Lesson 2:

Sociology
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 The social aspect of the self is explored in many ways, in
which social
z situation influence one’s view of self. The self is
not created in isolation, and people are not born with
perception of oneself as good in sports, make-up artistry,
dancing, or business. Such perceptions are identified through
observations, or interactions with other people. “Am I
beautiful?” “ Do my eyebrow look like Liza Soberano na?”
These questions can be answered by looking at those people
around. The self has meaning only within the social context,
and it is wrong to say that the social situation defines our self-
concept and our self-esteem. We rely on others to provide a
“social reality”- to help us determine what to think, feel, and do
(Hardin & Higgins, 1996).
Objectives:
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 Compare and contrast the different views of

the self
 Examine the two components of self

 Describe the concept of the looking-glass self

and how it affects self-concept
 Explain the concept of social comparison and
why it is important to human behavior.
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Components:

 SOCIOLOGICAL VIEWS OF THE

SELF
 Mead’s Theory of Self
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SOCIOLOGICAL
VIEWS OF THE
SELF
1.1 The
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Self as Product of Modern
Society Among Others

 With modernization, the self becomes a

“delocalized” self which is free to seek its own
identity; defining religion, theological tradition;
free from customary constraints hence,
deviating from the traditional way of life. Stability
one’s self-identity is no longer based on pre-
given traditional broad definition of the self.
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 Clifford Geertz (1973) believes that the struggle for

ones individuality is only possible in modern society
where religio-theological traditions are gradually
replaced by rational and scientific calculations; and
the intimate personal affiliations are replaced by
urbanized way of life. Modernization or the
destruction of the traditional way of life “delocalizes”
the self.
This poses certain

Problem zas:
 The newfound freedom threatens the very authenticity of the
self (e.g. love).
 Alienation (Marx) – human beings haunted by the very images
they have created
 Objectification of the body’s ( e.g. medical practice)

 dehumanization of self

 Solution: for the individual to discover the “true” and

“authentic” part of himself/herself to realize his/her potentials,
there is a need to abolish repressive social constraints.
1.2 Self
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as Necessary fiction

 Self for Nietzsche, is the sum of individual’s action,

thoughts and feelings. Self is nothing more than a
metaphor, a representation of something abstract;
symbolic. It is possible for us to remember something
even if we have not experienced it. Self has continuity
even if it is only in memory i.e, either heard or
witnesses which did not happen to you. A true given
self is not what unites these experiences, but it is
presumed unity of these experiences that gave rise to
a concept of the self.
1.3 Post-modern
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View of the Self

 Self is a narrative, a text written and rewritten. Self is a

story. It is dynamic. Self is a product of modern
discourse that is historically and socially imprisoned by
what is acceptable by norms, etc. self in post
modernity is complicated by electronic mediated virtual
interaction of cyber self such as change in appearance
( in the cyberspace).
 According
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cyberspace, a virtual version of who we are. The self is
seen in websites or social media- face book, twitter,
instagram, etc.

The following are the manifestation:

 information technology dislocates the self, thus, self is
“digitalized” in cyberspace
 Global migration produces multicultural identities.

 Post-modern selves are “pluralized” selves

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Social Construction of the Self

 Self is not discovered; it is made through the
socialization process. BUT, individual are not just
hapless victims of socialization. The individual is an
active strategizing agent that negotiates for the
definition of himself. (Ikaw ang gumagawa ng kung
ano ka”) self is acquired socially through language,
like symbols. We construct ourselves based on our
social roles through socialization agents – family,
school, community, etc.
1.4 Rewriting the Self as an Artistic Creation
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 Nietzsche states that the unity of the self is

not pre-given but accomplished through
conscious effort – transform self through
beautiful work art. Individual must fashion,
care for and cultivate themselves. We can
recreate ourselves to get hold of the present,
forgive the past and plan the future.
1.5 Self Creation and Collective Identity
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Memories (photographs, video) play significant role in

creating the self and identity. Memory and forgetting
are most important in recreating a person’s identity.
Such memories of the past include pain, triumph, etc.
Such experience of the past can be linked with social
transformation.
1.6 Self Creation and the struggle for cultural
recognition
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 This is a challenge of self-identity amidst recognition of

racial and ethnic identities. Self creation is necessarily
grounded on collective solidarities. We create
ourselves by struggling with cultural hassles then
owning the created self. We hide the ugly part of our
cultural nature. We learn to adjust.
Beyond
z Self Creation
 The quest or search for self-identity is a product of modern
society but this is complicated by the socio-cultural
sensibilities of postmodernity, new information
technologies and globalization, reconfiguring ourselves as
to gender, sex, ethnicity, and creating one’s style,
signature.
 Yet the project of self creation is embedded within
imagined communities. The self constantly live in this
paradox: to pursue self creation pre-given, not willfully
chosen social
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Mead’s Theory
of Self
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 George Herbert Mead (1863-1931) is an

American sociologist best known as a
founder of American pragmatism, a pioneer
of symbolic interaction theory, and as one
of the founder of social psychology.
Mead’s
z Theory of Self

 Mead’s theory of the self maintains that the conception a

person holds of himself/herself in his/her mind emerges
from social interaction with others. This is, in effect, a
theory and argument against biological determinism
because it holds that the self is neither initially there at
birth nor necessarily at the beginning of a social
interaction, but is constructed and re-constructed in the
process of social experience and activity.
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Two Components of Self:

I
&

Me
 The “me”
z represents the expectations and attitudes of others
(the “generalized other”) organized into a social self. The
individual defines his or her own behavior with reference to
the generalized attitude of the social group(s) he/she
occupies. When the individual can view himself or herself
from the standpoints of the generalized other, self-
consciousness in the full sense of the term is attained. From
this standpoint, the generalized other (internalized in the
“me”) is the major instruments of social control, for it is the
mechanism by which the community exercises control over
the conduct of its individual members.
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 The “I” is the response to the “me”, or the person’s

individually. It is essence of agency in human action. So,
in effect, the “ me” is the self as object, while the “I” is the
self as subject (Crossman, 2017).
2.1 Mead’s
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Three Stages of
Development of Self

 Stage 1: The Preparatory Stage

 Stage 2: The Play Stage

 Stage 3: The Game Stage

Stage
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1: The Preparatory Stage

 The preparatory stage starts from the time we are

born until we are about age two.
Stagez 2: The Play Stage

 From about age two to six, children are in the play

stage. During the play stage children play pretend and
do not adhere to the rules in organized games like
patintero or basketball (Rath,2016).
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Stagez 3: The Game Stage

 The third stage is the game stage, which is from about

seven onwards. In this stage, children can begin to
understand and adhere to the rules of games. They can
begin to play more formalized games because they
begin to understand other people’s perspective- or the
perspective of the generalized other.
2.2 The
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Looking-Glass self: Our Sense of
Self is Influence by Others ‘Views of Us

 The concept of the looking –glass self states that

part of how we see ourselves comes from our
perception of how others see us (Cooley, 1902).
 According
z to the American sociologist Charles Horton
Cooley (1864-1929), the degree of personal insecurity
you display in social situations is determined by what you
believe other people think of you. Cooley’s concepts of
the looking glass self, states that a person’s self grows
out of a person’s social interactions with others. The view
of ourselves comes from the contemplation of personal
qualities and impressions of how others perceive us.
Actually, how we see ourselves does not come from who
we really are, but rather from how we believe others see
us (Isaksen,2013).
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 Labels used in relation to diagnosis of psychological

disorder can be detrimental to people who then
internalize them.
2.3 Social
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Comparison Theory: Our Sense of
Self Is Influenced by Comparison with
Others.

 Self-concept and self-esteem are also heavily

influenced by the process of social comparison (Buunk
& Gibbons, 2007; Van Lange, 2008). Social comparison
occurs when we learn about our abilities and skills,
about the appropriates and validity of our opinions, and
about our relative social status by comparing our own
attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors with those of others.
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 Social comparison occurs primarily on dimensions on

which there is no correct answer or objective benchmark
and thus on which we can rely only on the beliefs of
others for information.
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