U N I T 1 -T H E S E L F F R O M

VAR I O U S P E R S P E C T I V E S
LO GIC AL P ERSP E CTIVE
TOPIC 2: SOCIO
ACTIVATING YOUR PRIOR KNOWLEDGE
IMAGINE YOU ARE A NEW STUDENT IN A LARGE LECTURE HALL ON
THE FIRST DAY OF A UNIVERSITY COURSE. THE PROFESSOR HAS
JUST BEGUN THE CLASS, AND THE ROOM IS FILLED WITH STUDENTS
YOU'VE NEVER MET BEFORE. THE PROFESSOR ANNOUNCES THAT AS
PART OF AN ICEBREAKER ACTIVITY, EACH STUDENT WILL HAVE TO
INTRODUCE THEMSELVES, SHARE THEIR NAME, MAJOR, AND AN
INTERESTING FACT ABOUT THEMSELVES WITH THE ENTIRE CLASS.
HOW WOULD YOU INTRODUCE YOURSELF
SO WHY WE NEED TO UNDERSTAND OUR SELVES
THROUGH SOCIOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE?
THE BASIC INSIGHT OF SOCIOLOGY IS THAT HUMAN BEHAVIOR IS
SHAPED BY THE GROUPS TO WHICH PEOPLE BELONG AND BY THE
SOCIAL INTERACTION THAT TAKES PLACE WITHIN THOSE
GROUPS. WE ARE WHO WE ARE AND WE BEHAVE THE WAY WE DO
BECAUSE WE HAPPEN TO LIVE IN A PARTICULAR SOCIETY AT A
PARTICULAR POINT IN SPACE AND TIME.
SOCIALIZATION is a continuing process whereby
an individual acquires a personal identity and
learns the norms, values, behavior, and social
skills appropriate to his or her social position.
WHAT CAN YOU
SAY ABOUT
THIS?
PERSONALITY DEVELOPMENT
The word personality comes from the Latin word persona. In the ancient
world, a persona was a mask worn by an actor. While we tend to think of a
mask as being worn to conceal one’s identity, the theatrical mask was
originally used to either represent or project a specific personality trait of a
character.

Personality is the basic organization of individuals that determines the

uniqueness of their behavior. It consists of the total physical, intellectual,
and emotional structure of the individual.
SOME ASPECTS OF PERSONALITY

1. Physical characteristics – physical

appearance is the most obvious part
of an individual’s personality.

2. Abilities – are skills that are

developed within the culture.
SOME ASPECTS OF PERSONALITY
3. Interests – acquired from various kinds of things. You all
differ in your interests. The things that you become
interested in depend on the cultural alternatives that are
available – and an awareness of your existence.

4. Beliefs – about yourself, your friends, nature, religion, work,

etc. It also includes attitudes, values, preferences,
superstitions, prejudices, and knowledge.

5. Habits – are regular, routine ways of thinking, feeling, or

behaving. This can be observed in ways of dressing, eating,
interacting with others, and in your everyday tasks.
“KUNG ANO ANG PUNO, SIYA RIN ANG BUNGA”
HEREDITY OR ENVIRONMENT?

Is it “nature or nurture”? If
culture affects all aspects of
your personality, what role
then does heredity play in
your personality
development?
THE SOCIAL SELF
At birth, you cannot talk, walk, feed
yourselves, or even protect yourself
from harm. You know nothing about
the ways of your culture or society.
Then, through interaction with other
people and your environment, you
are developed into individuals who
have knowledge of your culture –
you become participants of your
society.
JOHN LOCKE
The social self is the way that you see yourselves as a result of
interacting with others. You begin to have a sense of your own self
from your daily interactions with other people

• JOHN LOCKE WAS AN ENGLISH PHILOSOPHER WHO INSISTED

THAT EACH NEWLY BORN INDIVIDUAL WAS A TABULA RASA
– OR CLEAN SLATE, ON WHICH COULD BE WRITTEN JUST
ABOUT ANYTHING. HE CLAIMED THAT YOU ARE BORN
WITHOUT QUALITIES. YOU DEVELOP YOUR PERSONALITY AS
A RESULT OF YOUR EXPERIENCES.

• ENVIRONMENT AND AN INDIVIDUAL'S SURROUNDINGS

ARE ESSENTIAL IN FORMING HUMAN TRAITS.
CHARLES HORTON COOLEY
• CHARLES HORTON COOLEY WAS AN AMERICAN SOCIOLOGIST WHO DEVELOPED THE
THEORY ABOUT THE SOCIAL SELF. HE OBSERVED THAT YOU ONLY BEGIN TO HAVE A
SENSE OF YOUR OWN SELF – OF WHO YOU ARE AND WHAT YOU ARE LIKE – AFTER YOU
NOTICE HOW OTHERS SEE YOU.

• ADVOCATED “THE LOOKING GLASS THEORY”. SOCIAL INTERACTION IS A KIND OF

LOOKING GLASS THAT REFLECTS YOURSELF BACK TO YOU – BUT ONLY AFTER YOU ARE
INTERPRETED BY THOSE WITH WHOM YOU INTERACT.

• ACCORDING TO COOLEY, YOU ARE AS OTHER PEOPLE SEE YOU. YOU CAN ONLY SEE
YOURSELVES ONLY AS OTHERS SEE YOU. AND WHAT THEY SEE IS WHAT YOU ARE. YOU
ARE CONTINUALLY CHANGING YOUR PERSONALITY AS YOU ADJUST YOUR SELF-
IMAGE TO THE WAY YOU ARE VIEWED BY THE REST OF SOCIETY.
The Looking-Glass Self theory is also known as
Symbolic Interactionism. It explains a formation
of your self image through a reflection. As
infants, human beings form their very selves
from the reflections and responses gained by
their earliest behaviors visited upon the "other,"
or any participant in one's earliest socialization.

The three main components of this theory are:

1. One imagines how they appear to others;
2. One imagines the judgment that others may
be making regarding that appearance, and
3. One develops a self-image via their
reflection; that is, the judgments or critique
of others.
 Seeing yourselves as others see you is only the

GEORGE HERBERT MEAD beginning. you not only come to see yourselves
as others see you, but actually “take the role of
the other”.

Mead believes that all of us come into contact with two kinds of people –
“significant others” and “generalized others”.

Significant Others - they are from your earlier contacts; people who are most
important to you; they know you and love you for what you are – parents,
brothers and sisters, relatives, and close friends; they are important to you
because of who they are, rather than just for what they can do for you.

Generalized Others - other individual members of the same social group, or

from the generalised standpoint of the social group as a whole to which you
belong
THE I-SELF AND THE ME-SELF
I-Self Me-Self
The result of your subjective, private self
Comes from your objective, social self
(personal)
Self as subject Self as object
Self-expression Conformity

Subjective behavior, quite constant Objective behavior that is quite predictable

Your unique personal qualities, your How you act according to the rules and
individual impulses expectations of a specific role in a given situation
REFERENCE

CSU UTS MODULE