Sociological Perspective of the Self

The Self as the Product of Society

Understanding of the self only arises in relationship, in watching yourself in relation to

people, ideas, and things; to trees, the earth, and the world around you and within you.
Relationship is the mirror in which the self is revealed. Without self-knowledge there is
no basis for right thought and action.
- Jiddu Krishnamurti

 The self, for George Herbert Mead and Charles Horton Cooley, is a product of
social interaction.

Charles Horton Cooley

Looking-Glass Self explains that the people whom a person interacts become a mirror
in which he or she views himself or herself.
Self-identity or self-image is achieved through a threefold event: (1) conceiving and
idea of how a person presents himself or herself to others, (2) how he or she analyzes
how others perceive him or her, and
(3) How he or she creates an image of himself or herself.

Note: It could be critical if he or she thinks that others judge him or her unfavorably
because he could develop a negative self-image

In childhood, the family, friends, teachers, classmates, and peer group exert great
influence in forming a child's self-concept. They constitute his or her primary group or
form a part of what is called 'significant others.' These significant others become
models for the child who usually identifies with them and patterns of their behavior. In
later life, colleagues or co-employees, the boss, the sweetheart, and eventually the
spouse contribute to the process.

This self-development is a life-long process, and personality is thus not fixed

George Herbert Mead

Mead expanded Cooley's ide of the social self by relating the idea of th self-concept to
role taking. He believed that the behavior and perception held by individuals are
influenced by the social groups of which they are members.

2 Division of Self: I and Me

“I” is the subjective element and the active side of the self. It represents the
spontaneous and unique traits of the individual.
“Me” is the objective element of the self that represents the internalized attitudes and
demands of other people and the individual's awareness of those demands.
Mead’s 3 Stages of Development of the Self

1. Preparatory stage - children imitate the people around them and copy behavior
without understanding underlying intentions
2. Play stage - children pretend to take the role of the significant others and those
individuals who are important agents in society
3. Game stage - the self is now present, children understand their social position
and have the ability to respond to numerous members of the social environment.

 The Self as Product of Modern and Postmodern Societies

The attainment and stability of self - identity in modern societies are freely chosen and
no longer stricted by customs and traditions. In the contrary, problems of alienation and
dehumanization became prevalent and hinder the full development of human
potentials.
In postmodern societies, self-identity continuously changes due to the demands of
multitude of social contexts, new information technologies, and globalization. However,
postmodern individuals achieve self-identity through prestige symbols that they
consume. People became insatiable consumer and may never be satisfied in his or her
life.