MODULE 3: UNFOLDING THE SOCIAL SELF

“No man is an island”

SECTION 1:
THE SOCIAL SELF

 Social and environmental factors that shape oneself:

 Environmental systems
 Cultural orientations
 And other social factors that play a crucial role to one’s social
self

Human development is largely influenced by membership in crucial

social groups that shape various aspects of the self, from belief
systems, values orientation, and behaviors.
 It starts with the family
 The most pervading influential social group that impacts the
self in its entire course of development.
 Parents are the first teacher; from a very early age.
 His/her siblings become his/her first friends and playmates.
These consistent family experience are crucial in shaping of
one’s social self.
 Next to family is the schools and the general academic
environment
 Knowledge and social skills gained from mentors, relatives,
and peers contribute to how social self is harnessed.
 One’s knowledge of the world is shaped by collaborative
learning conditions, as one is exposed to the insights of
his/her learning peers.
 Aside from what was mentioned, communities also shape one’s
social self to a large extent.
 One’s cultural beliefs and practices are influenced by what
communities and societies dictate.
 The social self inevitably changes as one accommodates and
eventually assimilates beliefs promoted by the society as
he/she thinks, appreciates, and behaves according to
standards set by micro and macrosystems.
CULTURE
-is the complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, law, art,
moral, custom, and other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a
member of society. (Edward Taylor, 1971)
 Models that illustrate how culture functions in relation to one’s
social self:
 Bioecological Systems Theory by Urie Bronfenbrenner (1935)
-explains the bidirectional influence of individual systems to
each other and posits five specific systems that shape an
individual’s sense of self.
 Microsystem
 Mesosystem
 Exosystem
 Macrosystem
 Chronosystem
 Individualism-Collectivism Model by Hazel Rose Markus and Shinobu
Kitayama (1991)
-shows that individualism as an orientation focuses on one’s
individual attributes and personal distinctiveness.
Pwede pa nga nay isumpay dependi sa reporter na stress nako diri,
jema hahahhaa. Pwede rapod kana ra, e chicka or explain nalang niyang
uban nga naas book, taas2 baya.
I VS. ME

 One’s behavior when he/she is alone differs from his/her behavior

when he/she is with others.
 According to Mead, “I” is who an individual is. It is one’s
opinion of himself/herself as a whole.
 While “Me” is the awareness of how others expect one to behave.
This is known as the social self.
 Based on Mead’s model, the state of the actual self is achieved
when “I” and “Me” become congruent.

These different models presents ideas on the process of the self’s

social development.