Lesson 2: The Self from Sociological Perspective

The Sociological Perspective and its self concept

1. LESSON 2: THE SELF FROM SOCIOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE

2. LEARNING OUTCOMES: Identify the sociological perspectives about the self; Demonstrate critical and reflective thinking in showing different aspects of the self; and Examine yourself using Charles Horton Cooley’s Looking-glass Self Theory.

3. WARM UP QUESTION! What is important to me, what are my core values? What do I worry about?

4. The word sociology derives from the French word, sociologie , a hybrid coined in 1830 by French philosopher Auguste Comte (1798-1857), from the Latin: socius , meaning "companion"; and the suffix -ology, meaning "the study of", from the Greek λόγος , lógos , "knowledge". The English word, sociology, appeared in 1843.

5. is the scientific study of society, including patterns of social relationships, social interaction, and culture.  The term  sociology  was first used by Frenchman Auguste Comte in the 1830s when he proposed a synthetic science uniting all knowledge about human activity.

6. Society is defined as a group of people living as a community or an organized group of people for a common purpose.

7. Sociologist George Herbert Mead argued that the self is not biological but social. Self is something that is developed through social interaction. The self is developed as one grows and ages.

8. One of Mead’s best known concepts is the generalized other. He described it as an organized community or social group which gives to the individual his or her unity of self. The attitude of the generalized other is the attitude of the entire community.

9. In this view, the self is developed as a result one’s perceptions of other people’s opinions. The self, which is essentially an individual’s awareness of one’s social or personal identity is, for Cooley, a social development ( Leano & Corpuz , 2021).

10. The self is built through social interaction which involves three steps: first, people imaging how they must appear to others; second, they imagine the judgment on that appearance; and finally, they develop themselves through the judgment of others.

11. Concepts of Self Private Self, or individual self, is the cognition that involves traits, states, and behaviors. It is an assessment of the self by the self.

12. Concepts of Self Public Self is the cognition concerning the generalized other’s view of the self. It corresponds to an assessment of the self by the generalized other.

13. Concepts of Self Collective Self is the cognition concerning a view of the self that is found in memberships in social groups (e.g., family, co-workers, tribe, professionals organizations).

14. Mead’s Development of the Self Preparatory Stage (0-3 years old, children imitate the people around them, especially family members with whom they have daily interaction.

15. Mead’s Development of the Self Play Stage (3-5 years old), children start to view themselves in relation to others as they learn to communicate through language and other symbols.

16. Mead’s Development of the Self Game Stage (begins in the early school years), children understand not only their own social position but also those of others around them.

17. The social identity theory was conceived by Henri Tajfel . Social identity has been defined as the person’s sense of who he or she is according to his or her membership to a certain group. Group membership, according to the social identity theory, is an important source of pride and self-esteem. It gives a sense of social identity- a sense of belongingness to the social world.

18. Postmodernism is not a philosophy but more of a report on the mindset of western culture in the latter half of the 20 th century.

19. For French philosopher Michel Foucault, the self is also seen as a product of modern discourse that is socially and historically conditioned (David, 2002).

20. Anderson (1997) gives four basic postmodernist ideas about the self, which address the issues of change and multiple identities.

21. First is Multiphrenia , refers to the many different voices speaking about “who we are and what we are”.

22. Second is Protean, a self capable of changing constantly to fit the present conditions.

23. Third is de-centered, a belief that there is no self at all. The self is constantly being redefined or constantly undergoing change.

24. Fourth is self-in-relation, which means that humans do not live their lives in isolation but in relation to people and to certain cultural contexts.

25. Sociologist Erving Goffman presented the idea that a person is like an actor on a stage. Calling his theory dramaturgy, Goffman believed that we use “impression management” to present ourselves to others as we hope to be perceived. 

26. For Kenneth Gergen , the saturated self is characterized by constant connection to others.

27. A self that absorbs a multitude of voices (sometimes contradictory) and takes in a seemingly endless streams of information. This saturation contradicts the notion of a singular , true, authentic self, and instead gives way to self consisting of “multiple” selves.

28. HOW SHOULD YOU DEVELOP YOUR SELF-IMAGE? IS IT BASED ON YOUR OWN EVALUATION OF YOURSELF OR IS IT BASED ON HOW YOU BELIEVE OTHERS PERCEIVE YOU? EXPLAIN YOUR ANSWER.

29. Ronald M. Corpuz , et. al. Understanding the Self. C&E publishing Inc. pg. 27-38 Ma. Jocelyn A. Go- Monilla , et.al. Understanding the Self. C&E publishing Inc. pg. 23-28 https://sociology.case.edu/what-is-sociology/ https://www.asanet.org/sites/default/files/savvy/introtosociology/Documents/Etymology.htm#:~:text=Origins%20of%20the%20Word%20Sociology,%2C%20l%C3%B3gos%2C%20%22knowledge%22 . https://www.yourdictionary.com/society https://courses.lumenlearning.com/alamo-sociology/chapter/993/ References: