GE 1 – Understanding the Self
March 18, 2022
Sociological View
The Self as a Product
of Modern Society
Sociologists are asking:
 How does society influence
you?
 How do you affect the
society?
 Who are you as a person in the
community?
Sociology – posits that the socially
informed norms, beliefs, and values
comes to exist within the person to a
degree
Social Group Vs Social Work
George Simmel – people create social
networks by joining social groups
- People join social groups
because people are social
beings, they cannot live alone
Social Group
 Having 2 or more people
interacting with one another,
sharing similar
characteristics, and whose
members identify themselves
as part of the group
o Family
o Barkada
o Classmates
2 Types of Social Groups
1. Organic group – highly
influenced by family and is
usually formed in traditional
societies
o You join these groups
because your family is
part of it
o Organic motivation
1
o Positive effect =
rootedness 
foundation of the social
network runs deep, thus
gives the person a sense
of belongingness
o Negative effect = imply
less freedom and greater
social conformity  you
are expected to act and
behave according to your
community standards
2. Rational group – occur in
modern societies; made up of
different people from
different places
o You join this group with
your own free will
o Rational motivation
o Family not the source of
motivation for joining
o formed as a matter of
shared self-interests
o has greater freedom
(freedom of movement)
o not embedded as organic
group so when interests
change, the group
members change
Social Network
 refers to the ties or
connections that link you to
your social group
o family is blood relation
o Barkada is friendship
o Classmates is to learn
Modernization
Pre-modern society – survival; people
behave according to rules and
traditions; family provided supervision
on how to get through life
 GE 1 – Understanding the Self
Modernization – improved living
conditions; everyone has freedom; Mead and the
stability also decreased in importance;
individualism is dominant Social Self
George Herbert Mead
Key Characteristics of
Modernity
1. Industrialism – social
relations imply on the use of
material power or machinery
in all processes of production
2. Capitalism – production
system involving both
competitive product markets
and the commodification
putting a price tag of labor
power
3. Institutions of surveillance –  February 27, 1863 – April
increase of power in 26, 1931
institutions (example the  American philosopher,
government) sociologist and psychologist
4. Dynamism – most evident  Theory of Social Self – the

characteristic of modern self is a product of social

society; it is having vigorous interactions
activity and progress;  One of the founders of
everything is subject to symbolic interactionism 
change and changes happen people’s selves are social
more rapidly products

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 GE 1 – Understanding the Self
 Works focused on how the Mead’s 2 Sides of the Self
self is being developed
ME I
“The self is not there from birth, but it
is developed overtime from social Socialized The
aspect of the unsocialized
experiences and activities.” –G.H.
Mead individual aspect of the
self
Example: me as I am a good
Mead’s Theory of the Social a student, student. I am a
Self friend, neighbor loyal friend. I
The self is the product of social am a concerned
interactions like observing and neighbor.
interacting with others, responding to Represents Individual’s
other’s opinions about one’s self, and learned identity based
internalizing external feelings about behaviors, on the response
one’s self attitudes, to the “me”
expectations of
others and
Self-Awareness and Self society
Image
Self-images are developed through
interactions with other people. Self- 3 Activities that Develop the
image and self-awareness are products
of social experiences Self
1. Language (pre-play stage)
 Develops self by allowing
Definition of Self According individuals to respond to
to Herbert Mead and each other through symbols,
gestures, words, sounds
Herbert Blumer  Starts to understand
Human beings are meaning-generating Emotions
creatures embedded in social  Imitate behavior they see,
interactions where they have the but not meaningful acts; they
capacity to assign meaning to people, do not fully understand what
things, and events. they are doing
Thus, humans do not act toward things
as they are, but based on the meanings 2. Play
they ascribe to these things.  Develops self to take on
The self is not found solely through the different roles, pretend, and
process of inner reflection (the I), express
rather, it is discovered by taking on the  Role-playing helps
role of the “other” and imagining how internalize the perspective of
one’s sense of self is perceived from others
another’s perspective (the looking
glass self or the “me”).
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 GE 1 – Understanding the Self
 Develops and understanding Agents of Socialization
of how others feel about
1. People
themselves and others in a
2. Groups
variety of social situation
3. Experience that influence
behavior
3. Games
4. Self-image
 Develop self by adhering to
5. Children – family, school,
the rules of the activity and
peer groups, mass media
societal rules
 Self is developed by
understanding that there are Maslow’s Hierarchy of
riles which one must abide in Needs
order to win the game or be
1. Physiological Needs
successful at an activity
2. Safety needs
3. Belongingness and love
The Other Self 4. Esteem
- According to Mead and James 5. Cognitive
Cooley 6. Aesthetic needs
- Self is subject to the 7. Self-actualization
socializing influences of the To achieve self-actualization, start
community (the generalized satisfying the most basic needs up to
other)  the collection of the self-actualization part.
roles and attitudes that people When lower needs are unmet, you
use as reference point for cannot fully reach your fullest
figuring out how to behave in potential.
a given situation
- An individual’s ability to take
account of himself as a human
being
- Requires one to take the role
of the other
Generalized Others
 The values and orientations
of their overall community
rather than those of specific
individuals
 Internalizes the values and
beliefs of their culture
 Concern on “what people
would think” or simply
“knowing right from wrong”
 Varies from culture to
culture