SOCIOLOGICAL

PERSPECTIVE
By: Glendelle U. Baliscao
Lecturer
Choose your self-
presentations
carefully, for what
starts out as a mask
may become your
face” – Erving
Goffman
1.How would you introduce
yourself to a person or a
group when it’s your first
time to meet or interact
with them?
2.Would you be very willing
to share and open-up your
true self, or would you
have some limitations
first?
Sociology is the study of
society, patterns of social
relationships, social
interaction and culture of
everyday life. Man is a social
being, who is born into
existence in a community
before he is able to know
himself.
 SOCIALIZING THE
INDIVIDUAL

Personality Development
Personality is the basic organization
of individuals that determines the
uniqueness of their behavior.

The basic organization refers to the

structure of the personality – how it is
put together, and the relationships
among the various parts. It consists of
the total physical, intellectual, and
emotional structure of the individual.
Some Aspects
of Personality
 
1.Physical characteristics – physical
appearance is the most obvious part of an
individual’s personality.
2.Abilities – are skills that are developed within
the culture. For example, one may develop
ability in playing sepak takraw or football, to
paint or do beadwork, to program computers or
use an abacus. Other than abilities, you have
the capacity to learn skills, or to acquire a
particular body of knowledge – your aptitude.
Aptitude is more related to heredity, as abilities
are always related to culture.
3. Interests – acquired from various kinds of
things. You all differ in your interests. The
things that you become interested in depend on
the cultural alternatives that are available – and
an awareness of your existence.

4. Beliefs – about yourself, your friends,

nature, religion, work, etc. It also includes
attitudes, values, preferences, superstitions,
prejudices, and knowledge. Some are based on
fact, others are not. But all beliefs are related to
the culture and learned from others in the
society.
5. Habits – are regular, routine ways of thinking,
feeling, or behaving. This can be observed in ways of
dressing, eating, interacting with others, and in your
everyday tasks. These are learned from others and
help you distinguish one person’s behaviour from
others. And almost all of your habits are related to
your culture.
The Influence of Heredity and
Environment
 NATURE NURTURE
Our genetic Our environment
determine our upbringing and life
behaviour. Our experiences
personality traits determine our
and abilities are in behavior. We are
our “NATURE” “NURTURED” to
behave in a certain
way.
If culture affects
all aspects of your
personality, what
role then does
heredity play in
your personality
development?
 
Heredity – characteristics that are
innate, present at birth – physical
characteristics, like hair, skin, and
eye color and body size. It is the
transmitting of genetic
characteristics from your parents to
you. We inherit basic needs and
capacities. As human beings, we
have biological drives.
Heredity gives you biological needs.
Your culture determines how you
meet these needs. Heredity plays an
important role in shaping human
personalities by setting limits on
individuals.
Birth order – your personality is also
influenced by whether you have brothers, sisters,
both, or neither.

Parents – another difference within the family

that can influence a person’s personality is the
age of the parents. How might you be affected by
your parents’ age? Parents amount of education,
religious beliefs, ethnic backgrounds,
economic/social status, occupations, and
communities in which
Subcultures – a subculture is a portion of a
society that has enough characteristics of its own to
set it apart, and yet is included within the general
society. Identify a subculture different from your
own. Imagine growing up in it. What would your
family life, interests, values, and beliefs might be
like? How might your personality be influenced?
 
The cultural environment – every culture is
different. These cultural differences affect your
personality development. It is cultural environment
that makes individuals human. It makes you
embrace your similarities and celebrate your
differences.
Your personality – our humanity
– comes from our cultural
environment.
 
Research and few recorded evidences show
that children or individuals who were raised
without the influence of a cultural
environment resulted to having no human
characteristics except in their appearance.
No reasoning, no manners, no abilities even
in controlling bodily functions or to move
like human beings.