The Self and the

Development of the
Social World

Prepared by: Krisha Marie Valmores

Group 1 (Members)
Keirt Aban Mancio
Jerome Tamayo
Madel Miranda
 Introduction
Across time and history the self has been debated, discussed
and fruitfully conceptualized by different thinkers in
philosophy. With the advent of social sciences, it became
possible for new ways and paradigms to re-examine the true
nature of self. Tired of the ideas of ancient philosophers
regarding the body and the mind, thinkers settled on the idea
that whatever relationship these two have is less important than
the fact that there is a self.
 What is the Self?
In contemporary literature and in common sense, self is
equated to being separate, self contained, independent,
consistent, unitary, and private.
 This means that self indistinct from others, unique
and has own identity. Even twins have their own self
identity
 Its distinctiveness allows its being self contained with
own thoughts, independence , characteristics and
volition.
 By consistency, it means that a particular self’s traits , characteristics,
tendencies, and potentials are more or less the drama and can be studies,
described and measured.

 Self is unitary- it is the center of all experiences and thoughts that run
through a certain person.

 Being private – suggests that self is isolated from the external world, living
within its own, however we see the clash between the self and the external
reality- that one can see that the self is always at the mercy of the external
circumstances that bump and collide with it.
The Self and the Development of Social World
 how do children growing up become social beings? how do twins grow from
the same mother turn out so differently when given up for adoption? more
than his givenness (personality, tendencies, propensities, among others) one
is believed to be active participation in the shaping of the self. The unending
terrain of the metamorphosis of the self is mediated by language. Language is
both publicly shared and privately utilized symbol system is the where the
individual and the social make and each other (Schwartz, White and Luke
1993)
 Mead and Vygotsky
 The way that we process information is normally a form of internal dialogue in our
head.

 Treated human mind as something that is made, constituted through language as

01
experienced in the external world and as encountered in dialogs with others.

 A young child internalizes values, norms, practices, and social beliefs and more
through exposure to these dialogs that will eventually become part of his individual
world.
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 For Mead, a child assumes the “other” through language and role – play.

 Vygotsky, for his part, a child internalizes real – life dialogs that he has had with
others. They apply this to their mental and practical problems along with the social and
cultural infusions brought about by the said dialog.
 Self in Families
01
•The kind of family that we are born in, resources available to us (human, spiritual, economic)
and the kind of development that we will have will certainly affect us as we go through life.

•Human persons learn the ways of living and therefore their selfhood by being in the family. It is
what a family initiates a person to become that serves as the basis for this person’s progress.

•Babies internalize ways and styles that they observe from their family by imitating. The same
true for ways of behaving. Others, such as sexual behavior or how to confront emotions, are
learn through subtle means.

•Without a family, biologically and sociologically, a person may not even survive or become a
human person.
Self – Schema
• Carl Rogers captured this idea in his concept of self –
schema or our organized system or collection of
knowledge about who we are.

 Theories generally see the self and identity as mental

constructs, created and recreated in memory.
Identity and self – concept

Identity is composed of personal characteristics, social roles,

and responsibilities, as well as affiliations that define who
you are.

Self – concept is what basically comes to your mind when

you are asked about who you are.
 
 Theory of Symbolic Interactionism
(G.H Mead)
•Self is created and developed through human interaction.

•Three reasons why self and identity are social products.

1.We do not create ourselves out of nothing.
2.Whether we like to admit it or not, we actually need others to affirm and
reinforce who we thin k we are.
3.What we think is important to us may also have been influenced by what
is important in our social or historical context.
Social interaction and group affiliation are vital factors in
creating our self – concept especially in the aspect of
providing us with our social identity or our perception of
who we are based on our membership to certain groups.
 Self – Awareness
-The awareness of our self – concept

•Carver and Scheier (1981) identified two types of self that we can be aware;
1.The private self or your internal standards and private thoughts and feelings.
2.The public self or your public image commonly geared toward having a good
presentation of yourself to others.

•Self – awareness also present us with at least three other self – schema.
1.The actual self is who you are at the moment
2.The ideal self is who you like to be
3.The ought self is who you think you should be

•Self – awareness can be too much that we are concerned about being observed and
criticized by others, also known as self – consciousness.

•Deindividuation is the loss of individual self – awareness and individual accountability

in groups.
 Self – esteem
Our own positive or negative perception or evaluation of ourselves

a.Social comparison theory

We learn about ourselves, the appropriateness of our behaviors, as well as our social
status by comparing aspects of ourselves with other people.

1.Downward social comparison

We create a positive self – concept by comparing ourselves with those who are
worse off than us.

2.Upward social comparison

Comparing ourselves with those who are better off than us.
b. Self – evaluation maintenance theory
We can feel threatened when someone out – performs us, especially when
that person is close to us. In this case, we usually react in three ways;

1.We distance ourselves from that person or redefine our relationship with
them.
2.We may also reconsider the importance of the aspect or skill in which you
were outperformed.
3.We may also strengthen our resolve to improve that certain aspect of
ourselves.
•Narcissism is a trait characterized by overly high self – esteem, self
– admiration, and self – centeredness.

•Baumeister, Smart, and Boden (1996) concluded that programs,

activities, and parenting styles to boost self – esteem should only be
for rewarding good behavior and other achievements and not for the
purpose of merely trying to make children feel better about
themselves or to appease them when they get angry or sad.