The Self in the perspective in
ANTHROPOLOGY
Sociology is the study of society,
patterns of social relationships, social
interaction and culture of everyday life.
Is the functionality of human society
including origins, development and
organization.
Anthropology is the science that is
considered with human culture as well
as the physical and social
characteristics that create culture.
What is ANTHROPOLOGY?
- Anthropology is the study of
people, past and present.
- It focuses on the study of the
human condition in its cultural
aspects.
- In general sense anthropology
is concerned with
understanding how humans
evolved and how they differ
from one another.
Anthropology has been described as
the most humanistic science and the
most scientific of humanities.
According to Katherine Ewing (1990)
the self is encompassing “physical
organism, possessing, psychological
functioning and social attributes.”
This definition portrays the self as
implicitly and explicitly existing in the
mind composed of psychological,
biological and cultural processes.
Self as Representation
- Ewing (1989) asserted that the
self is illusory
- People construct a series of
self-representations that are
based on selected cultural
concepts of a person and
selected ‘chains’ of personal
memories.
- By self representation, ewing
meant culturally shaped self
concepts that one applies to
oneself (Quinn, 2014).
- People from all cultures have
been observed to be able to
rapidly project different self-
representations, depending on
the context of the situation.
Joseph LeDoux (2002)
conceptualized the implicit and explicit
aspect of the self.
- According to him, “the self is not
static, it is added to and
subtracted from genetic
maturation, learning, forgetting,
stress aging, and disease.”
- Aspects of self
- Implicit - self that you
are consciously aware of.
- Explicit - self that is not
immediately available to
the consciousness.
Self-Embedded in Culture
- How individuals see
themselves, how they relate to
each other, and how they relate
to the environment is deeply
defined by culture.
- The ways of how the self is
developed are bound to cultural
differences.
TWO WAYS OF HOW THE SELF IS
CONSTRUCTED

Independent Construct -
individualistic culture represents the
self as separate, distinct, with
emphasis on internal attributes and
traits.

Interdependent Construct - the

essential connection between the
individual to other people.

Catherine Raeff (2010)

Believes that culture can influence:

Relationships - culture influences

how you enter into and maintain
relationships.

Personality Traits - culture influences

whether (and how) you value traits,
like humility, self-esteem, politeness,
assertiveness and so on.

Achievement - culture influences how

you define success and whatever you
value certain types of individual and
group achievement.

Expressing Emotions - culture

influences what will affect you
emotionally as well as how you
express yourself.