SOCIOLOGY
According to Giddens (1991), the most patent, major
 Not only is the self-entwined in the society; it
owes its society in the most literal sense.”
Theodor Adoma
 1. The self as product of Modern Society
Among Other Constructions
- Sociologist are concerned with questions about the
person in the community. Sociology posits that socially
formed norms beliefs, and values come to exist within
the person to a degree where these become normal
and natural, thus developing the person’s self-identity.
 SOCIOLOGY IS THE STUDY OF HUMAN SOCIAL
BEHAVIOR, ESPECIALLY THE ORIGINS,
ORGANIZATIONS, INSTITUTIONS, AND
DEVELOPMENT OF HUMAN SOCIETY. ITS
INTEREST LIES IN IDENTIFYING CAUSES OF THE
CHANGING RELATIONSHIPS AMONG
INDIVIDUALS AND GROUPS.
Modernization has significantly changed society, and
this has affected how an individual builds and develops
his or her self-identity. Modernization refers to a
model of a progressive transition from a pre-modern
or transitional to a modern society.
 Pre-modern society – was centered or survival.
People behaved according to social rules and
transitions while the family and immediate
environment provided supervision on how to
get through life.
 Modernization – however, has improved
people’s living conditions a person in the
modern society is free to choose where to live,
what to do, and who to be with. However,
stability has also decreased as transitions and
traditional support systems, such as the family,
have decreased in importance. In modern
societies, individualism is dominant, and
developing one’s self-identity is central.
Key characteristics of modernity
characteristics of modernity are:
 1. Industrialism – the social relations implied
in the extensive use of material power and
machinery in all processes of production
 2. Capitalism – a production system involving
both competitive product markets and
commodification (putting a price tag) of labor
power. Evil effects: social inequality
 3. Institutions of Surveillance – the massive
increase of power and reach by institutions
especially in the government, resulting in
power politics and economic competition
 4. Dynamism – the most evident characteristic
of a modern society. Dynamism is
characterized as having vigorous activity and
progress. Effect; Proliferation of computer
products and emerging new lifestyles leading
to a modern society that is consumer society -
consumerism
Sociologist George Simmel expressed that people
create social networks by joining social groups
SOCIAL NETWORK
- refers to the ties or connections that link you to your
social group
SOCIAL GROUP
- is described as having two or more people interacting
with one another, sharing similar characteristics, and
whose member identity themselves as part of the
group
Social group is either organic or rational
 Organic group is naturally occurring and it is
highly influenced by our family. This is usually
formed in traditional societies because there is
a little diversity in these communities. Simmel
stated that you join these groups because your
family is also a part of it, in the first place. E
called it organic motivation
 Rational groups occur in modern societies.
Modern societies are made up of different
people coming from different places. Rational
groups are performed as a matter of shared-
interest: moreover, people join these groups
out of their own free will. Simmel called this
rational motivation
A multiple personality is in a certain sense normal
- George Herbert Mead
George Herbert Mead
- George Herbert Mead was a sociologist from the
1800s. He is well known for his “theory of the Social
Self”. Mead’s work focused on how the self is
developed. His theory is based on the perspective that
the self is a product of social interactions and
internalizing the external views along with one
personal view about oneself… self is not present at
birth, it developed overtime through social
experiences and activities.
Mead developed a concept that proposed different
stages of self-development. These stages are language,
play, and game.
Language sets the stage for self-development
The second stage for self-development is play. At this
level, individuals role-play or assume the perspective
of others
Game stage is the level where the individual not only
internalizes the other people’s perspectives, he or she
is also able to take into account societal roles and
adheres to it.
Mead further proposed two interactive facets of the
set “I” and “me”
 “I” is the part of the self that is unsocialized
and spontaneous. It is the individual’s response
to the community’s attitude toward the
person. The “I” presents impulses and drives. It
enables him or her to express individualism
and creativity
 “me” is the product of what the person has
learned while interacting with others and with
the environment. The “me” exercises social
control over the self. It sees to it that rules are
not broken.
ANTHROPOLOGY
“Indeed, much of self is learned by making new
memories out of old ones
- Joseph E. Ledoux
2. The self and person in Contemporary and
anthropology
- Anthropology is the study of people, past, and
present. It focuses on understanding the human
constitution in its cultural aspect. In a general series. It
is concerned with understanding how humans
executed and how they differ from one another.
Joseph Ledoux
- Neuroscientist Joseph Ledoux conceptualized the
implicit and explicit aspects of the self that you are
consciously aware of is the explicit self while the one
that is not immediately available to the consciousness
is the implicit aspect. The concept can be traced to the
famous psychologist Sigmund Freud levels off
consciousness
Self as representation
- Ewing (1989) asserted that a self is illusory. “People
construct a series of self-representations that are
based on selected cultural concepts of person and
selected chains of personal memories
- According to Ewing (1990), people from all cultures
have been observed to be able to rapidly project
different self-representations, Depending on the
context of the situation. The person is unaware of
these shifts; however, he or she will still experience
wholeness and continuity despite these shifts.
The self-embedded in culture
- Cultural anthropologists have argued that the self is
culturally shaped and infinitely variable. The basic idea
is that the principles of how the mind works cannot be
conceived of as universal.
- Cultural psychologists distinguished two ways of how
the self is constructed. These are the independent and
interdependent construct.
The independent construct is characteristics of
individualistic culture. Individualistic culture
represents the self as separate, distinct with emphasis
on internal attributes or traits, and values
The interdependent construct is typical of the
collectivist culture in East Asia stressing the essential
connections between the individual to other people
Developmental psychologist Catherine Raeff (2010)
believed that culture can influence how you view:
 Relationship
 Personality traits
 Achievement
 Expressing emotions
- The self, as a social being is influenced by his culture,
but in the process, man created culture on his own,
altered it. And will always have the power to change it
as he deems it fit.

Two components of culture

 1. Material culture – consists of human

technology, all the things that people make
and use.
 2. Non-material culture – defined as inclusive
of the intangible human creations (beliefs,
values norms and symbols), which help shapes
our perspective of society, of ourselves, and
even on thee material world.