s

COURSE MATERIAL 6
Prepared by:
This course material has been designed for students to:
Rhodora C. Amora
• Develop profound insights in the understanding of
human behavior

• Develop multicultural sensitivity by showing respect

to and acceptance of ethnic diversity

• Develop greater self- awareness through self-

reflection

• Enhance the use on-line resources through critical

evaluation of valid and credible resources that will
supplement classroom learning

• Develop self-appreciation through heightened self-

awareness and increase of self-knowledge 1
 TABLE OF CONTENTS

3 ANTHROPOLOGICAL
PERSPECTIVE

PRETEST

4 LEARNING OUTCOMES

REQUIRED MATERIALS &

RESOURCES

5 PRE-ACTIVITY

CONTENT and DISCUSSION

9 ASSESSMENT ACTIVITIES

10 POSTTEST

SUMMARY

KEY TERMS

12 REFERENCES

13 CHECK MY LEARNING 2
 ANTHROPOLOGICAL
PERSPECTIVE
MODULE 6

If you will be asked to give at least ten words to describe yourself, what would these be?
What dominant theme would probably emerge from your self-descriptions? Would it be
referring to your internal attributes, such as traits, abilities, values, and attitudes or would it
be referring to your attachment to your social group. This lesson will provide us a holistic
approach in viewing our self from the standpoint of anthropology, specifically, cultural
anthropology.

Pretest: Arrange the jumbled letters to form a word.

1. It refers to an object made by a human being, typically an item of cultural or historical interest.

F I A A R T T C

2. In a process called natural selection, he stated that only the most adaptable individuals or groups
survive.

N D I A R W

3. It refers to the study of the history and structure of language.

G I L I S S C I T U N

3
4. These cultures are those that stress the needs of the individual (“me’) over the needs of the group.
I V D I A U L S I D N T C I

5. __________________or rebirth, refers to a potentially endless series of worldly existences in which every
being is involved.

A R A S M A S

Learning Outcomes

At the end of this lesson, the students are expected to:

1. differentiate egocentric from sociocentric self;

2. analyze one’s personal construal;
3. analyze the advantages and disadvantages of two dimensions of identity found in a given
culture; and
4. reflect on how one’s cultural background activate dominant self-construal.

Required Materials and Resources

❖ Laptop
❖ Online Resources

4
 Pre-Activities

The following words describe the characteristic of a person in a given culture. Cross out
the word that does not belong to the following groups of words:

❖ 1.Megalomaniac
Megalomaniac
altruistic altruistic
self-serving self-serving
individualist individualist
❖ Philanthropic Self-absorbed vainglorious self-centered
❖ 2.Narcissistic
Philanthropic pompous Self-absorbedegoistic vainglorious
self-effacing self-centered
❖ self-aggrandizer society oriented communal neighborly
❖ 3.linkage
Narcissistic alliance pompousopposition egoistic interconnection self-effacing

4. self-aggrandizer society oriented communal neighborly

5. linkage alliance opposition interconnection

Content and Discussion

1. Definition and Nature of Anthropology

Anthropology is the study of humanity, though a major focus area is culture. It uses an
approach known as holism in the study human beings. The idea of holism is that things are
viewed as a complex web of connections and relationships.
(https://study.com/academy/lesson/holistic-perspective-in-anthropology-definition-
approach).

It can be likened to an approach in maintaining good health by which a person follows

the doctor’s advice, takes the prescribed medicine, uses some herbal medicines also while
observing a healthy lifestyle by exercising regularly and eating nutritious food daily

5
The word anthropology is derived from two Greek words: anthropos meaning “man”
or “human” and logos, meaning “thought” or “reason.” Anthropologists investigate the
whole range of human development and behavior, including biological variation,
geographic distribution, evolutionary history, cultural history, and social
relationships(https://kids.britannica.com/students/article/anthropology/272896.)

2. Subfields of Anthropology

There are four subfields of anthropology. These are the following:

a. Archaeology is the study of human culture by analyzing the objects people have made.
They study these in order to understand how people used and changed their natural
environments.
Examples: pottery, remains of animals and plants, and soils where people have
lived, location of the house, human bones and teeth.

b. Biological anthropology seeks to understand how humans adapt to different

environments, what causes disease and early death, and how humans evolved from other
animals. Through their works, biological anthropologists have shown that, while humans
do vary in their biology and behavior, they are more like one another than different.

Examples:

o They study humans (living and dead), other primates such as monkeys and apes,
and human ancestors (fossils).
o They are also interested in how biology and culture work together to shape our
lives.
o They are interested in explaining the similarities and differences that are found
among humans across the world.

c. Linguistic anthropology studies the many ways people communicate across the globe.
Specifically, linguistic anthropologists are interested into the following:

o how language is linked to how we see the world and how we relate to each other.

6
 o how language works in all its different forms, and how it changes over time;
o how we use language in our lives and how it builds and shares meaning, to form or
change identities, and to make or change relations of power; and
o for linguistic anthropologists, language and communication are keys to how we
make society and culture.

d. Cultural anthropology deals primarily with the development of human societies in the
world. It is a study of group behavior, the origins of religion, social customs and
conventions, technical developments, and family relationships. Cultural anthropologists are
interested in the following:

o group’s folklore by collecting its oral history( Oral histories are constructed from a
society’s poems, songs, myths, proverbs, and folk tales.); and
o the origin and development of human societies in all their complexity.

3.Culture and the Self

The two sides of identity found in any person in any given culture.

a. Egocentric Self

o the natural human tendency “to view everything within the world in relationship
to oneself, to be self-centered” (Webster's New World Dictionary)

o one who has no regard for the feelings or desires of others

o each person is viewed as a separate entity with characteristics which reside within
an individual.

b. Sociocentric Self
o focuses on one’s own social group; socially oriented

o personal qualities are embodied in social setting, hence, a person get his/her
identity from the group

7
 4.Culture and Self-construal

Self-construal refers to how individuals view themselves at a fundamental level;

whether they view themselves as primarily separate from or integrally connected to others
(Markus and Kitayama, 1991)

What is culture’s role in self-construal?

o culture dramatically shapes peoples’ self-views

o researchers have argued that individuals possess both independent and
interdependent self-construal’s but that the cultural context fosters the development
of one’s dominant self-construal (e.g., Markus and Kitayama 1991; Triandis 1989;
Singelis 1994). In other words, culture can help to determine and activate one’s
dominant self-construal.
o
o Interdependent Vs. Independent Self-Construals
o

o
Interdependent Independent
o
o focus
o strongly on their o represents the self primarily
relationships
o with others in terms of internal attributes,
o concerned
o with the ways in traits, and attitudes that do
which
o . they can benefit their not depend on their
social
o group relationships with others
o define their self-concept in o highlights one’s uniqueness
terms of their close from others
relationships, social roles, o e.g. “I am creative.”
and group memberships “I am smart”
o e.g. I am a daughter.
I am a member of JPIA.

8
 Assessment Activities

SELF-ASSESSMENT ACTIVITY (SAA)1

In one paragraph, explain briefly but clearly the advantages and disadvantages of
egocentric and socio-centric selves respectively.

SELF-ASSESSMENT ACTIVITY (SAA)2

With the use of a diagram, analyze and reflect on your self-construal. Which one is the
more dominant one? How did your cultural background activate the dominant self-construal?

9
Online Resources and Activity
Read and summarize (minimum of one paragraph only) a topic on self-construal published
in e-journal or online journal (e.g. Google scholar). Choose one which was published five
years from the recent year. Write your complete source/reference using APA citation.

Rubric

BELOW EXPECT-
OUTSTANDING PROFICIENT BASIC
INDICATOR ATION SCORE
4 3 2
1

KNOWLEDGE
The student The student The student The student
demonstrates demonstrates demonstrates demonstrates
50% high degree of considerable basic limited
understanding of understanding understanding of understanding
the concept. of the concept. the concept. of the concept.

Explanation is
Explanation is generally Explanation
organized and organized and provided needs
CONTENT logically logically some
presented. presented. improvement in
40% organization and The answer
presentation. needs revision.

Cited literature/s Cited Cited literatures

validate/s the literature/s have little
response. has/have connection to the
connection to findings.
the
explanation.

Response has 4 Typographical,

Response has no Response has 2-3
-5 spelling, and
MECHANICS typographical, typographical,
typographical, grammatical
spelling, and spelling, and
10% spelling, and errors hinder
grammatical grammatical
grammatical understanding
errors. errors.
errors. of the response.

10
POSTTEST
Multiple Choice. Choose the letter of your answer. (The link for the online quiz will
be given prior to the administration of the quiz.)

LESSON SUMMARY

• Anthropologists investigate the whole range of human development and behavior, including
biological variation, geographic distribution, evolutionary history, cultural history, and social
relationships.
• Anthropology study humanity based on holism.
• The two sides of identity found in any person in any culture are the egocentric and sociocentric
selves.
• Culture strongly determines and activates our dominant self-construal

KEY TERMS

Anthropology Cultural Anthropology

Holism Biological Anthropology
Self-construal Linguistic Anthropology
Egocentric Independent Self-construal
Sociocentric Interdependent Self-construal

11
 REFERENCES

Websites
https://link.springer.com/referenceworkentry/10.1007%2F978-3-319-28099-
8_1136-1
https://study.com/academy/lesson/holistic-perspective-in-anthropology-definition-
approach.html
https://kids.britannica.com/students/article/anthropology/272896
http://homes.chass.utoronto.ca/~oflahert/ANT325/Overheads/selfhood.html
Webster's New World Dictionary

https://prezi.com/d3ok-7qam4mu/the-egocentric-and-sociocentric-
self/#:~:text=The%20Egocentric%20View&text=In%20the%20EGOcentric%20societ
y%20a,of%20others%3B%20self%2Dcentered.
Cross references
Markus, H. R., & Kitayama, S. (1991). Culture and the self: Implications for cognition,
emotion and motivation. Psychological Review, 98, 224–253. doi: 10.1037/0033-
295X.98.2.224.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

Triandis, H. C. (1989). The self and social behavior in differing cultural

contexts. Psychological Review, 96, 506–520. doi: 10.1037/0033-
295X.96.3.506.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Singelis, T. M. (1994). The measurement of independent and interdependent self-
construals. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 20, 580–591.
doi: 10.1177/0146167294205014.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

12
 CHECK MY LEARNING

Pretest

1. Artifacts
2. Darwin
3. Linguistics
4. Individualistic
5. Samsara
Preactivity

1. Altruistic
2. Philanthropic
3. Self-effacing
4. Self-aggrandizer
5. Opposition

Self-Assessment Activity (SAA)1. Answer may vary.

Self-Assessment Activity (SAA)2. Answer may vary.

13