SUMMARIZE LESSON
UNDERSTANDING THE SELF
THE SELF FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF SOCIOLOGY
➢ SOCIOLOGY – Is one of the disciplines in the social sciences which aims to discover the ways which the
social surroundings/environment influences people’s thoughts, feelings, and behavior.
➢ Goerge Herbert Mead
▪ Born on February 27, 1863 in Massachusetts, USA
▪ Graduated at Oberlin College
▪ Enrolled in Harvard University in 1887 (Philosophy and Psychology)
▪ Wrote and published articles and book reviews, but did not publish his own book.
▪ His students put together number of his articles and edited them for publication.
▪ Died in 1931, heart failure.
➢ Mead’s social self
▪ Social behaviorism – the approach mead used to describe the power of environment in
shaping human behavior. At the center of his theorizing is the concept of the self.
▪ He described the self as “dimension of personality that is made up of the individual’s self-
awareness and self-image” (Macionis, 2012)
▪ According to Mead, the self cannot be separated from the society.
▪ He explained through a set of stages which the person undergoes in the course of his
development.
➢ Stages of self formation.
1. The preparatory stage.
Children’s behavior is primarily based on imitation. They become familiar with symbols (verbal and
non-verbal) as they interact and these symbols are the bases of community.
Knowing and understanding the symbols are important to constitute their way of communicating
with others throughout their lives. (Schaefer, 2012)
Note:
Existence of self: none
Characteristics: imitates another
Mead believed that a self did not exist at birth but develops over time. It depends on social
interaction and social experience.
2. The play stage
Skills at knowing and understanding the symbols of communication is important for this constitutes
the basis for communication. Through communication, social relationships are formed.
Role-taking is the process of assuming the perspective of another person to see how this person
might behave or respond in a given situation. (Schaefer, 2012)
Note:
Existence of self: developing
Characteristics: role-taking
This stage is where the child widens his perspective and realizes that he is not alone and there are
others around him which he has to consider.
3. The game stage
Begins to consider several tasks and various types of relationships simultaneously.
Generalized other was used to explain the behavior when a person considers other people in the
course of his action. Through this, the person realizes the cultural norms, beliefs, and values
incorporated to each self. With this, it forms the basis of self-evaluation.
Note:
Existence of self: present
Characteristics: Generalized others
The child now has the ability to respond not just to one but several members of his social
environment.
➢ Mead’s theory of the self
▪ The self is not present at birth but begins as a central character in a child’s world.
▪ Children see themselves as “universe” and is having difficulty understanding people around
them.
▪ As they grow and mature, they begin to see other people and is concerned about their
reactions.
▪ Family plays a major role in the formation of the self. they are the significant others – strongly
influence his development. (Schaefer, 2012)
➢ The “I” and the “Me”
▪ Mead explained that the person’s capacity to see the self through others implies that the self
has 2 parts:
a. “I” self – when the person initiates, the self functions as subject. This subjective
element of the self is the I.
b. “Me” self – When the person takes the role of the other, the self function as object.
The objective element of the self is the Me.
OTHER SOCIOLOGICAL APPROACHES TO UNDERSTANDING THE SELF
➢ Charles Horton Cooley (1864-1929)
▪ American sociologist who made use the sociopsychological approach to understand how
societies work.
▪ Earned his doctorate at the university of Michigan and taught as a Sociology professor until the
end of his life.
▪ He discussed the formation of the self through interaction in his written work, human nature,
and the social order (1902).
LOOKING-GLASS SELF
The self that is a product of social interaction. Seeing oneself is based on contemplating one’s
personal qualities and the view of the self is also influenced by the impression of the other
people.
➢ Cooley believed that developing a self has 3 phases:
1. People imagine how they present themselves to others.
Example: you drees-up elegantly at the prom.
2. People imagine how others evaluate them.
Example: Others will see you as pretty the way you fix yourself.
3. People develop some sort of feeling about themselves as a result of those impressions.
Example: You may see yourself as confident.
✓ It is noticed that Cooley used the word imagine. This may mean that there is a
possibility that people develop self-identities based on the wrong perception of how
others see them. Wrong perceptions, however, can still change based on positive
social experiences.
“I am not what I think I am”
“I am not what you think I am”
“I am what I think you think I am”
➢ Erving Goffman (1922-1982)
▪ Canadian-American sociologist know for his role in the development of modern American
Sociology.
▪ The presentation of the self in everyday life- people early in their social interactions learned to
slant their presentation of themselves in order to create preferred appearances and satisfy
particular people or altering how the person presents himself to others which he called
impression management.
▪ He sees similarities of real social interaction to a theatrical presentation. This is the reason for
the label dramaturgical approach to his view.
▪ He used the phrase face-work to describe another aspect of the self. This was observed in
situations where face-saving measures are resorted to in the maintenance of a proper image of
self in frustrating or embarrassing situations (Schaefer, 2012)
“Choose your self-presentations carefully, for what starts out as a mark may become your face”
- Erving Goffman
➢ From the perspective of Sociology
The discussions and observations of the sociologists represented a progression on how the self has
developed through the process of socialization to how the person manages self-presentation in order
for him to be accepted by others.
