of games.

The Looking-Glass Self: 

Our Sense of Self is Influenced by Others’ Views of Us

• The concept of the looking-glass self states that part of how we see ourselves comes from our perception of how others see us (Cooley, 1902).

• According to American sociologist Charles Horton Cooley (1864-1929), the degree of personal insecurity you display in social situations is determined by what you believe other people think of you. Cooley’s concept of the looking glass self, states that a person’s self grows out of a person’s social interactions with others. 

Labeling Bias 

• occurs when we are labeled, and other’s views and expectations of us are affected by that labeling (Fox & Stinnett, 1996). For example, if a teacher knows that a child has been diagnosed with a particular psychological disorder, that teacher may have different expectations and explanations of the child’s behavior that he or she would if not aware of that label. 

Self-labeling 

• may occur, which happens when we adopt others’ labels explicitly into our self concept. The effects of this self-labeling on our self-esteem appear to depend very much on the nature of labels. Labels used in relation to diagnosis of psychological disorder can be detrimental to people who can internalize them. For example, Moses (2009) found that adolescents who self-labeled according 

Internalized Prejudice

• which occurs when individuals turn prejudice directed toward them by others onto themselves. Internalized prejudice has been found to predict more negative self-concept and poorer psychological adjustment in members of various groups including sexual minorities (Carter, 2012) and racial minorities (Szymanski & Obiri, 2011).

Social Comparison Theory: Our Sense of Self Is Influenced by Comparisons with Others 

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.