UNDERSTANDING

THE SELF
Course Material No. 3

Jigo Rafael
Catamio, MAEd, RGC
Course Instructor
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Sociology,

and



the Self
Anthropology,
3

LEARNING OUTCOMES

Here’s what I will teach you in this course material:
LESSON OUTLINE • To know the various concepts in sociology and anthropology
• Sociology and that relates to self
self • To understand the influence of others to the self
Unit
• TheOutline
ME and I
• To distinguish various aspects of the self rooted from culture
• Anthropology • To appraise and appreciate the other peoples influences to
and the Self
self
• Self as
embedded in RESOURCES NEEDED
ones Culture

For this lesson, you would need the following resources:

• PowerPoint presentation of the topic

• Laptop and Internet Access
• Notebook or short bond paper for activities

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TABLE OF CONTENTS




Pretest
4 Pre-Activity Title

Before you start, try answering the following
questions.

is Sociology?
5 Sociological Perspective
of the self
1. What


_________________________________________
7 The Self and Its’ Nature

2. How does others influence our own sense of self?


________________________________________ 9 Understanding the Self
in a Nutshell


3. Why is it important to consider culture and society
in knowing who we are? 10 Posttest


________________________________________


11 Key Terms
4. What are the importance of learning the history of

man to our present situations?


________________________________________
12 References

5. What is the dynamics between the self, society, and

culture?

________________________________________










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Social Sciences
and the Self
Key Point
As an individual,
considering not only our
genetic heredity but the
environmental influences
that we have in life is very
important to achieve our
goal of creating a holistic, if
not, permanent notion of
who we are or the self. It
gives us the opportunity to
exhaust every possible
source of information in
knowing ourselves.

MINT: My INfluences Today

List down 5 people that most influenced you in life. They could
be celebrities or personalities that you look up to, relatives or
anyone in your community that has a significant influence in
your life. Explain how their influences and how they became
significant in the establishment or definition of who you are and
who you want to become in the future.

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Sociological Perspective of the Self

Sociology defined as the scientific study of groups and the relationships

of its members. It tries to understand society’s establishment, structure, and
dynamics, and it promotes explanation on the influences of people to each
other in terms of behavior, perception, and identity.
Therefore, in order to fully comprehend the extent of influences society
and group interaction has with an individual, we need to look into the various
theories that attempts to explain how one establishes a concept of “Self”
based on ones social interactions and experiences.

The Self and the Others

To understand the concept Self, we must look into various theories or
concept that explains the role of society and social influences to one’s
identity and behavior.
Charles Horton Cooley. A sociologist who explains that a person have
the tendency to mirror other people’s view of oneself, this idea is called the
“looking glass self” it emphasized that our understanding of who we are
along with our idea of how other people see us may influence our
understanding of who we are and our sense of self.
The “looking glass self” or the establishment of the Self of a person may
also be considered to be dependent to three (3) events:
1. Perceiving how one present themselves to others;
2. Analysis of others’ perception towards the person;
3. And, how one establishes a self-image.
Thus it is important to remember that the nature of these perceptions are
very subjective and may lead to several misinterpretations of Self based on
how they see the situations, it could lead to a negative perception of oneself,
or .a lacking self-image.
George Herbert Mead. is an American Sociologist considered to be the
Father of American pragmatism. As a sociologist, Mead rejected the idea that
a person is born with an established self from the moment he is born. For
him, ones concept of “Self” develops from social interactions and
experiences with other people. He emphasized that to establishing the self it
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is important to go through the construction and reconstruction of our notion
of who we are based from our interaction with others.
The “I” and the “Me”
One of the most defining concepts of Mead about the self explains the
idea there are two divisions of the self, which according to him is known as
the “I” and the “Me”.
The “I” is considered to be the manifestation of spontaneity and
individuality of a person, it is the part of the self that actively seeks
identification to the things they acquire from their social interactions and
experiences. While, the “Me” is a part of the self that revolves around the
characteristics, behavior, and actions of an individual that follows the
awareness and demand of the people that the person interacts with.
Simply speaking, according to Mead the concept the “I” is the subjective
aspect of the self that responds to established attitude and behavior in
reference to their social interactions while the “Me” are the attitudes, and
behavior of the person adopts with an objective basis of being aware and
considering what ones social environment demands or requires.
Mead’s Three Role-playing Stages of Self Development
Mead proposed the idea of a three stages of development in which a
person has to go through in life. These stages prepare one in the
establishment of hi or her concept of the Self. According to Mead the stages
are the Preparatory Stage, Play stage, and Game stage.
The Preparatory Stage (Birth – 2 years Old) – during this stage of
development Mead said that the person or the infant basically imitates the
actions and behaviors of the people around him. Because of that the child’s
behavior can be said to lack intention or meaning. In short, this is a
preparation and acquisition of skills necessary to take on roles in the future.
The Play Stage (2 – 6 years old) – it is the time where children begin to
interact with others \, they follow rules that do not adhere to any set or
standards, but are rules that are defined by the children themselves. Also, this
is the stage where the child begins to relate themselves with others, learn to
communicate verbally and symbolically. They often practices real life roles
through the use of playing, and considered the onset of the development of
self. The development of the self in this stage occurs through the preliminary
experiences with significant people in their lives.
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The Game Stage (6-9 years old) – The final stage of self-development
according to Mead, which are characterized by the ability of the children to
know the dynamics of the “Generalized others”. With this, the children at this
stage learns the implications of their actions as well as the understanding or
taking into account the norms and values of society that is vital to their
evaluation on how they see themselves.

Self and Culture

Task: The goal of this activity is to identify various influences you have in your
environment, the culture that you belong to or any other cultural influences that you
have (ex. Korean, American). Explain in detail how those influences affected your
behaviors and actions as well as how you view yourself and others.

Consider the Following while doing the activity:

1. The aspects or qualities that make you similar to others.
2. How important is it for you to associate yourself to other people.
3. The things that make you unique amidst all the aspects that your acquired from
your various environmental influences.

Anthropological Perspective of the Self

Anthropology, studies man from past to present and how ones’ biological and
cultural aspect of life influences the development of an individual’s concept of
“Self”. Its concepts include four sub-disciplines: sociocultural, archeological,
biological and linguistic anthropology. This involves the reflection that the self
and its development should be viewed in a holistic approach where nature,
nurture and influences to those are considered.
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Self, Identity, and the Culture
There are only a small number of concepts or theories in anthropology
that talks about the self, but despite that it is still very important for us to
learn because of the effects of each of its concept to people and behavior. The
following are concepts that explain the dynamics or interaction between
culture and the self.
Culture. Before everything else, let us first define what culture is and how it
may influence a person. According to Edward Taylor culture is defined as
“that complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, morals, law,
customs, and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as member of
society’. Based on this definition we can emphasize that culture is not created
by a few or dictated by individuals, but rather, should be seen as the
collection of various perception, understanding and expressions of such to the
environment that influences every member of society.
Identity. In the context of anthropology, identity can be used in the context of
culture and ethnicity. It means that the idea of shared self is emphasized
pointing out on the idea that we share our consciousness and self based on our
experiences that is defined by the societal norms, ideations and history.
Self. As described before, there is are limited
concepts or explanation about self in the sense of
individual that is given in the field of anthropology,
which means that majority focuses on influences
instead of inherent sources that contributes to the CRITICAL THINKING

establishment of self. With that in mind, we
highlight several concepts that explain the self, its What are the qualities the Filipino culture
establishment and characteristics in the field of have that are most influential?

anthropology.

• Egocentric and Sociocentric – are

concepts that describes self on the
basis of which societal perspective
one belongs to.
Egocentric view describes self to be autonomous and is very clear on
ones individuality, though it is emphasized that people are still
influenced by the generalized others but still capable to act
independently (ex. Americans). While, the sociocentric view states that
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the self is dependent on the social setting (ex. Asians, Chinese,

Japanese).
• The identity toolbox – these are the collection of the features and
characteristics of a person that builds the foundation for ones identity.
These are features that one chooses to emphasize in building a sense
of self. Examples of such are kinship, gender, and age. Others also
consider ethnicity, socio-economic status, and now gender
preferences to not only identify an individual but to also differentiate
people.
• Right of Passage – acquisition of identity or self through
achievements cemented by activities or rituals.

Embedded in Culture
Self as
To elaborate our understanding how self and culture influences one
another, it is important to look into the various explanations of what culture
is and how it influences and be influenced by people who belong to it.
According to Clifford Geertz (1973) he defined culture as something that is
inherited from expressed symbolic forms with which they use to pass on to
others, and create their knowledge about life. Culture according to Kottak
(2008) is also considered to be the behavior and beliefs that are passed on
through enculturation, which is the process of transmitting culture.
Geertz elaborated that culture should be considered as the control
mechanisms that guide the behavior of people, meaning it could be the plans
or recipes that enables one to establish a sense of self that fits the
requirements of the cultural setting but not taking into consideration the role
of every individual to culture building. He also explained that man, is the
most in need of rules, regulations, or external control mechanisms.
In short, it can be described that culture can be shared, man is molded by
culture, but culture cannot be established without men as well.
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LESSON SUMMARY

In Summary, there is a correlation on how people develop themselves, and

the environment they belong to. Whether we live in a place where autonomy
or independence is expected of us, or in a society where relations are
important, we are still the one in control of choosing who we are and what
role will we assume in the world.
By learning the roles of culture and society to the development of the self, it
may empower us and strengthen our idea that our capabilities, decisions, and
achievement may only become limited by ourselves and the interpretations
we have on what we can and cannot accomplish in the world.

KEY TERMS

Self identity environment

social sociology toolbox
toolbox Anthropology egocentric
culture influences sociocentric

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POSTTEST

Directions: Fill in the blank with the letter corresponding to your answer.

_______ 1. Refers to the features that one chooses to emphasize in building a sense of self.

_______ 2. Describes self to be autonomous and is very clear on ones individuality.

_______ 3. Something that is inherited from expressed symbolic forms.

_______ 4. A scientific study of man, behavior and society from past to present.

_______ 5. the scientific study of groups and the relationships of its members.

Enumeration:

6-8. What are the 3 stages of Self development according to Mead?

9-10. what are the 2 views that describes the self depending on the society that a person belong in?

1. Identity toolbox
2. Egocentric
3. Culture
4. Anthropology
5. Sociology
6. Preparatory
7. Play
8. Game
9. Egocentric
10. Sociocentric
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REFERENCES

Alata, E.J., Caslib Jr., B.N., Serafica, J.P., & Pawilen, R.A. (2018). Understanding the Self. [1st
ed.]. Quezon City: Rex Book Store, Inc.
Geertz, C. (1973). The Impact of the Concept of Culture and Concept of Man. In the
interpretation of culture(pp. 33 – 54). Basic Book.
Geertz, C. (1973). Person, time and conduct in Bali. In the interpretation of culture(pp. 360 –
411). Basic Book.
Go-Monilla, M.J. & Ramirez, N. (2018). Understanding the Self. [1st ed.]. Quezon City: C & E
Pub.
Kottak, C. (2008). Anthropology : The Exploration of Human Diversity (12th Ed.). Boston:
McGraw Hill Higher Education.
Mead, G. (1972). Mind, self and society from the standpoint of a social behaviorist. The
University of Chicago Press.