ANTHROPOLOGICAL

PERSPECTIVE OF THE SELF

INTRODUCTION
 To Anthropologists, a person is composed of
composite levels or the stratigraphic conception
of the relations among psychological, social,
biological, physical and cultural factors.
INTRODUCTION
 People can be viewed as a biological
creature whose life processes are similar
in many ways to those of animals.
 People can also be viewed as
psychological beings, products of
conscious and subconscious drives,
feelings and ideas.
 People can also be social beings, parts of
interactional systems and social groups.
INTRODUCTION
 By studying all these elements, we are be
able to understand self.
 For instance, people’s physical
characteristics affect the kind of culture
they build and the ways in which they
relate to fellow human beings. (vice
versa)
 Such is one of the priority of the
Anthropologists: to discover the
interrelationships between various
scientific models of the human being.
(*see figure above)
 An influential American Clifford Geertz
anthropologist who is (1926 – 2006)
known mostly for his
strong support for and
influence on the practice
of symbolic
anthropology, professor
emeritus at the Institute
for Advanced Study,
Princeton.

 Considered for three

decades as the single
most influential cultural
anthropologist in the US.
CULTURE is “a historically
transmitted pattern of
meanings embodied in
symbols, a system of
inherited conceptions
expressed in symbolic
forms by means of which
men communicate,
perpetuate, and develop
their knowledge about
and their attitudes
toward life” (Geertz
1973d:89).
Symbolism is the use of symbols to
signify ideas and qualities by giving
them symbolic meanings that are
different from their literal sense.
Symbolism can take different
forms. Generally, it is an object
representing another to give it an
entirely different meaning that is
much deeper and more significant.
Symbolic anthropology or, more broadly,
symbolic and interpretive anthropology
 is the study of cultural symbols and how
those symbols can be used to better understand a
particular society.
Cultural Anthropology is
the study of human cultures,
beliefs, practices, values, ideas,
technologies, economies and other
domains of social and cognitive
organization.
Geertz believed the role of
anthropologists was to try to interpret
the guiding symbols of each culture.

He was considered quite 'innovative

in this regard, as he was one of the
earliest scholars to see that the
insights provided by common
language, philosophy and literary
analysis could have major explanatory
force in the social sciences.
THE SELF EMBEDDED IN CULTURE
 There are statements that people make,
that constitute the self, such as attitudes (I
like reading), beliefs (I think that smoking
results in poor health), intentions (I plan to
do skating), norms (in my group people
should act this way), and values (I think
equality is very important).
 These statements can either be
shared or universal and heavily
influenced by cultures.
THE SELF EMBEDDED IN CULTURE
 Triandis’ 3 aspects of the self:
 The Private Self  refers to cognitions that
involve traits, states or behaviors of a
person such as statements like I am honest,
I am sincere, I will buy X. The private self is
an assessment of the self by the self.
 The Public Self  these are cognitions
concerning the generalized other’ view of
the self, such as statements like “People
think I am Handsome.” The public self is an
assessment of the self by the generalized
others.
THE SELF EMBEDDED IN CULTURE
 Triandis’ 3 aspects of the self:
 The Collective Self  refers to
cognitions concerning a view of the
self that is found in some collective
groups (e.g. family, coworkers, tribe,
scientific society), such as “My
family thinks I am handsome.” The
collective self corresponds to an
assessment of the self by a specific
reference or groups.