BOLUS, JON BRYAN ERICK C.

BSED ENGLISH – 1B UNDERSTANDING THE SELF

The Sociological Perspective: The Self as a Product of Society

Explain what sociology tells about understanding the self.

Before anything else, let's define sociology as a social science that aims to study how society
impacts human behavior. The idea that both social interaction within groups and the groups to
which individuals belong affect how people behave is a fundamental one in sociology. We are
who we are and behave the way we do because we happen to exist in a particular civilization at a
particular location in space and time. The sociological perspective pushes us to critically
examine the surroundings we are accustomed to since people have a tendency to embrace their
social atmosphere as something that comes "naturally." It motivates us to adopt new perspectives
on the world and explore our social circumstances with the same curiosity we have for unusual,
other cultures. We can investigate facets of society through the study of sociology that we might
otherwise ignore or misinterpret. Sociology enables us to respect and comprehend viewpoints
that differ from our own because our perception of the world is influenced by our personal
experiences, and because people with various social experiences have varied opinions about
what comprises social reality.

Discuss how individuals view the self as a product of socialization.

We all socialize and spend time with our friends, classmates, and other individuals as part of
our daily lives. We learn about ourselves and how each person thinks themselves as a result of
socialization in this way. I believe that we are born innocent, and that as we grow older and
interact with others, we begin to adopt and develop characteristics that characterize our inner
self. According to sociologists Mead and Cooley, the self is the consequence of social interaction
rather than biological predisposition. Interactions between individuals, organizations, or social
structures, they claim, shape each person's distinctive image of self.

Explain George Herbert Mead’s theory of Social Self.

Mead believes that the individual comes from social experience. Mead values community
existence above individual consciousness. To achieve self-awareness, one must first participate
in different social positions within society. Only then can one use that experience to accept the
opinions of others. According to Mead, children go through several stages as they develop a
sense of self. First, there is imitation. Initially, children can only imitate the words and acts of
others. Second, in terms of gameplay. Children begin pretending to be teachers or police officers,
assuming the roles of significant individuals in their lives. Third, youngsters learn their position
in relation to others and how to perform everyone's role in the game through games. Fourth,
Generalized Others are societal attitudes and expectations that a child learns and subsequently
incorporates into his actions. Lastly, there is the dual nature of the self. Mead views the mind as
the one-of-a-kind imposition of a social process. This process is referred to by Mead as the "I"
and the "me," with the "I" referring to how you view yourself or your actual self and the "me"
referring to how others see you or how you want others to see you.

Explain Charles Horton Cooley’s Looking-glass Self theory.

The process through which individuals evaluate themselves based on how others perceive
them is known as the "looking-glass self," and it consists of three major components. We begin
by imagining how we should appear to others. Second, we picture how that appearance will be
judged. Third, we grow as a result of the opinions of others. This self-evaluation influences a
person's opinion of their own value or self-esteem. The looking-glass self hypothesis states that
we learn about ourselves by evaluating how others perceive us. The "self reflected in the mirror"
is merely a reflection of reality. People frequently assume that their physical attractiveness and
appearance play a role in their happiness. People's behavior is influenced by the expectations of
others and society. Our own thoughts and acts are a reflection of our perceptions of other
people's thoughts and actions. The way a person perceives himself as perceived by others
influences their attitude. People are self-consistent, according to the looking-glass self-theory.

Discuss the self as a product of modern and post modern societies.

Modernization is the destruction of the self (MANHEIM) and it also delocalizes the self.
People tend to be more impersonal and leads to destruction of the traditional way of life. From
the limitations of imposed by society before, people nowadays are already free to seek their own
identity. Thus, their selves gets “delocalize”. Gerry Lanuza contends that in modern cultures, the
self is freely chosen because different societies, which also contain social settings or obstacles,
have varied expectations. It also discusses one's freedom, prospects, and internal concerns.
Individuals grow increasingly essential as societies modernize, eventually becoming supplanted.
The basic unit of society is the family, community, or work group. The division of labor that
characterizes industrialisation is also applied to institutions as they become more specialized.
According to sociologist Jean Baudrillard, individuals in postmodern civilizations are aware of
their own social status in the world and purchase high-end items to avoid falling behind. The
problems the postmodern society are, Conformity rules or the authenticity of the self is
threatened as a result of new found freedom. The Artificial self, that according to Marx, human
beings are being hainted and gets alienated to their own self as an effect to the images they
created. Body images, the objectification of the body removes human qualities in man.

What is a Johari Window?

The Johari Window is a framework for understanding both conscious and unconscious
bias, which can help us understand ourselves and others better. It was created by two
psychologists, Joseph Luft and Harrington Ingham, who named it after their combined first
names. It contains the concept of OPEN SELF or AREA, which refers to the portion of our
conscious selves that we are aware of and that others are aware of. Our attitudes, habits, motives,
beliefs, and way of life are all part of this. We have unlimited freedom within this place.
Adjectives chosen only by the subjects' peers, such as BLIND SPOT, belong here. You are
oblivious to your own being, but others are. You are aware of yourself but are concealed from
others in the HIDDEN AREA. UNKNOWN AREA, descriptors chosen by neither the subject
nor the peers. They indicate subject's behaviors or intentions that no one participating recognizes,
either because they do not apply or because these features are collectively unknown.