by Voler Haut

The Self as a Product of Society

We are a child of our own interactions, our surroundings,
our Society. – Ser Christian Capoquian

In today’s lesson, we talked about how society affects the overall characteristics of the person
based on the theories of notable sociologists in the field.

This is my own understanding of the lesson for today.

Self as a Product of the Society

1. Self as a product of Social Interaction

For two sociologists George Herbert Mead and Charles Horton Cooley, the self is a resulting
product of the social interactions of a man. The person’s ‘self’ is dependent on the things which
happened to him / her in life, which includes interaction with others.

1. George Herbert Mead

For George Herbert Mead, the Self is a product of Social Interactions, and that the self is
composed of two aspects: the “I” and the “Me”. He said that the “I” is the subjective part of the
self, and the “Me” is the objective part of the self”.

1. Charles Horton Cooley

On the other hand, George Horton Cooley described the self as a product of social interactions,
and that the ‘self’ defines itself thru the “Looking Glass”, in which the person subconciously
copies the traits of the people whp he interacts with.

Posted on August 29, 2018 by Voler Haut

The Self as a Product of Society

We are a child of our own interactions, our surroundings,
our Society. – Ser Christian Capoquian

In today’s lesson, we talked about how society affects the overall characteristics of the person
based on the theories of notable sociologists in the field.

This is my own understanding of the lesson for today.

Self as a Product of the Society

1. Self as a product of Social Interaction

For two sociologists George Herbert Mead and Charles Horton Cooley, the self is a resulting
product of the social interactions of a man. The person’s ‘self’ is dependent on the things which
happened to him / her in life, which includes interaction with others.

1. George Herbert Mead

For George Herbert Mead, the Self is a product of Social Interactions, and that the self is
composed of two aspects: the “I” and the “Me”. He said that the “I” is the subjective part of the
self, and the “Me” is the objective part of the self”.

1. Charles Horton Cooley

On the other hand, George Horton Cooley described the self as a product of social interactions,
and that the ‘self’ defines itself thru the “Looking Glass”, in which the person subconciously
copies the traits of the people whp he interacts with.

2. Self as a Product of Modern Societies

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Another two sociologists have discussed their views on the self: Gerry Lanuza and Jean
Baudrillard. They said that the self is a product, and is continuously being affected by the
Postmodern Societies. There is freedom, but the problem is there – that some problems may arise
due to the freedom.
 1. Gerry Lanuza

For Gerry Lanuza, he said that the personality of a person or the ‘self’ can be freely chosen by
the prople of Modern Societies, not affe ted by culture and any other factors. Freedom is
emphasized.

1. Jean Baudrillard

For Jean Baudrillard, the self is a product of Postmodern Societies, in which the person follows a
rule that he has to go in accordance to the prestigious symbols that the society consume.

by Voler Haut

Psychological Perspective of the Self

Psychologists believe that the self has a deeper meaning – explained by their theories that
apply to the real world, and how we see our own selves among others.

Today, Dr. Varela shared the perspectives of the two psychologists who have their own
understanding and explanation of the self.

William James: Concept of Self

 James believed that the path to understanding the self is through introspection or the deep,
intensive and critical analysis and evaluation of a person in his own self. He noted that in the
concept of the self, there are two parts: the “I” Self and the “Me” self.
The “I” self refers to the person who knows himself, has an understanding of the things that he
does and his actions towards the different aspects of life. It is also the thinking self, and may also
be called as the “pure ego”.
The “Me” self, on the other hand, is the “empirical self”, which describes the person’s
experiences and has a sub-categories which are: Material Self (body, clothes, house, materials
that belong to the person), Social Self (Who, how a person interact on social situations) and
Spiritual Self (purpose, motives, emotions, values, conscience and moral behavior of the person).

Carl Roger: Self Theory: Real Self and Ideal Self

Carl Roger, another psychologist, have shared his knowledge on his understanding of the self
through his theory of the self that refers to the two versions of the self, which are the “Real self”
and the “Ideal self”.
Roger referred to the self concept as another aspect of the self understanding. It refers to the
image of oneself, and defined the self as a flexible and changing perception of personal identity.
In line with this, he noted that the self develops from interactions with significant people and self
awareness, and that human beings are always aiming for self-fulfillment or actualization, and
when the needs of the self are not satisfied, severe anxiety may result.
He also noted that that closer the ideal self to real self (congruent), the more fulfilled and happy a
person becomes, and the farther the ideal self to the real self (incongruent), the person may lead
to unhappy and dissatisfied self.

by Voler Haut

Nature of the Self
I came into a realization that the self is simply just
“Who.We.Are.”
 

Understanding of the self begins with critically examining our life.

In today’s lesson, Dr. Varela discussed with us the Nature of the Self in which the different
phenomenon that happens within oneself has a relation to the things done by that particular
person.

As I can remember, we have talked about two major things today. The Self Concept and the Self
Perception. This is my own understanding of the lesson today.

The Nature of Self

1. Self Concept

The Self Concept is all about the frame of a person. It is an understanding of the  self in different
aspects, as what we have talked about in the earlier discussions. This is just a brief explanation of
what I understood in this part.

2. Self Perception

The self perception is the way a person looks into his own self. It consists of three kinds of Self
Perception with their own explanations.
 1. Actual Self

The Actual self is what makes a person. It is the overall list of the traits of a person. Actual, or
literal self. It consists of the traits a person already have, and these traits are either positive or
negative.

1. Ideal Self

Ideal self is the collection of traits that a person wants to acquire.

1. Ought to Self

Ought to Self is the collection of traits that a person thinks he should have. What he requires of
himself.

If the Ideal Self and Ought to Self are in good terms, then the Actual self or overall
characteristics of the self will be a better one.

https://volerhautian.wordpress.com/2018/08/20/nature-of-the-self/