LESSON 2:

THE SOCIOLOGY AND

ANTHROPOLOGY OF THE
SELF
LESSON OBJECTIVES:
 A.) DESCRIBE THE
CONNECTION BETWEEN
THE SELF, SOCIETY AND
CULTURE
 B.) RECOGNIZE THE
SOCIAL AND CULTURAL
FACTORS THAT SHAPE
THE SELF
 C.) EXAMINE THE
COMPARISONS OF THE
SELF BASED ON THE
DIFFERENT SOCIETY
 D.) REFLECT ON ONE’S
DEVELOPMENT OF THE
SELF BASED ON ONE’S
CULTURAL AND SOCIETAL
BACKGROUNDS.
 ACTIVITY:

HAVE YOU EVER FEEL THE NEED TO WEAR A

VARIETY OF MASKS IN ORDER TO BLEND INTO
SOCIAL SITUATIONS? AT SOME POINT IN OUR
LIVES, WE ALL TRY TO CONCEAL THAT ‘PART OF
US’ WHICH WE DO NOT LIKE THE WORLD TO SEE
BECAUSE WE FEAR REJECTION. THEY ARE
NORMAL, YET NOT AN IDEAL PART OF HUMAN
LIFE. IF YOU ARE TO REPRESENT YOURSELF TO
OTHER PEOPLE, HOW WOULD YOUR MASK LOOK
LIKE? CREATE A MASK FOR YOURSELF USING THE
TEMPLATE PROVIDED.
1.) Describe the image that you want to portray in your mask
2.) In one word, define how you have been labeled by your:
CLASSMATES/FRIENDS:
FAMILY:
TEACHERS/ADULT:
3.) How would you describe what people typically know about
what you do or about your life?
4.) Explain how your personality is really like (what you
really love to do that not everyone knows or what your
life is really like)
5.) Are there any similarities or differences between
your own descriptions as compared to that of the others
about you?
6.) What could be the possible factors that influenced
these similarities or differences?
 EMPOWER

Many philosophers have debated upon the concept of the ‘self.’

Later on, more discussions about the ‘self’ emerged with the
advent of the social sciences to revisit new ways and theories that
would best explain the true nature of the self. Among the
emphases in the examination of the self is the connection
between the self and the outside world.
WHAT IS TABULA
RASA?
 TABULA RASA
You may have encountered the term, tabula rasa, the idea that individuals are born without any
mental content. Therefore, knowledge of something comes from experience or perception
(DielsKranz, 1987).
In the same manner, our sense of self begins to develop as we experience the world around us
— the more we interact with the outside world, the more we develop our selves.
If you happen to have watched the movie, “Mean Girls,” that was what exactly happened to
Cady Heron whose innocent life changed after attending a public school for the first time,
meeting different kinds of people and shaping a brand new person in Cady. Consequently, the
sociological and anthropological perspectives of the self tell us that the ‘self’ is a by-product of
one’s interaction with the environment, and not because of the mind or the soul infused into us.
 WHAT IS IDENTITY?

After being part of the first batch of senior high school graduates, you
are now in the middle of figuring out what you really want to be - like it
or not, you are in search of an identity, the concept that we have of our
role in the world around us (James, 2015). Remember, we do not just
wake up one day and decide on the person we want to become. Instead,
we try to find our identity through a continuous complex process
throughout our lives.
 At this stage of your life, you are beginning to make
your own decisions — what course to take in college,
what school to go to, which friends to be with, and so on
and so forth — but this does not mean you are free of
influences. Say for example, you chose the course BS
Aeronautical Engineering in the number one aviation
school in the Philippines.
• Did you decide on this because you really want to design
aircrafts?
• Are you interested in finding out if it is a difficult course?
• Did you get pressured by a family member, a relative perhaps,
because he/she is also an Aeronautical Engineer even though
you did not really want to take the course?
• Or, are you simply taking it because your friends chose this
course as well?
 Thinking about these questions can help us see that the decisions we make are prompted by a
variety of factors. To some extent, you may have chosen a particular course, but your decision
is also influenced by external factors that are out of your control. Your perceptions, attitudes,
values, and beliefs and those around you all play an important role (Heggertveit-Aoudia,
2012).
 SELF - IDENTITY

Your self identity shapes your perceptions, or the way you see
the world. Your attitude about life, the way you think or feel
about something, depends on how you identify yourself. Also,
the way you see yourself is also manipulated by your values,
what you think is right or wrong, and beliefs, what you see as
true and untrue. All these factors influence what you can
accomplish and where you will fit in (Stevens, 1996).
• If you do not see yourself as capable of finishing BS
Aeronautical Engineering, would you be taking the
entrance examination for this course?
• Would you take this course if you felt that it was not a
worthy course?
 With this in mind, we realize that we make decisions about who
we are, based on our perception of the world, the way we feel
about things, the consequence of our beliefs and values on the
choices that we make. On the other hand, your social identity, or
the way others see you, is also influenced by others’ perceptions,
attitudes, values, and beliefs. Perhaps a family member has high
expectations of you because they were a successful Aeronautical
Engineer.
Maybe you feel like you do not belong in the Aero Family because
of your race or religion. Social identity and self-identity are not
always on the same page, which can actually cause conflict in a
person's life. Imagine how you might feel if you were identified with
being an A+ student and then you were asked to shift to another
course because you did not meet the maintaining grade.
 STEREOTYPES
• Another important concept in relation to identity is stereotypes (Operario & Fiske,
2003). These are assumptions that are made about individuals because they belong to
a particular social group.
• Going back to the previous example, applying the concept of stereotype is similar to
saying, men are better Aeronautical Engineers than women.
• When someone believes that a stereotype is true, unfair judgments are made about an
individual.
• This can be seen in a situation where an aviation company may give preferential
treatment to male Aeronautical Engineers and demean the capabilities of female
Aeronautical Engineers. Think about how different the ladies’ experience of trying to
get in an aviation company as compared to that of the men’s.
 SENSE OF SELF AND SELF - SOCIALIZATION
• Can you say that you are smart, physically attractive and talented? How do you know you
are? Oftentimes, you believed these to be true about yourself because someone told you so.
The self is a transforming but persistent aspect of one’s personality. Our sense of self is
defined as a collection of beliefs that we hold about ourselves. We put together these beliefs
based upon our social interactions with others (Sedikides & Spencer, 2007).
• This lesson will explore the effect of the socialization process on the self according to two
social scientists, George Herbert Mead and Charles Cooley (Macionis & John, 2010). Both
of them believed that the self was developed through the process of self-socialization, a
developmental process that allows us to reflect upon and argue with ourselves for us to
develop an accurate self -image.
 MEAD
• George Herbert Mead, in his Social Self Theory, believed that the sense of self is
developed through social interactions, such as observing and interacting with others
(Ritzer, 2008). According to Mead, the self is not yet present at birth. Rather, it is
developed over time from social experiences and activities. Simply put, When a baby is
first born, he does not seem to have a sense of who he is, but that changes as he grows.
• He also identified three activities that develop the self: language, play, and games
(Mead & Morris, 1967). By means of symbols, gestures, words, and sounds, which
enables individuals to communicate with and respond to each other, the self is
Understanding the Self Unit 1: The Self from Various Disciplinal Perspectives developed
through language.
• A person’s attitudes and opinions towards another person are
conveyed using language. Consequently, it is through play that the
self is developed since it allows us to take on different roles,
pretend, and express expectation of others.
• Remember the times when little children think and act like the
people they frequently see such as those little girls who used to play
‘dress-up’ by putting on her mommy’s lipstick and shoes? Our self-
consciousness is developed through role-playing, which enables us
to assume other roles and internalize how others perceive us in a
variety of social situations.
• Children begin to examine their own actions and that of the others at ages five and eight.
Games develop the self by allowing individuals to understand and adhere to the rules of
the activity, teaching them the value of accountability. The self is developed by
understanding that there are rules that one must follow in order to win the game or be
successful in an activity (Miller, 2009).
• Let us examine the two sides of the self according to Mead: ‘Me’ and ‘I.’ To Mead, the
“me” is considered the socialized aspect of the individual, which represents the learned
behaviors, attitudes and expectations of others and of the society.
• This is known as the “generalized other,” where children and young adults interact with
the society and adopt to other people’s expectations (Gillespie, 2006). It is at this stage
that we learn to put our trash in the proper waste can. This knowledge is developed
through our social interactions with other people.
 COOLEY
• Charles Cooley built on the work of Mead with his theory called the Looking-Glass Self
(Cooley, 1998). He explained how people develop a sense of self.
• Having three elements, the first element is how we imagine we appear to others.
• The second element is the judgment we imagine that other people may be making about us,
and the third element is our self-image based upon the evaluations of others.
• These elements can be best understood by discussing the three stages of behavioral and
personality development of the Looking-Glass Self.
• According to Cooley, it takes time to develop one’s self. Beginning after birth, the self
continues to develop throughout a person's life through the following stages: imagining,
interpreting, and developing self-concept.
• Imagining occurs when an individual judges the way he or she
acts and appears from the points of view of family and friends.
Perhaps your mom sees you as someone who is shy and quiet,
your friends see you as cheeky and confident, while your teachers
see you as friendly.
• Primarily, these views make-up a self-concept. In fact, this can be
understood as, ‘this is how I must appear to others’ stage.
• The second stage is a learned ability called interpreting, which occurs when a
person elicits conclusions coming not only from past experiences but from what
others think as well, and then reacts to the judgement of other people’s views.
• As the individual combines everything from his or her past experiences, including
others’ perspectives, he or she approaches the final stage, which is developing
self-concept. This is where a sense of self-image is formed and seen as the ‘this is
who I am’ stage.
• Cooley held high regard for other people’s opinions, and believed that these
opinions of the society shape the individual into becoming who they are.
• In short, we know if we look good today because when we wear our favorite
outfit, we feel confident and dazzling. Therefore, every time we wear our favorite
outfit, everyone always tells us how good we look in it.
SOCIAL & CULTURAL SYSTEMS AND THE SENSE OF
SELF

• The formation of our self-identities is indeed a very complex process.

While the list of contributing factors is nearly infinite, it is best to
discuss several of the most powerful factors. Considering the fact that
these factors change — so does our definition of ourselves.
• Let us look at a few of the factors that shape our self and identity, and
realize how culture influences our understanding of these factors
How we see ourselves shapes our lives, and is shaped by our cultural context. We
all have probably asked ourselves “Who am I?” a dozen times.
Certainly, we have heard the saying, “No two people are alike,” from our personal
encounter with other people in different situations
This is because we will never ever see ourselves being exactly the same as the
others since we all have different life experiences.
Self-perceptions influence how we think about the world, our social relationships,
health and l i f e s t y l e c h o i c e s , c o m m u n i t y engagement, political
actions, and ultimately our own and other people's well-being (Vignoles et. Al,
2016).
It has been a given fact that social scientists are well-aware that people in different
parts of the world see themselves in different ways.
 ‘I’ VS ‘WE’

One can attest to the differing culture of the East and the West in
terms of self-construction. Western cultures are inclined to foster
individualism, the ‘I’ idea that describes the self as existing
independently of others and includes own traits. In contrast,
collectivism dominates the perspective on the self in Eastern cultures.
Collectivism, the ’we’ idea, views the self in relation to others,
emphasizing the interdependence of the self as part of a larger
network of people who all help shape each other.
 FAMILY, AGE, AND GENDER

We all know how the FAMILY plays a crucial role in our development (Banaag & Cruz,
2016). Being the primary agent of socialization, we first learn to interact with our parents
and other family members — we are a child to our parents and a brother or sister to our
siblings.
We enter a system of relationship — the family — which is the most important of all. We
consciously learn the use of the magic words, ’please’ and ’thank you’, the use of po and
opo and the many ways to show respect such as pagmamano, in the most basic foundation
of our growth and development.
Without a family, our sense of self will be difficult to develop. Imagine the life of Tarzan
including his behaviors, attitudes and basic manners. As fabricated as the character appears,
he is who he is because of his ape ‘family.’
Our AGE is also a factor that influences our identity. Notice how protective our parents have
been when we were little. Young children are more dependent while older children show
more independence. Sometimes they are even asked to take care of their younger siblings.
Our age is also a factor that influences our identity. Notice how protective our parents have
been when we were little. Young children are more dependent while older children show
more independence. Sometimes they are even asked to take care of their younger siblings.
The role of culture plays a significant role in determining the kind of relationships we
establish with our families. While some aunts and uncles are an important part of a child’s
life, some were raised in a home with one or more parental figures. While others live in a
nuclear family, others live in an extended one where parents, grandparents, and relatives live
under the same roof (Banaag & Cruz, 2016).
Gender also contributes to these relationships. Remember, SEX is a biological term
for a person's genetic condition of being male or female. Hence, we only have two
sexes. Gender, on the other hand, is a social interpretation that varies across cultures.
This is why different cultures can have a number of gender categories like lesbian,
gay, bisexual, and transgender. Basically, GENDER is how a person expresses his or
her biological sex according to cultural definitions (Udry, 1994).
In the Philippines, we still have the terms tomboy, girly-girl, and manly-man to
classify the way people express masculinity or femininity. Even the roles that the
society dictates to a specific gender influence our identity like assigning household
tasks to women, fathers being the breadwinner of the family, toy cars and robots for
the little boys, and dolls and dresses for the little girls (Landy, 2017).
 ETHNICITY, NATIONALITY, AND
SOCIO – ECONOMIC CLASS

Similar to the factors mentioned above, a person's ethnicity also

contributes to how an individual interacts with others, yet, those
interactions differ depending on where a person lives and his or her
nationality. Ethnicity is a social construct determined by a person's
ancestral origins, culture, and physical attributes inherited from their
ancestors (Banaag & Cruz, 2016).
I. Various studies say that racial or ethnic differences affect one’s
self-image. In a research by Gray-Little & Hafdahl (2000),
AfricanAmericans, who believe that they belong the ethnic
minorities, are found to have lower self-esteem when they compare
themselves to Whites, who are more advantaged.
II. In the same manner, people with Middle Eastern ethnicity,
regardless of whether or not they were born and raised in the
Middle East or in the United States, see themselves differently,
possessing very different life experiences.
a) Nationality combines with ethnicity to further define a person's identity
within his or her larger community. Filipinos have a distinct identity of
being hospitable, making sure that something is offered to visitors in the
house (Garcia, 2015).
b) In Mediterranean countries, people consider you unkind if you avoid
touching someone’s arm when talking to them or do not greet them with
kisses or a warm embrace (Pitta, et. Al, 1999).
c) In the Philippines, when introduced to a person we just met, we sometimes
tap their backs to show acceptance but do this to someone who is not a
family member or a good friend in Korea will keep them uncomfortable.
QUIZ TIME:
5 PTS EACH
1.CAN YOU DEFINE WHAT IS SELF –
IDENTITY vs SOCIAL IDENTITY
2. WHO IS COOLEY?
3. HOW CAN YOU SEE YOURSELF AS A
STUDENT AND SA A FUTURE
TEACHER/EDUCATOR