Socialization and Personality Development

• Social interaction is the basis of personality.

Social Experience and Humanity

• Socialization is the lifelong social experience where individuals develop their potential and learn culture.
• Social experience forms our personality by shaping the way we think, feel, and act.
• Modern sociologists consider nurture (socialization) more important than nature (biology) in shaping human behavior.
• Social isolation research shows that social experience is very important in personality development.
• Harry and Margaret Harlow's (1962) research on rhesus monkeys and studies of isolated children emphasize the importance of interaction.

Understanding Socialization

• Two opposing forces shape personality: eros (the life instinct) and thanatos (the death instinct).
• Personality has three components: the id (basic drives), the ego (balancing drives with social demands), and the superego (cultural operation in the individual).
• In well-adjusted people, the ego manages the conflicting forces of the id and superego.
• The idea that internalized norms and childhood experiences shape socialization is critical.
• Sigmund Freud (1856-1939) work has been criticized for sexist bias.
• Jean Piaget (1896-1980) identified four stages of cognitive development.
• Sensorimotor Stage is the level of development where people experience the world only through sensory contact.
• The Preoperational Stage is the level of development where people use language and other symbols.
• Concrete Operational Stage is the level of development where people perceive causal connections.
• The Formal Operational Stage is the level of development where people think abstractly and critically.
• Lawrence Kohlberg (1981) states that moral development occurs in the preconventional, conventional, and postconventional stages.
• Carol Gilligan (1982, 1990) found that boys' moral development reflects a justice model while girls emphasize care and responsibility.
• The self is a personality dimension composed of self-awareness and self-image, emerging from social experience based on exchanging symbols.
• "Me" is the self as object.
• Charles Horton Cooley (1864-1929) introduced the looking-glass self, the idea that self-image is based on how people respond to us.
• The self has the dual nature: the "I" as subject and the "me" as object.
• The self develops through imitation, play (taking roles of significant others like parents), games (taking roles of several people), and acquiring a generalized other (using cultural norms to evaluate ourselves).
• George Herbert Mead (1863-1931) showed that symbolic interaction forms both self and society, but he may be criticized for overlooking role of biology in self-development.
• Erik Erikson (1902-1994) viewed development as occurring throughout life by facing challenges throughout eight stages.
• The challenge of trust (vs. mistrust) occurs during Stage 1-Infancy.
• The challenge of autonomy (vs. doubt and shame) occurs during Stage 2-Toddlerhood.
• The challenge of initiative (vs. guilt) occurs during Stage 3-Preschool.
• The challenge of industriousness (vs. inferiority) occurs during Stage 4-Preadolescence.
• The challenge of gaining identity (vs. confusion) occurs during Stage 5-Adolescence.
• The challenge of intimacy (vs. isolation) occurs during Stage 6-Young adulthood.
• The challenge of making a difference (vs. self-absorption) occurs during Stage 7-Middle adulthood.
• The challenge of integrity (vs. despair) occurs during Stage 8-Old age.
• Erikson's theory views personality as lifelong process.

Agents of Socialization

• Family is crucial but socialization within family depends largely on social class.
• Society lacks a clear rite of passage marking adulthood, and this process varies by class.
• Schooling introduces evaluations based on universal standards and families socialize children into gender roles.
• The hidden curriculum passes on cultural values implicitly.
• Peer groups, sharing interests, social position, and age, are also important.
• Anticipatory socialization, the process of social learning for a desired position, often occurs among peers.
• Mass media directs impersonal communication at a vast audience and shapes socialization, especially through television.

Socialization and the Life Course

• Industrialization separates childhood as a phase of life and discourages children from working.
• Adolescence presents social and emotional turmoil reflecting cultural inconsistency, varying by class.
• Adolescence is a time when people are concerned about identity.
• Adulthood is divided into stages: early adulthood pursuing goals, middle adulthood reflecting more.
• Old age begins in the mid-sixties, with the US experiencing a rise in the elderly population.
• Elisabeth Kübler-Ross identifies five stages of death: denial, anger, negotiation, resignation, and acceptance.
• Each stage of life presents characteristic problems and transitions, modified by social variables like race and gender.
• Life experiences depend on when people were born, creating cohorts.

Resocialization: Total Institutions

• Total institutions isolate individuals and manipulate them with administrative staff.
• The purpose is resocialization or radically altering inmate's personality through deliberate control by the environment.
• A two-stage process: staff breaks down the inmate's identity and builds a new one.