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Understanding The Self - Module 2
Understanding The Self - Module 2
Introduction
With the advent of Social Science in 18th century, new ways of knowing have
emerged. The new discipline departed from Philosophy’s heavy reliance on
speculation and shifted to observation as a valid approach of knowing what is real
and true. This new approach cultivated philosophical objectivity in understanding the
world, specifically in its nature. Humanity started to be considered as being part of
the natural world and gained attention as acceptable subject of study.
In this chapter therefore, the self is presented contrary to the philosophical view
whereby self is considered as having two components of the body and soul (or the
body and mind). Self in this chapter is emphasized as social by nature. Beginning
from birth, it continuously interacts with its external world that determines what it
might be, what it can be and what it will be.
Learning Outcome/Objective
Learning Content/Topic
The self as a social construct is derived from the idea that society which takes
part in its shaping is a social construction. Through social interaction and active
understanding of the social reality by collective actions of people, living together
and their relationships become meaningful. By active understanding, it means that
individuals are not only passive participants in their social life. Through language,
they privately and publicly utilize or share symbols within their interactions. This
creates a pattern that shapes and influences who they are, how they behave and
think.
In 1996, Steven (cited by Alata, EJ et. al., 2018) found in his literature reviews
that self has been characterized as separate, self-contained, independent, consistent,
unitary and private. Said characteristics suggest that self is distinct to others. It is self-
contained and independent because it can exist by itself. It is contained in its own
thoughts, characteristics, and volition. It does not allow other self for it to exist. It has a
personality that is enduring or persists over time. It is centered on its experiences and
thoughts. In implication, self is isolated from the external world.
Taking the forefront when Philosophy started to lose its fame in the area of
understanding about the self, the discipline of Sociology asserts that humans cannot be
understood apart from it social context. Base on its idea, society is linked to the
individual as they are inherently connected and dependent on each other. Society being
composed of a large social grouping sharing in the same geographical territory implies
that groups who are more or less living together have the same cultures and predisposed
to institutions which provide their physical, social, and psychological needs and which
maintain order and the values of the culture. It make us who we are by structuring our
interactions and lay out an orderly world before us. As a result, an individual is capable
of seeing through his/her experiences and the larger society called sociological
imagination in which society creates opportunities for him/her to think and act as well
as limiting his/her thoughts and actions.
Sociological Theories of the Self
Using the view of others, Cooley denotes that understanding of self is socially
constructed. Through social interaction, one’s sense of self is mirrored from the
judgments they receive from others to measure their own worth, values, and
behavior.This process involves the following steps:
Similar to Charle’s Cooley’s theory of self, George Herbert Mead also gave
emphasis to other’s perspective in view of one’s self. As a prerequisite of being able to
understand the self, one has to develop self-awareness. This can be derived from looking
at ourselves from the perspective of others. For instance, we put ourselves into someone
else’s shoes and look at the world through that someone’s perspective. This process is
only made possible by social interaction. If social interaction is absent particularly in
one’s early experiences, he/she will find difficulty in developing an ability to see
him/herself as others would see him/her. According to Mead, the “self” in such case is
not being developed (Theory of Self Development,nd).
2. Play Stage: At this stage, children begin to try to take on the role of other
person by acting out grown up behaviors, dressing like adults, etc.
3. Game Stage: While children learn about several roles of others, they understand
how these roles interact with each other in this stage. They learn to understand complex
interactions involving different people with variety of purpose. In a restaurant for
instance, a child understands different responsibilities of people who work together for a
smooth sailing experience. He/she understands that someone from the restaurant takes
orders, others wash dishes, cook the food, etc.).
4. Generalized other: In this stage, children develop, understand and learn the
idea of the common behavioural expectations of the general society. They are able to
imagine how they are viewed by one or many. Mead pointed out that “self” in this stage
is being developed.
The self should not be seen as a static entity which remains constant through time.
It persistently struggle with its external reality and is malleable in dealing with it. Being
active participant in its social world, the self, through interaction, is made and remade.
As it continuously interacts with others, society is continually changing and dynamic, so
thus self.
Self being endlessly exposed to its social world and is subjected to its influences
here and there. While the social world is changing and dynamic, being the same person
across time and space therefore is illogical. In this perspective, self is considered as
multi-faceted.
The Moi and Personne Self
Marcel Mauss and his contemporaries claimed that society is a result of a process
whereby actions of humans is built upon everyday social continuity. As an
Anthropologist and Sociologist, he asserted that self adapts to its everyday social
condition. In particular, the behavior of human groups and the way they perceive
themselves in daily life are influenced by their environmental and seasonal variations.
Everyday life is an endless process of actions and exchanges between and among
humans to sustain their existence and meet their needs. Cultural identity therefore is
intertwined with space and time (Airton José Cavenaghi, 2016) making one’s self
determined according to its circumstances and context.
As a result of this notion, Marcel Mauss asserted that every self has two faces--the
personne and moi. MOI refers to a person’s sense of who he is, his body and his
basic identity, his biological givennes. It is a person’s basic identity. PERSONNE on
the other hand, is composed of the social concepts of what it means, to be who he is. It
has much to do with what it means to live in a particular institution, a particular family,
a particular religion, a particular nationality, and how to behave given expectations and
influences from others. Personne therefore shifts from time to time to adapt to his social
situation (Alata, EJ et. al., 2018).
Various personne can be illustrated across culture. In the Philippines, part of the
Filipino personne-of who they are-- is their territory. This includes considering their
immediate surroundings as part of them, thus the perennial “tapat ko, linis ko”.
Interestingly, the word “mahal” in the Philippines can both mean “love” and
“expensive”. Love is intimately bound with value while being expensive means being
precious. Putting together, someone or something expensive is therefore valuable.
Someone whom we love is valuable. When taken from its Sanskrit origin “lubh,” love
can also mean desire.
Another interesting facet of the Filipino language is its being gender-neutral. The
word “siya” is used to refer to either a boy or girl. In other languages specifically
English and Spanish, demarcation between male and female pronoun is clear. In
English, “he” is referred to male while “she” refers to female. “El” in Spanish refers to
male while “ella” is referred to females.
As these examples depicts cultural divide, it goes to show how one regards oneself
differently from others. The language which has something to do with one’s culture has
a tremendous effect in the crafting of the self.
The process according to Mead involves the creation of the two facets of self. The
“me” is the social self and the “I” is the response to the “me”. Both arising from the
social process, the “I” is the one responding to the attitudes of the others while “me” is
the result of the “I” assuming the organized set of attitudes of the others (it is the result
of the individual’s accumulated understanding of the generalized other). The “I” learns
about the “me”, hence, it is the knower, while the “me” is the known. Ultimately, self is
developed through language and role-play where the child learns to delineate his/her “I”
from the rest.
Lev Vygotsky
Together with George Herbert Mead, Lev Vygotsky stressed the important role of
language acquisition and interaction with others in human development. According to
them, mind is made or constituted through language that one acquires or experiences
with his/her external world. This process is mediated by one’s internal dialogue with
his/her own head. Through it, he/she learns to internalize values, norms, practices,
social beliefs, etc., Consistent exposure to internal dialogues will eventually become part
of one’s individual world. For Mead, role-playing of children indicates that they create
scripts in their head, thus a manifestation of internal dialogue within self. For Vygotsky,
a child internalizes real life dialogues that he/she had with others by recycling this
during one of their mental and practical problem solving (Alata, et. al, 2018).
Self in Families
Every human is born helpless or dependent from the external world. The first
group that one interacts with and depend for the fulfilment of his/her needs is the
family. As the basic social institution, the family is the primary provider or source of a
child’s needs (human, social, economic). It is also the main avenue for teaching young
individuals the basic things that they need to learn inorder to fit in the society. It has
also the capacity to develop or encourage the actualization of one’s potentials. These are
all made possible by way of socialization whereby one learns basic ways of living,
language, values, etc. by way of imitating or observation or teaching by an adult member
of the family such as the mother and the father.
A child learns ways of living, his/her selfhood, by being with the family. Learning
self in the family is conscious or unconscious. If reared with respectful family, then
he/she becomes respectful. If raised with a conversational family, then he/she becomes
conversational. Ways of living that are explicitly taught are those that are basic for the
child to learn such as table manners, speaking with an elder, etc. Through rewards and
punishments, some behaviors and attitudes are indirectly taught to a child. For example,
talking about sexual behavior or how to comfort emotions are internalized by a child
through interpreting intonation of voice by adults or of their model in the family.
Clearly, these point out that becoming an adult who does not learn about basic matters
such as manners or conduct indicates failure of the family to initiate him/her into the
world. In this sense, the initial conception of selfhood for social survival and becoming a
human person is learned in the family.
Another important aspect of social process within the family is the learning of
gender by a child. Gender partly determines how one sees him/herself in the world.
Though gender is considered as one aspect of the self that is subject to alteration, change
and development, it is noteworthy that its concept is primarily acquired in the family.