12 Dec 2022

SOCIOLOGICAL
VIEW OF THE SELF

“Not only is the self entwined in society; it

owes society its existence in the most literal
sense”

—THEODOR ADORNO

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SOCIOLOGIST ARE CONCERNED ABOUT THE

PERSON IN THE COMMUNITY.

1.How does society influence you?

2. How do you affect the society?
3. How are you as a person in the
community?

Socially formed norms, beliefs, and values

come to exist within the person to a
degree where these become natural and
normal (Elwell, 2003); Thus, developing
the person’s self-identity.

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MODERNIZATION

Modernization has significantly changed society

and has affected how an individual build and
develops his or her self-identity.

MODERNIZATION
Pre-modern society:
• centered on survival
• behaved according to social
rules and traditions
• family and immediate
environment provided
supervision on how to get
through life
• Choosing where to live, what
line of work to do, and even who
to marry was very limited
Modernization:
• improved living conditions.
• Free to choose where to live,
what to do, and who to be with.
• stability decreased as traditions
and traditional support systems
such as the family decreased in
importance
• individualism is dominant and
developing one’s self-identity is
central

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Key Characteristics of
Modernity
DEFINITION OF CONCEPTS
INDUSTRIALISM
social relations implied in
the extensive use of
material power and
machinery in all
processes of production.
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CAPITALISM
a production system
involving both competitive
product markets and the
commodification (putting
a price tag) of labor
power.
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DEFINITION OF CONCEPTS

INSTITUTIONS OF SURVEILLANCE DYNAMISM

• most evident characteristic of a modern
society
• characterized as having vigorous activity
the massive increase of and progress
•
power and reach by In a modern society, life is not a
predetermined path with limited options
institutions, especially in based on location, family or gender: it is a
society full of possibilities. Everything is
government. subject to change, and changes happen
much more rapidly than ever before in
human history.

SOCIAL GROUPS
AND
SOCIAL NETWORKS

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We create social networks by joining social groups.

A social group is having 2 or more

people interacting with one another,
sharing similar characteristics, and
whose members identify themselves
as part of the group

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We create social networks by joining social groups.

A social network is what ties you

what ties you to your social group.
Examples:
Family = blood relation
Friends = friendship
Classmates = learning

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ORGANIC AND RATIONAL GROUPS

ORGANIC

• naturally occurring
• highly influenced by your family
• ORGANIC MOTIVATION - you join these groups because your family is also a
part of it in the first place
• the positive effect of organic groups is ROOTEDNESS. This means the
foundation of the social network runs deep, thus giving the person a sense of
belongingness
• The downside is that organic groups imply less freedom and greater social
conformity.

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ORGANIC AND RATIONAL GROUPS

RATIONAL

• occur in modern societies

• formed as a matter of shared self-interests
• RATIONAL MOTIVATION - people join these groups out of their own free will.
• Rational groups imply greater freedom, especially the freedom of movement.
• However, relationships based on self-interest are not as embedded as organic
relationships. Interests change and when they do, group members change.
• The relationship between rational social networks is weak and the person
feels no meaningful connection with others.

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MEAD AND THE

SOCIAL SELF

George Herbert Mead’s

“Theory of the Social Self”

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HOW THE SELF IS DEVELOPED

THE SELF IS A PRODUCT OF SOCIAL INTERACTIONS.

observing and interacting with others

responding to others' opinions about oneself
internalizing external opinions and internal feelings about oneself

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3 STAGES OF DEVELOPMENT

Birth – 2 years old

1. IMITATION
Copy the behavior of those around them

2 – 4 years old
2. PLAY Play roles and take on characteristics of important
people in the world

3. GAME 4 years old +

Understand expectations and demands

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ANTHROPOLOGICAL
VIEW OF THE SELF

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ANTHROPOLOGY

The study of people, past and present.

Understanding how humans have evolved.

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The self is encompassing the “physical organism,

possessing psychological functioning and social
attributes”.
- Katherine Ewing (1990)

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Explicit Self – aspect of the self you are consciously

aware of.

Implicit Self – aspect of the self that is not immediately

available to the consciousness.

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“The self is affected biologically, mentally, and socially.

The self is not static, it is added to and subtracted from
by genetic maturation, learning, forgetting, stress,
ageing and disease.”
- Neuroscientist Joseph LeDoux (2002)

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THE SELF
EMBEDDED IN
CULTURE

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Deeply defined by culture:

How we see ourself
How we relate to other people
How we relate to the environment

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Sociological View: The “Self” is a product of SOCIETY

The ways of how the self is developed are

bound to Cultural Differences.

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CONSTRUAL – an interpretation of
the meaning of something; the
meaning of “self”

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2 WAYS THE SELF IS CONSTRUCTED

INDEPENDENT: INTERDEPENDENT:

• Individualistic culture • Collectivist culture

• Represents the self as • Essential connection

separate, distinct, with between the individual to
emphasis on internal other people
attributes and traits, skills,
and values

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Developmental Psychologist Catherine Raeff (2010):

Culture can influence how you view:

RELATIONSHIPS PERSONALITY TRAITS

• Enter and maintain
• Voluntary Vs Duty
• Choose Vs Arranged
• How you value humility,
self-esteem, politeness,
etc.
• Perception on Hardships
• Relying on others

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Developmental Psychologist Catherine Raeff (2010):

Culture can influence how you view:

ACHIEVEMENT EXPRESSING EMOTIONS

• How you define success • How you express

yourself
• Whether you value
certain types of
individual and group
achievements

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PSYCHOLOGICAL
VIEW OF THE SELF

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The scientific study of mind and behavior.

PSYCHOLOGY

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THE SELF AS A COGNITIVE CONSTRUCTION

• Memory, Reasoning, Language,

Personality and Mental Health
• Cognitive – conscious intellectual
activity (thinking, reasoning,
remembering)

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It is natural for humans to form theories about

themselves, both as a single entity and as a group,
to make meaning of one’s experience and existence.

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Jean Piaget’s Cognitive Development

A comprehensive theory about the development of human

intelligence.

The nature of knowledge itself; how humans acquire,

construct, and use it

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Jean Piaget’s Cognitive Development

SCHEMAS – mental organizations used to understand the

environment and designate action.

ADAPTATION – involves the child’s learning progress to meet

situational demands.

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HARTER’S SELF-DEVELOPMENT CONCEPT

Early Childhood - child describes the “self” in terms of concrete,

observable characteristics such as physical attributes, material
possessions and preferences.
Middle – Later Childhood - self is described in terms of trait like
constructs that would require the type of hierarchical organizational
skills characteristic of logical thought development.
Adolescence - more abstract self- definitions such as inner thoughts,
emotions, attitudes and motives.
Emerging Adults – a vision of “possible self”, “the age of possibilities”

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WILLIAM JAMES AND THE ME-SELF; I -SELF

I-self - the pure ego. It is the subjective self. It is the “self” that is aware
of its own actions.

4 Features:
A sense of being the agent or initiator of behavior.
A sense of being unique.
A sense of continuity.
A sense of awareness about being aware.

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WILLIAM JAMES AND THE ME-SELF; I -SELF

me-self - the self that is the object. It is the “self” that you can
describe (physical characteristics, personalities, social role,
relationships, thoughts, feelings)

Dimensions of the me-self include:

Material – physical appearance and extensions of it such as
clothing, immediate family, and home
Social – social skills and significant interpersonal relationships
Spiritual - personality, character, defining values

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REAL AND IDEAL SELF-CONCEPT

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IDEAL SELF

- The Ideal self is the person you would like yourself to be, it is the concept of the
best me who is worthy of admiration.
- It is an idealized image of the self that the individual has developed based on
what you have learned. It could include;
1. Notion influenced by parents
2. What you admire in others
3. What the society sees as an acceptable
4. What you think is in your best interest

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REAL SELF

- It is the person you actually are. It is how you

behave right at the moment of situation. It is
who you are in a reality- how you think, feel, or
act at the present

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The Importance of Alignment

- When there is a great inconsistency between

your ideal and real selves or if the way you are
is not aligned with what you want to be, the
you experienced as state what Roger called as
incongruence that could lead to
maladjustment.

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Maladjustment

- Is defined as the inability to react successfully

and satisfactorily to the demands of one
environment.

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Multiple vs. Unified Selves

Psychologist Roy Baumeister said that the

concept of self loses its meaning if a person has
multiple selves. The essence of self involves
integration of diverse experiences into a unity.
In short, unity is one of the features of self-
hood, and identity.

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The Unity of Consciousness

- The human experience is always that of unity.

It was experienced by “you”- single, distinct,
conscious entity in the situation.

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The Unity of Consciousness

- According to Rene Descartes that the mind is

not made up of parts; thus, it cannot be a
physical substance because anything material
has parts. He claimed that this “being” is of
unified consciousness and not composed of
merged fragments.

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Allport’s Personality Theory

-Proposed his personality trait theory asserting

that every person possesses “traits”. According
to Allport, a trait is your essential characteristic
that never, ever changes and sticks with you all
your life. These traits shape who you are in
any given day.

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The ego states

- In 1960 psychiatrist Eric Berne began to develop his

transactional analysis model as basis for understanding
behavior. Transactional analysis is anchored on two notions:
1) Every person has three parts called “ego states” in his or her
personality.
2) People communication with one another assuming roles of
any these ego states.

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Bern presented the ego states as:

1) Parent ego state- is the voice authority. It could be a

comforting “nurturing parent” voice or a “controlling/critical
parent” voice that tells what you should or should not do.
2) Adult ego state- is the rational person. It is the voice that
speaks reasonably and knows how to assert himself or herself
3) Child ego states
- Natural child-> sensitive and vulnerable
- Little professors-> curious child who wants to try everything
- Adaptive child-> trying to fit in or rebelling against authority

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Domain of the Self

University of Professor and author Greg Henriques proposed that

the Human self has three related, but separable, domains. These
domains are:
1) Experiential self- theater of consciousness
2) Private self-conscious- narrator or interpreter
3) Public self/persona- image you project on the public

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True Self vs. False Self

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True Self

- Flourishes in infancy if the mother is positively responsive to

the child’s spontaneous expression.
- Winnicott described true self as a sense of self based on
“spontaneous authentic experience.”
- Sense of being alive and real in one’s mind and body, having
feelings that are spontaneous and unforced.

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False Self

- Is the product of early experience. It is a defensive organization

formed by the infant because of inadequate mothering or
failures in empathy. Winnicott added that false self is
developed as the infant is repeatedly subjected to maternal
care that intrudes upon, rejects, or abandons his or her
experience.
- It is also based on being completely being obedient to the
parents’ wishes.

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Unhealthy False Self & Healthy False Self

- Healthy False Self-> when the person can still function both as
an individual and in the society. It feels like he/she is still
connected with the true self.
- Unhealthy False Self-> An individual who may seem happy and
comfortable in his or her environment but actually feels forced
to fit in and constantly needs to adjust his or her behavior to
adapt to the social situation.

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