AZTEC SUN STONE (CALENDAR STONE)

THE SELF FROM VARIOUS PERSPECTIVES

Topic 3 - The Anthropological Self

Learning Outcomes:
At the end of the lesson, the students are expected to
 Define anthropology, construal, agency,
human agency, dialectic, dialogical, generalized
others, reflexibility, ethnocentrism, and cultural
relativism
 Describe the role of anthropology and the
identified perspectives in the formation of The
Self-The Anthropological Self
 Relate the relevance of culture in the
THE SELF FROM VARIOUS PERSPECTIVES
Topic 3 - The Anthropological Self

ANTHROPOLOGY

- came from “anthropos” for “human” and “logos”

for study
- a science that deals with cultural and biological
similarities and variations
- study human populations in all periods of time, in
all parts of the world
THE SELF FROM VARIOUS PERSPECTIVES
Topic 3 - The Anthropological Self

Anthropology is a holistic multi-faceted study of

human behavior that seeks to understand and
explain what people say and do.
Anthropology is a social science that is
concerned with human culture and the physical
and social characteristics that create culture. It
often compares one group of humans to another.
Different cultures produce different packaging
of The Self.
THE SELF FROM VARIOUS PERSPECTIVES
Topic 3 - The Anthropological Self

TERMINOLOGIES
Dialectic - the relationship between two things that can
influence each other; a change in one requires a change in the other
Dialogical - the mind's ability to imagine the different
opinions of participants if an internal dialogue, in close
connection with external dialogue (Hermans,1990)
Generalized others - are an individual's concept of other
people; individual's internalized impression of societal
norms and expectations (Mead, 2007)
Structure - a factor of influence (such as social class,
religion, gender, ethnicity, ability, customs, etc.) that
determines or limits an agent and his or her decisions
THE SELF FROM VARIOUS PERSPECTIVES
Topic 3 - The Anthropological Self

TERMINOLOGIES
Reflexibility - the capacity of an agent to recognize forces of
socialization that alters their place in the social structure
(William Thomas). A person with low reflexibility can be shaped
by the environment while a person with high reflexibility creates
their own and is a catalyst for change in others
Culture - is the unique quality of man that separates him from
lower animals. It includes everything man has acquired in his
individual and social life. In the words of Maciver and Page,
culture is the realm of styles, of values, of emotional·
attachments, of intellectual adventures." It is the entire “social
heritage” that the individual receives from the group.
THE SELF FROM VARIOUS PERSPECTIVES
Topic 3 - The Anthropological Self
Anthropology
Definition The study of human beings and
their ancestors through time in
terms of physical character,
environment and social relations
and culture. It can also be known
as the scientific and humanistic
study of human species and their
various diversities.
Specialization Sociocultural, linguistic, physical,
archaeological, simple,
traditional and non-industrialized
societies.
Sociology
The study of the development,
structure, interaction and
behavior of organized groups of
human beings.
Social institutions (economic life
education, family, politics and
religion), social stratification (by
age, gender, race, and ethnicity,
and social class), social change
and social problems. Focuses on
the complex and modern
societies.
Man is shaped by
his culture
What is Culture?

“The cumulative creation of man, and the handiwork of

man and the medium through which he achieves his ends”
-B. Malinowski
“That complex whole which includes knowledge, belief,
art, morals, law, custom, and any other capabilities and
habits acquired by man as a member of society.”
-Edward B. Tylor
“Culture is the complex whole that consists of all the ways
we think, and do and everything we have as members of
society.”
-Robert Bierstedt
What is Culture?
1. Culture is socially learned; it is not biologically
inherited. There is no cultural instinct that it is an
inborn tendency. It is often called 'learned ways of
behavior '.
What is Culture?
2. Culture is a social product. It does not exist in
isolation nor as an individual phenomenon. It is a
product of society that originated and developed
through social interactions. It is shared by the
members of society.
What is Culture?
3. Culture is shared. It is not something that an
individual can possess. All members of a culture shared
set of values, ideas, perceptions, and standards of
behaviors. This does not mean that everyone within a
culture will act and think the exact same way.
What is Culture?
4. Culture is transmissible. It could be transmitted
from one generation to the next. Parents pass
culture traits to their children, who in turn, pass it to
their own children. Culture is transmitted, not
through genes, but through language.
What is Culture?
5. Culture is continuous and cumulative. It exists
as a continuous process. It is cumulative in its
historical growth. It is a “growing whole” which
includes the achievements of the past and the
present and makes provision for the future
achievements of mankind.
What is Culture?
6. Culture is consistent and integrated and at the
same time, different parts of culture are
interconnected.
What is Culture?
7. Culture is dynamic and adaptive; it is relatively
stable. It is subject to slow and constant changes.
Change, growth, and latent in culture.
 Components of Culture
A. Elements of Culture
1. Cognitive elements: Cultures of all societies, whether
pre-literate or literate, include a vast amount of knowledge
about the physical and social world. The possession of this
knowledge is referred to as the cognitive element.
Components of Culture
A. Elements of Culture
2. Beliefs are principles or ideas, an acceptance by the mind that
something is true or real, often underpinned by an emotional or
spiritual sense of certainty
Microsoft® Encarta® 2009. © 1993-2008 Microsoft Corporation. All
rights reserved.
Beliefs in empirical terms are neither true nor false.
Components of Culture
A. Elements of Culture
3. Values and Norms
Values may be defined as measures of goodness of desirability. They
are the conceptions of relative desirability of things.

Norms are shared

rules that specify
what is right or
wrong and the
inappropriate and
appropriate
behavior
Norms can be
prescriptive or
proscriptive.
Components of Culture
A. Elements of Culture
4. Signs: Signs include signals and symbols. A signal (or
signs) indicates existence- past present and future- of an
event or conditions.
Components of Culture
A. Elements of Culture
5. Non-normative ways of behaving: Certain ways of behaving
are not compulsory and are often unconscious. Such patterns do
exist. Non-normative behavior shades over into normative behavior
and symbolic behavior.
Components of Culture
B. Culture Contents
Every society has a culture of
its own. Thus, people in
different societies have
different cultures. These
cultures are diverse and
unequal. Along with cultural
diversities and disparities
found in societies
throughout the world, we
observe certain cultural
similarities. People may
worship different gods in
many ways, but they all
follow a religion.
Components of Culture
They may pursue various
occupations, but they all earn
a living. Details of their rituals,
ceremonies, and customs may
diff er, nevertheless, they all
have some of these. Every
culture consists of such non-
material things. Similarly,
people of every society
possess different material
things. These may be primitive,
modern, simple, or complex.
These material and non-
material components of
culture are often referred to as
"the content of culture".
Components of Culture
C. Cultural Lag
The extent of lag varies
according to the nature of
cultural material and may
exist for a considerable
number of years. A sudden
change in one part of culture
is evident due to some
discovery, invention etc. The
maladjustment is the result
of strain as the balance of
the ordered structure breaks
down for the time being.
Components of Culture
D. Material and Non-material Culture
1. Material culture
Material culture consists of man-made objects such as tools,
implements, furniture, automobiles, buildings, dams, roads, bridges,
and other physical substances that was changed and used by man. It
is concerned with the external, mechanical, and utilitarian objects. It
includes technical and material equipment. It is referred to as
civilization.
Components of Culture
D. Material and Non-material Culture
2. Non - Material culture. The term 'culture', ordinarily means 'non-
material culture'. It is internally and intrinsically valuable and reflects the
inward nature of man. Non-material culture consists of words the people
use, the language they speak, the beliefs they hold, values and virtues
they cherish, habits they follow, rituals and practices they do, and the
ceremonies they observe. It also includes customs, tastes, attitudes
outlook, ways of acting, feeling, and thinking.
Components of Culture

E. Functions of Culture

Culture is the treasury of knowledge.

Culture defines situations.
Culture defines attitudes, values, and goals.
Culture decides our career.
Culture provides behavior pattern.
Culture molds personality.
Fundamentally, the needs of survival are basic needs and
the needs for adaptation are cultural response.

BASIC NEEDS CULTURAL RESPONSE

1. Metabolism 1. Commissariat*
2. Reproduction 2. Kinship
3. Bodily Comforts 3. Shelter
4. Safety 4. Protection
5. Movement 5. Activities
6. Growth 6. Training
7. Health 7. Hygiene
* (definition) -- a supply of food and equipment
 Identity and Culture

Identity is the set of characteristics that

somebody recognizes as belonging uniquely to
himself or herself and constituting his or her
individual personality for life. (Encarta, 2009)
Identity is the identification of self, by self and
others (Erikson, 1950). It came to be understood
as the historically and culturally rooted self-image
of a group that was predominantly sketched and
sharpened in contact vis-a-vis other groups of
people (Van-M eiil,2008).
As mentioned, the identity of individuals was
supposed to be identical to the identity of the
group he/she belongs to. This is consistent with
anthropological theories about the relation
between person and group or community (La
Fontaine, 1985). Another important aspect of
identity is concerned with the presupposition of
stability and permanence.
Morris (1994) emphasized that the self is not an
entity, but a process that orchestrates an
individual’s experience. As a result, he or she
becomes self-aware and self-reflective about his or
her place in the surrounding world. The concept of
The Self may be defined as an individual's mental
representation of self between others seems to be
universal (Spiro, 1993). But this distinction varies
from person to person. At the same time, it seems
obvious that the relationship between self and
others is also a function of culture (Shweder &
Bourne, 1984)
Indeed, the most crucial form of interaction and
exchange takes place between the self and his or
her cultural environment as mediated in social
practices (Morris, 1994), his or her own person, as
a self-representation, while the concept of others
refer to the mental representation of other
persons. As the word identity refers to
"selfsameness", disposition of basic personality
features acquired mostly during childhood as
much as ''ethnic identity" or selfsameness with
others made up the group identity.
Independent and Interdependent Construal of The Self
Markus and Kitayama (1991) defined The Self in terms of
internal attributes such as traits, abilities, values, and
preferences which are descriptive of the independent
construal of The Self.
Independent and Interdependent Construal of The Self
On the other hand, the interdependent construal of The
Self is defined in terms of relationships with others.
 The Self and Social Connotation of Emotion
Socially disengaged emotions separate the self from
social relationships while the socially engaged emotions
further assimilate the self in the relationship.
 Key Concepts of the Individual, Self, Person in
Anthropology

 Individual as member of human kind (biologistic)

 Self as locus of experience (psychologistic)
 Person as agent-in-society (sociologistic)
Other Important Concepts in Understanding the
Self as a Cultural Construct
Culture Universals
• Features and elements common to all culture.
• Similarities in the general features of society, rather than
the particular or specific culture traits.
Factors that promote Cultural Diversity

Environment
Cultural Diversity
Refers to the wide range of differences in cultural patterns,
ideas, beliefs, knowledge, forms of social organization, and
practical responses to the environment.
Factors that promote Cultural Diversity

Isolation
Factors that promote Cultural Diversity

Technology
Factors that promote Cultural Diversity

Diffusion
Factors that promote Cultural Diversity

Cultural Themes
Cultural Diversity
ESSAY. Expound this statement
“With diversity, the world is like a colorful flower.”
OTHER IMPORTANT TERMS RELATED TO THE
CONCEPT OF SELF AS A CULTURAL CONSTRUCT
Cultural Relativism
States the cultures differ, so that a cultural trait,
act, or idea has no meaning or functions by itself
but has a meaning only within its cultural setting.
Ethnocentrism
- refers to the tendency to see the behaviors, beliefs, values,
and norms of one’s group as the only right way of living and to
judge others by those standards. It is the belief in the inherent
superiority of one's own ethnic group or culture.
Xenocentrism
Refers to the idea that what is foreign is best and that
one’s lifestyle, products or ideas are inferior to those of
others.
Subculture

Refers to smaller
groups which
develop norms,
values, beliefs,
and special
languages which
make them
distinct from the
broader society.
Counterculture/Contra-culture
Refers to subgroups whose standards come in conflict
with and oppose the conventional standards of the
dominant culture.
Culture Shock
Refers to the feeling of disbelief, disorganization, and
frustration one experiences when he encounters
cultural patterns or practices different from his.
Noble savage mentality
Refers to the evaluation of one’s culture and that of
others based on the romantic notion that the culture
and way of life of the primitives of other simple culture
is better, more acceptable, and more orderly.
Approaches in Analyzing Culture
It involves understanding its major
values and norms, seeing how these are
reflected in social behavior, and perhaps
studying the way in which the values
and norms shape and are shaped by the
material culture.
Approaches in Cultural Analysis
1. Functionalist Approach
 Sees a particular trait as existing because it serves as
an important social function.
 Cultural trait- simplest unit or element of culture.
 Culture complex- is a system of interrelated traits that
function together as a unit.
 Culture pattern-
is a specific and
enduring system
of trait
complexes.
Approaches in Cultural Analysis
2. Ideological Approach
 This approach tries to find out which groups
support which ideas, values, and so on, and for
what reasons.
 Ideology-
when idea,
value, norm,
or other
culture trait
works to the
advantage of
one group for
any reason.
Approaches in Cultural Analysis
3. Ecological Approach
 Compares the social structure of different societies that
have the same level of hunting technology. –Julian
Steward (1955)
 Ecology- the study of relationship between organisms and
their environment.
 Cultural ecology-
culture traits are
shaped by the
resources and
limitations of the
surrounding
environment and
by the changes in
that environment.
In Our World Now…
Changes in the
various areas of
human relations
and lifestyles.
Symbolic Uses of Culture
1. Culture of Opulence
2. Culture of Corruption
3. Culture of Silence
4. Culture of Sabotage
5. Pop Culture
6. Culture of Apathy
7. Culture of Conspicuous Consumption
8. Culture of Exploitation and Dehumanization
9. Culture of Poverty
Culture of Opulence- refers to the ways of life of
the rich and the famous in their world of glitz
and glamour
Culture of Opulence- refers to the ways of life of
the rich and the famous in their world of glitz
and glamour
Culture of Conspicuous Consumption - refers to
the ways and practices of the super rich in
buying goods and obtaining services in excess of
what they can actually consume and use.
 Pop Culture - refers to popular ways,
practices , and interest of contemporary
society
 Pop Culture - refers to popular ways,
practices , and interest of contemporary
society
Culture of Corruption- refers to the established
patterns of illegally amassing wealth and obtaining
power or concessions in the government or private
office.
Culture of silence refers to the individual or group
attitude to keep silent as a resigned response to
authority
Culture of Apathy - refers to the prevalent
inaction, indifference, lack of emotion and interest
of the people in regard to the issues and concerns
which need attention and resolution.
Culture of Sabotage – refers to deliberate action
aimed at weakening a polity or corporation
through subversion, obstruction, disruption or
destruction
Culture of Exploitation and Dehumanization- refers to
the socially entrenched patterns of abusive and exploitative
practices by the moneyed and power – wielding members of
the society against the culturally deprived and materially
disadvantaged group of the society.
Culture of Exploitation and Dehumanization- refers to
the socially entrenched patterns of abusive and exploitative
practices by the moneyed and power – wielding members of
the society against the culturally deprived and materially
disadvantaged group of the society.
Culture of Poverty - refers to the learned ways of life of the
poor, a vicious cycle of deprivation and want transmitted
from one generation to the next
Culture of Poverty - refers to the learned ways of life of the
poor, a vicious cycle of deprivation and want transmitted
from one generation to the next
Ikaw: Masyado nang
madilim ang mundo ...
Pwede kaya Ako ang maging
LIWANAG mo?
Papayagan mo kaya Akong tumira
sa puso mo?
Hayaan mo kaya Ako ang tumira dyan, para
maging maliwanag ang mundo mo?
Kasi dati ay naibigay ko na ang
puso Ko, di mo tinaggap.
O heto ulit…
Ikaw at ikaw pa
rin ang
magpapasya.
Heart-Touching Short Film Ever Made:
Food, Taste and Hunger
1. As a Filipino and as a consumer, how do
you feel about the story?

2. What is its main

message to YOU?
Reflection
Paper