Chapter

4: Socialization


Three Key People
Cooley: the looking-glass self
1. How do we get our sense of self?
A sense of self is a sense of having a distinct identity, or a sense of being set apart from other
things and people. We get our sense of self through our interaction with others. Through our
contact with the people in the society, we are able to see ourselves through other peoples
attitudes and behaviors towards us and through our imagination of what they think of us.

2. What is the core idea of Charles Horton Cooley?
The core idea of Charles Horton Cooley is that we are concerned how we appear to others all
the time including strangers on the street or people we really care about because we are
interested in how we appear to ourselves, and we see ourselves by imagining what others,
family, friends, and total strangers, think of us.

3. The looking-glass self has three parts. What are they?
The looking-glass self has three parts: what we think others see in us, how we imagine they
judge what they see, and how we feel about those judgments.

Mead: role-taking
4. What does George Herbert Mead argue for?
George Herbert Mead argues that almost from the beginning, infants realize they depend on
others to satisfy their needs, and that their own actions influence how others behave toward
them. For example, infants learn that crying brings food and smiling brings cuddling.

5. According to Mead, what are the uses of significant symbols?
Significant symbols are the words and gestures that elicit desired behavior from others.
Significant symbols are essential in social interaction as through symbolic interaction, we are
able to anticipate what other people expect, and to evaluate and adjust our own behavior
accordingly.

6. A sense of self is composed of two parts. What are they?
A sense of self is composed of two parts: the I, the self of subject or initiators of thoughts
and actions, and the me, the self as object, or the part that the I and others observe, respond
to, and assess. For example, when people say hello to you, they are talking to your me, but your
I is the one that evaluates the tone of the mes reply.

7. Why is make-believe play important role to children?
 Make-believe play is important to children because they help children to sharpen the I/me
distinction. The play allows them to see themselves from another persons perspective (as son
or daughter from a parents perspective.), making their sense of I mature. Furthermore, from
taking the role of specific others, children will advance to the role of the generalized other. This
mean they begin to think about what people in general will think about certain action. For
example, they learn to cover their mouths when coughing because people in general think it is a
good idea.

Freud: the internal dynamics of socialization
8. How does Freud view socialization?
Freud views socialization as a lifelong struggle within a persons mind.

9. The socialization struggle within a persons mind consists of three parts? what are they?
The socialization struggle within a persons mind consists of three parts: the id, the ego, and
the superego.

10. Give the role of the id, ego, and superego.
The id: a reservoir of innate biological drives aimed at obtaining physical pleasure
The ego: the rational part of the self, which mediates between the id and the
reality. This means the egos job is to find safe ways to satisfy the id without
causing guilt or remorse to the superego.
The superego: a persons conscience, which represents the moral standards of
society.

11. What does Freud believe about humans?
Freud believes that at birth humans are irrational, amoral creatures with nothing more to
guide them than their pleasure-seeking impulses. Furthermore, humans are not born with an ego
or a superego which will develop through social action, especially the childs interaction with
parents.

12. How does the ego develop?
The ego develops when a baby begins to learn that biological drives cannot always be
gratified immediately. For example, food is not always available on demand.

13. How does the superego develop?
The superego develops through a childs encounters with the demands of the larger culture
as conveyed by parents and other adults. To avoid being involved in the conflicts over demands
the parents impose, the child begins to adopt the parents moral attitudes and values.

14. Give similarities and difference among Freud, Cooley, and Mead regarding socialization.
Similarities: All three believe that we become social beings by actively thinking and
interpreting ourselves in relation to others. Furthermore, they believe that the influence of
society was not the same for everyone, but rather varied among different families, cultural
groups, and classes.
Differences: Cooley and Mead saw socialization as a gradual and complementary merger of
individual and society, while Freud saw it as a perpetual battle between society and a persons
biological inclinations. Furthermore, Freud believed that much of the process of becoming social
beings occurs on an unconscious level.

Key Terms
Significant others: gestures and words that elicit desired behavior from others
Significant others: the important people in our lives
Generalized others: the people in general
Reference Group: the first group whose norms and values we adopt as our own and refer to in
evaluating behavior
Total institution: a place in which people are cut off from the rest of the society and where they
come under almost total control of the officials who run the place such as boot camp, prisons
Degradation ceremony: an attempt to remake the self by stripping away the individuals
current identity and stamping a new one in its place
Personal identity kit: items to express individuality such as jewelry, hairstyles, clothing, and
other body decorations.