Understand Self PDF

LESSON 2 The Self from the Sociological and Anthropological Sociological Perspective Charles Horton Cooley’s Looking Glass Self George Mead’s Social Self The Looking Glass Self - A sociol...

LESSON 2 The Self from the Sociological and Anthropological Sociological Perspective Charles Horton Cooley’s Looking Glass Self George Mead’s Social Self The Looking Glass Self - A sociologist who argued that the self is not - A social psychological concept biological but social - The self is developed as a result of one’s perception of other people’s opinion Self - Something that is developed through social The self is built through social interaction which involves interaction three steps: - Developed as one grows and ages - Constructed by directly engaging in the world 1. People imagine how they must appear to others through interaction and through reflection on 2. They imagine the judgment on that appearance those interactions 3. They develop themselves through the judgment of others Self-awareness - Conscious knowledge of one’s own character, Postmodern View of the Self feelings, motives and desires Postmodernism - More of a report on the mindset of western Self-image culture in the latter of the 20th century - The idea one has of one’s abilities, appearance, - For French philosopher Michel Foucalt, the self is and personality also seen as a product of modern discourse that is socially and historically conditioned (David, Role Playing 2002) - It is the process in which one takes on the role of another by putting oneself in the position of the 4 Basic Postmodernist Ideas about the Self (Anderson, person with whom he or she interacts 1997) - Develops a concept of self Multiphrenia refers to the many different voices speaking about “who we are and what we are” 3 Stages of Development Imitation or Preparatory Stage: a child imitates the Protean, a self capable of changing constantly to fit the behavior of his or her parents like sweeping the floor present conditions Play Stage: the child playing the roles of others such as De-centered, a belief that there is no self at all since the acting as a teacher, soldier, carpenter, etc. self is constantly being redefined or undergoing change Game Stage: the child comes to themselves from the Self-in-relation means that humans do not live their lives perspective of other people in isolation but in relation to people and to certain cultural contexts. George Mead’s Social Life “I” and “Me” Self Mead believes that there is no “I” self, that self is shaped For Mead, all humans experience internal conversation. by outside forces. This conversation involves the I and Me, which he called phases of self. For him, self is essentially a social process A person’s status is determined by… going on between the I and Me. Traditional society: by his or her role The I is the phase of the self that is unsocialized and Modern society: by his or her achievement spontaneous. It is the acting part of the self, an immediate Postmodern society: by fashion or style since it changes response to other people. It represents the self that is free and people adapts to these changes or is left with identity and unique. It is the subjective part of the self. in question The Me is the self that results from the progressive stages of role playing or role-taking and the perspective one Dominated by two realities: assumes to view and analyze one's own behaviors. 1. The rise of new media technologies 2. The dominance of consumerism It is the organization of the internalized attitude of others. It represents the conventional and objective part of the Lyon (1997) argued that the predicament of the self in self. postmodern societies is complicated by the advent of electronic-mediated virtual interactions of cyberselves and Generalized Others the spread of information technology - Organized community or social group which gives to the individual his or her unity of self Green (1997) posited that the self is digitalized in - Attitude of the entire community cyberspace  an in-group and differentiate himself/herself from the Email and Memory out-groups) Every little piece of information you post on the internet becomes raw data from which it can be piece together to The 3 Fundamental Selves create a virtual identity of who you are. Individual Self - Reflects the cognition related to traits, states, and Anthropological behaviors that are stored in memory Cultural Identity and National Identity Culture Relational Self - Derived from the latin word “cultura” or “cultus” - Reflects cognitions that are related to one’s which means care or cultivation relationships Personal identity: the way they see themselves as an Collective Self individual - Reflects cognitions that are related to one’s group Collective identity: the way the see themselves as a member of a certain group Identity Struggles (Anthony Wallace and Raymond Fogelson) Identity - Characterizes the discrepancy between the - “Who the person is” identity a person claims to possess and the - Qualities and traits of an individual that make identity attributed to that person by others him or her different from others Ways to distinguish people: 1. Geographical context (based on where they came from) 2. People from the west are different from the people from the east Cultural Identity - The identity or feeling of belongingness to a certain culture group It is an individual’s perception about himself/herself anchored on: race, gender, language, nationality, ethnicity, religion Cultural Identity Theory - Explains why a person acts and behaves the way he or she does - A single person can possess multiple identities, simultaneously making him or her part of many cultural groups Nation - A group of people built on the premise of shared customs, traditions, religion, language, art, history and more National Identity - Identity or feeling of belongingness to one state or nation - A body of people who feel that they are a nation. (Rupert Emerson, POLSCI) - Socially constructed - Influence and shape by material and non material cultures Ex. Material Culture - National flag, emblem seal Non-material culture - norms, beliefs, traditions National Identity requires the process of Self-categorization (one must identify himself/herself with