TOPIC 2: SOCIOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE

Gladys Lavarias, MA

Choose your self-presentations carefully, for what starts out as a mask may
become your face” – Erving Goffman

How would you answer the question “Who are you?” How would you introduce
yourself to a person or a group when it’s your first time to meet or interact with
them? Would you be very willing to share and open-up your true self, or would
you have some limitations first?

This topic (for 3 hours) on the sociological perspective of the self will let you
explore the importance of the self in relation to the society. It will let you examine
how your attitudes and behavior is influenced by social interactions and
relationships. And as you try to understand fully yourself, this topic will facilitate
you to accept and be more tolerant of the differences that you have and that of
others for you to live in a harmonious way and be productive in society.

Sociology is the study of society, patterns of social relationships, social

interaction and culture of everyday life. Man is a
social being, who is born into existence in a
community before he is able to know himself.
Early in life, as children, you become aware of
your social nature. And it is through
socialization that begins in the family that you
are exposed to behavior, social rules, and
attitudes that lead to social development. And it
is through social institutions – family, school,
church, and the community you interact with
every day, that will lead you to your deeper
understanding of your social identity – that of www.pinterest.ph
understanding your social self.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

At the end of this lesson, you will be able to:

1. define the self from a sociological perspective;

2. appreciate the importance of the socialization process in the development
of the self;
3. evaluate the process of understanding the self, using the different
sociological theories and concepts on self-development; and
4. interpret the theory of Mead on the development of the self in terms of the
differences of the “I” and the “Me” through examples.
 SOCIALIZING THE INDIVIDUAL

Personality Development

In what ways are you like all other people? In what ways are you only like some
other people? In what ways are you like no other people? In this topic you will
examine the importance of the sociological self to look at what brings about the
similarities and differences among people through the uniqueness of personality.

What is personality? The concept of personality is a descriptive one. It describes

how an individual adapts to his or her cultural surroundings. Personality is the
basic organization of individuals that determines the uniqueness of their behavior.
The basic organization refers to the structure of the personality – how it is put
together, and the relationships among the various parts. It consists of the total
physical, intellectual, and emotional structure of the individual. Each one is
unique. Your total personality structure will determine your particular way of
behaving. Each one of you has your own way of interacting with others and with
your social environment.

Some Aspects of Personality

1. Physical characteristics – physical appearance is the most obvious

physical appearance
part of an individual’s personality. Are you short or tall, fat or thin,
light or dark in complexion, black or brown hair, a pointed or flat
nose? These characteristics are inherited but can be altered by your
culture. This will be further discussed in the topic of the physical self
as people make efforts to change their appearance in order to fulfill the
desired cultural values.

skills 2. Abilities – are skills that are developed within the culture. For
example, one may develop ability in playing sepak takraw or football,
to paint or do beadwork, to program computers or use an abacus. Other
than abilities, you have the capacity to learn skills, or to acquire a
particular body of knowledge – your aptitude. Aptitude is more related
to heredity, as abilities are always related to culture.

3. Interests – acquired from various kinds of things. You all differ in

attitudes, values, preferences,
superstitions, prejudices,
& knowledge
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. Some are based on fact, others are not. But all beliefs
are related to the culture and learned from others in the society.
 routines 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. These are learned from others and
help you distinguish one person’s behavior from others. And almost all
of your habits are related to your culture.

The Influence of Heredity and Environment

Is it “nature or nurture”? If culture affects all aspects of your personality, what

role then does heredity play in your personality development?

1. Heredity – characteristics that are innate, present at birth – physical

characteristics, like hair, skin, and eye color and body size. It is the
characteristics present at birth; genetic transmitting of genetic characteristics from your parents to you. We
characteristics inherit basic needs and capacities. As human beings, we have
biological drives. Our hunger drive makes us want to eat. But drives
do not dictate our specific behavior. The hunger drive doesn’t tell us
when, what, or how to eat. You learn those things from other human
beings within your culture.

Heredity gives you biological needs. Your culture determines how you
meet these needs. Heredity plays an important role in shaping human
personalities by setting limits on individuals. For example, if you were
born with a five-foot frame, you are not likely to become a
professional basketball player. On the other hand, it is not a guarantee
that you’ll become one even if you are seven feet tall. Inherited
characteristics place limits on what is possible, but it will not
determine what you will do and what kind of personality you will
have.

2. Birth order – your personality is also influenced by whether you have

brothers, sisters, both, or neither. Were you born first, last, or in
between? Do you have only sisters – or only brothers – or both? Think
about ways in which your own life situation could have been different,
and how your personality might have been affected by these factors.

3. Parents – another difference within the family that can influence a

person’s personality is the age of the parents. How might you be
affected by your parents’ age? Parents amount of education, religious
beliefs, ethnic backgrounds, economic/social status, occupations, and
communities in which they live, all contribute to the personality
development of an individual.

4. Subcultures – a subculture is a portion of a society that has enough

characteristics of its own to set it apart, and yet is included within the
general society. Identify a subculture different from your own.
 Imagine growing up in it. What would your family life, interests,
values, and beliefs might be like? How might your personality be
influenced?

5. The cultural environment – every culture is different. These cultural

differences affect your personality development. It is cultural
environment that makes individuals human. It makes you embrace
your similarities and celebrate your differences.

Research and few recorded evidences show that children or individuals

who were raised without the influence of a cultural environment
resulted to having no human characteristics except in their appearance.
No reasoning, no manners, no abilities even in controlling bodily
functions or to move like human beings. Your personality – our
humanity – comes from our cultural environment.

LET’S PRACTICE

Try This! Read a Bit

Read the following additional reading material on the influence of heredity and
environment in personality development, the 10 Heartbreaking Stories of Feral
Children.

You can have it be downloaded at https://www.toptenz.net/top-10-feral-

children.php

Then answer the following questions after reading the material:

a. What is a feral child?

b. Who coined the term “nature vs. nurture”?
c. Differentiate “nature vs. nurture” by giving examples to show its
importance in your sociological and personality development?
d. Which is more important in developing your self – nature or nurture?
Defend your answer.

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. This process of cultural molding, how individuals learn the basic
skills, values, beliefs, and behavior patterns of the society, is called socialization.
 The Socialization Process

The following theories will help you understand how we become socialized and
develop our identity, or self.
tabula rasa
1. JOHN LOCKE (1632-1704)

John Locke was an English

thru socialization process, philosopher who insisted that each
you developed your social newly born individual was a tabula
self rasa – or clean slate, on which could
be written just about anything. He
claimed that you are born without
social self is the way that you qualities. You develop your
see yourselves as a result of personality as a result of your
interacting with others experiences. The basic assumptions
about socialization are related to
Locke’s views. Most sociologists
think of socialization as a process by
which you absorb those aspects of https://oll.libertyfund.org/people/john-locke
your culture with which you come
into contact. Through the socialization
process, you develop your social self. 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.

2. CHARLES HORTON COOLEY (1864-1929)

American sociologist
Charles Horton Cooley was an
American sociologist who developed
the theory about the social self. He
observed that you only begin to have a
looking glass theory sense of your own self – of who you
are and what you are like – after you
Observed that you only begin notice how others see you.
to have a sense of your own
self - of who you are & what According to Cooley, a newborn baby
you are like, after you notice has no sense of person or place.
how others see you
Various people – parents, brothers,
a newborn have no sense of sisters, other family members, and
person or place; various peoplefriends – interact with the baby. These
(mother, siblings etc) people as they relate to the baby http://www.greatthoughtstreasury.com/author/char
interact with the baby they provide the infant with a mirror that les-horton-cooley
provide the infant an image;
they contributed child's sense
reflects the infant’s image. The image
of ability reflected back is created during the interaction between the baby and the other
people. This theory puts a great deal of responsibility on parents and others who
have contact with children. They contribute to the child’s sense of ability or
social interaction is a kind of
looking glass that reflects yourself back to you-
but only if you are interpreted by others whom you interact what they see is what you are
you're continually changing your personality
as you adjusted your self-image base on
how the society viewed you
inability depending on the way they interact with the child. He called his theory
“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. How do you react when others
see you differently from the way you see yourself?

How the Looking-Glass Self Works

3.

3. GEORGE HERBERT MEAD (1863-1931)

https://www.pinterest.ph/pin/4433299612933920/?lp=true

seeing yourselves as other see

you is the only beginning According to George Herbert Mead,
seeing yourselves as others see you is
only the beginning. Eventually, you
but actually take the role of not only come to see yourselves as
the other others see you, but actually “take the
role of the other”. Mead believes that
all of us come into contact with two
we are contacted with 2 kinds
of people; kinds of people – “significant others”
significant others - your – they are from your earlier contacts;
earlier contacts (relatives); people who are most important to you;
generalized others 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 https://www.enotes.com/topics/george-herbert-mead
are, rather than just for what they can
do for you; and “generalized others”.

a) Significant others and the I-self – from these relationships you develop
the I-self. The I-self does not depend on your role or where you are. You
I self- doesn't depend on your
role or where you are ; subjective, personal & constant
 you can act in a way that is not expected in your role

may be in class, in the mall shopping, with your friends, or working. You
are something more than what your role as a student, shopper, and so on
indicates. It is subjective, or personal, and entirely constant. You can act in
a way that is not expected of someone in your role because of your I-self.
As you grow, you begin to expand beyond the significant others of the
family. When you were kids, while playing the “bahay-bahayan”, you
realize that one can take the role of a mother or a father. At this point, you
begin to realize that there is more than one mother and one father. You see
mothers and fathers as “generalized others” – people or roles to whom
you relate in a more abstract, general way.

a Generalized others and the me-self – in playing the game “bahay-

roles can be generalized, can be b)
mother and a father as well
me self is an objective social
identity
bahayan”, each child takes on not only his or her own role, but also the
role of the other. The father must be able to play (in his head) the role of
mother as well. He must anticipate her responses and understand her
duties and expectations. Likewise, the mother also mentally plays the role
of the father. This can be seen in your role as a student, you relate to your
teacher by anticipating the kinds of responses your teacher is likely to
make. Human interaction and communication depend on the existence of
many generalized others. The me-self is directly related to a particular
social situation. We have many me-selves as the number of roles we
occupy. It comes from our continual interaction with our social
environment. It is our objective social identity.

The I-Self and the Me-Self

I-Self Me-Self
The result of your subjective, private
Comes from your objective, social self
self (personal)
Self as subject Self as object
Self-expression Conformity
Objective behavior that is quite
Subjective behavior, quite constant
predictable
How you act according to the rules and
Your unique personal qualities, your
expectations of a specific role in a
individual impulses
given situation

To summarize, your personality is socially created, and develops through social

interaction. Each time you step into a social situation, you respond to your
surroundings. And you add to that your unique experiences. This combination
produces your social self.