UNDERSTANDING THE SELF

Looking glass self - explains that humans develop an identity through the process of
how others socially perceive them:
3 Principal Elements of self-idea:
The imagination of our appearance to others’ point of view
The imagination on how that person views or judges our appearance
And some sort of feeling be it negative or positive
George Herbert Mead
- self is a social process
- empathy – in experiencing ourselves from the standpoint of others or the
community as a whole – and reflexiveness – that the experiences we had from
the social process is a cumulation of all the experiences that the people had
involved in the experience.
- Play stage and Game stage
- Generalized other
- Society

Socialized Self: George Herbert Mead's Self, Mind and Society

(George Herbert Mead)

George Herbert Mead was a social philosopher who discussed the connection
between the self, the mind, and society. He believed that society has an effect on the
self and mind, and the self and the mind have an effect on society. Mead is considered
to be the father of symbolic interaction.

The "Self":
Mead believed that the "self" is an entity that helps individuals grow and develop to be
socially productive citizens.
According to Mead, the "self" only exists in humans and not animals because it
has to be developed through social activity and social relationships; the "self" cannot
cultivate without social interaction. It also doesn't exist in infants because babies don't
participate in social activities and don't have social relationships. Mead also said that if a
person's "self" has already been developed, they will continue to have it even if they end
all social contact.
 UNDERSTANDING THE SELF

Therefore, the "self" is a social process.

As ourselves develop more and more, we begin to be able to examine our own
thoughts and behaviors as we would if we were examining other's actions. And to reach
this, Mead says that we have to have the ability to unconsciously put ourselves in other
people's shoes and act as they would act.
"It is by means of reflexiveness -- the turning-back of the experience of the
individual upon himself -- that the whole social process is thus brought into the
experience of the individuals involved in it; it is by such means, which enable the
individual to take the attitude of the other toward himself, that the individual is able
consciously to adjust himself to that process, and to modify the resultant process in any
given social act in terms of his adjustment to it." (Mind, Self, and Society: From the
Standpoint of a Social Behaviorist)

Mead also says that we cannot directly experience our "selves." We can only do so
indirectly. He says that we achieve this by putting ourselves in the position of others,
and then viewing our own actions from that standpoint. This standpoint can be from a
particular individual or from the standpoint of the whole community.

"It is only by taking the roles of others that we have been able to come back to
ourselves." (Mind, Self, and Society: From the Standpoint of a Social Behaviorist)

Child Development:

Mead believed that there are two stages to the development of the self in children, the
play stage and the game stage.

Play Stage - In this stage, children take on the roles of others as well as the attitudes of
particular individuals. However, this "self" is limited because children are only able to
take on roles of others; they cannot yet view their own "selves."

Mead gives the example of American children playing "Indian."

"This means that the child has a certain set of stimuli which call out in itself the
responses they would call out in others, and which answer to an Indian." (Mind, Self,
and Society: From the Standpoint of a Social Behaviorist)
 UNDERSTANDING THE SELF

Game Stage - This is a very important stage for the development of the self because it
makes the individual take on the roles of everyone. By doing this, it teaches the
individual to function in an organized group and to determine what their role, or
contribution to the group, will be as they are given this time to figure out what role suits
them best. As well, organization and personality emerge while at this stage.

"I" and "Me":

Generalized Other:

The Generalized Other is the attitude of the entire community. This is important to the
self because it makes the individual view him/herself through the eyes of the social
group and not just through the discrete individual. This allows for abstract thinking and
objectivity.

In regards to the development of the community, if a person is able to view through the
lens of the generalized other, then they will be an organized and efficient member of
society, as well as able to direct their activities to help the community better.

"Only in so far as he takes the attitudes of the organized social group to which he
belongs toward the organized, co-operative social activity or set of such activities in
which that group is engaged, does he develop a complete self." (Mind, Self, and
Society: From the Standpoint of a Social Behaviorist)

Mead also discussed the concern that this may lead to all individuals conforming and
being the same. He says that conformity will not happen because all selves have unique
biographies, even if the structure of the self is the same for everyone. Also, he says that
the generalized other exists in many sizes because there are many groups in society,
not just one big group.

Society:
 UNDERSTANDING THE SELF

Mead saw that society was a very crucial component of the mind. He believed that
individuals carry society around with them in their minds, and this regulates how they
behave. The regulation, or habits and common responses of society, are learned
through education.

"The whole community acts toward the individual under certain circumstances in an
identical way... there is an identical response on the part of the whole community under
these conditions. We call that the formation of the institution." (Mind, Self, and Society:
From the Standpoint of a Social Behaviorist)

Ethnocentrism
Ethnocentrism is the tendency to look at the world primarily from the perspective
of one’s own culture. Part of ethnocentrism is the belief that one’s own  race, ethnic or
cultural group is the most important or that some or all aspects of its culture are superior
to those of other groups. Some people will simply call it cultural ignorance.

Cultural Relativism
The principle of regarding and valuing the practices of a culture from the point of
view of that culture and to avoid making hasty judgments. Cultural relativism tries to
counter ethnocentrism by promoting the understanding of cultural practices that are
unfamiliar to other cultures such as eating insects, genocides or genital cutting. Take for
example, the common practice of same-sex friends in India walking in public while
holding hands. This is a common behavior and a sign of connectedness between two
people. In England, by contrast, holding hands is largely limited to romantically involved
couples, and often suggests a sexual relationship. These are simply two different ways
of understanding the meaning of holding hands. Someone who does not take
a relativistic view might be tempted to see their own understanding of this behavior as
superior and, perhaps, the foreign practice as being immoral.

Cross-Cultural Relationship
The idea that people from different cultures can have relationships that
acknowledge, respect and begin to understand each other’s diverse lives. People with
different backgrounds can help each other see possibilities that they never thought were
there because of limitations, or cultural proscriptions, posed by their own traditions.
Becoming aware of these new possibilities will ultimately change the people who are
exposed to the new ideas. This cross-cultural relationship provides hope that new
opportunities will be discovered, but at the same time it is threatening. The threat is that
once the relationship occurs, one can no longer claim that any single culture is the
absolute truth.
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Xenocentrism
The desire to engage in the elements of another’s culture rather than one’s own.
Styles, ideas and products can all be items of preference by someone
with xenocentrist viewpoints. For example, you might meet an American who insists
French culture is better than the American way of living. Another example is the
romanticization of the noble savage in the 18th-century primitivism movement in
European art, philosophy and ethnography.

In psychological terms, xenocentrism is considered a type of deviant behavior

because it sways from the norms of society. It is unexpected that an individual would
value the goods, services, styles, ideas and other cultural elements of another nation.
However, in some limited circumstances, it has been noted that xenocentrism can help
to shed light on cultural deficiencies, whether it be ideas or products, and offers the
opportunity to fix that which may legitimately inferior to another country or culture.

It is also noted that self-perception and self-esteem can contribute

to xenocentrism. In certain circumstances, some individuals may attempt to elevate their
perception among others by eschewing domestic products for foreign ones. By doing
so, the individual believes she is painting herself in a better light as a more educated,
worldly and savvy consumer. In some extreme cases of xenocentrism, the impact on
the local culture of its people favoring others’ cultures can be devastating, sometimes
even wiping out the culture entirely in favor of its more desirable counterpart.