MODULE 3

Sociology

Big Question:What are the different sociological influences, factors and forces that shape
the self?

Objectives:
At the end of this module, you will be able to:
1. Define sociology and other key concepts.
2. Identify different views of theorists who studied sociology.
3. Differentiate microsociology and macrosociology approaches.
4. Discuss ideas of the different social perspectives of self.

Activity 1: SELF- CONCEPT INVENTORY

Take a look at your own self- concept and answer the following self- concept
inventory in your journal. Give yourself a rating using: 0= very weak, 1= weak, 2=
somewhat weak or somewhat strong, 3 = strong, 4 = very strong.

___1. I have strong sex appeal.

___2. I am proud of my physical figure.
___3. I am physically attractive and beautiful/handsome.
___4. I exude with charm and poise.
___5. I am easy to get along with.
___6. I can adjust to different people and different situations.
___7. I am approachable; other people are at ease and comfortable with me.
___8. I am lovable and easy to love.
___9. I am a fast learner, can understand with one instruction.
___10. I am intelligent.
___11. I have special talents and abilities.
___12. I can easily analyze situations and make right judgments.
___13. I can be trusted in any transaction.
___14. I have a clean conscience and carry no guilty feeling.
___15. I have integrity and good reputation.
___16. My friends and classmates can look up to me as a model worth emulating.
___17. I can express my ideas without difficulty.
___18. I talk in a persuasive manner that I can easily get people to accept what I
say.
___19. I can express my ideas in writing without difficulty.
___20. I am a good listener.
___21. I am emotionally stable and not easily rattled when faced with trouble.
___22. I am logical and rational in my outlook and decisions.
___23. I feel and act with confidence.
 ___24. I am a mature person.

Scoring: Copy this table in your journal.Write your score opposite each number and get
the subtotal.

Physical Appeal Human Relations Intelligence

1. __________ 5. __________ 9. __________
2. __________ 6. __________ 10. __________
3. __________ 7. __________ 11. __________
4. __________ 8. __________ 12. __________
Subtotal: Subtotal: Subtotal:
Character Communications Maturity
13. __________ 17. __________ 21. __________
14. __________ 18. __________ 22. __________
15. __________ 19. __________ 23. __________
16. __________ 20. __________ 24. __________
Subtotal: Subtotal: Subtotal:

How do you perceive yourself?

Look at the results of your self-concept inventory and answer the following questions.
1. In what areas do you consider yourself strong (with score 14-16 or somewhat
weak (score of 10-13) and very weak (below 10).
2. Are there qualities you consider as your weakness but other people consider as
your strength? What are these? Check with a partner.
Example: A lady can say “I`m ugly” yet other consider her very charming. Or conversely,
one can have the illusion of saying “I am very intelligent or competent” when most of his
ideas sound unreasonable or illogical to most of the people.
There is indeed a big difference between what you see in yourself (real self-image) and
what is projected in the eyes of the others (your social image).
3. How realistic is your self- image?
4. To what extent does it reflect your real self?

Source: Roldan, Amelia S. (2003). On Becoming a Winner: A Workbook on Personality

Development and Character Building. AR Skills Development and Management Services
(SDMS), Paranaque City, Metro Manila.
Activity 2: JOHARI’S WINDOW

Activity 3:“Looking Glass Self”

Reading: Sociology
 Sociologystudies human social behavior.
 It assumes a group, rather than an individual, perspective.
 Sociologists look for the patterns in social relationships.
 Individuals can benefit by using their sociological imaginations to look at events
in their personal lives.

Theories in sociology provide us with different perspectives with which to view our
social world, the individual, and the self.

A perspective is simply a way of looking at the world.

A theory is a set of interrelated propositions or principles designed to answer a

question or explain a particular phenomenon; it provides us with a perspective.

Sociological study may be conducted at both macro (large-scale social processes) and
micro (small group, face-to-face interactions) levels.

Macrosociology involves the study of widespread social processes .

Microsociology involves the study of people at a more interpersonal level, as in

face-to-face interactions.

The macro-level study of widespread social processes has been the more
dominant approach, and has been practiced since sociology's origins in the founding work
of figures like Emile Durkheim.

The tendency toward macrosociology is evident in the kinds of questions that early
sociologists asked:
 What holds societies together?
 How are norms (and deviance) established and handled by societies?
 What factors lead to social change, and what are the results of this change?

Macrosociologists focus on society as a whole, as something that is prior to, and greater
than, the sum of individual people.

Studying social life on the micro-level is a more recent development and was pioneered
by proponents of the symbolic interactionism perspective, namely

MAJOR THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVES

Macro-Sociology
• Functionalism
• Conflict Theory
• Social Constructivism
Micro-Sociology
• Symbolic Interactionism
 FUNCTIONALIST PERSPECTIVE

The functionalist perspective is based largely on the works of Herbert Spencer,

Emile Durkheim, Talcott Parsons, and Robert Merton. Society is a system of
interconnected parts that work together in harmony to maintain a state of balance and
social equilibrium for the whole.

Each of the social institutions contributes important functions for society:

 provides a context for reproducing, nurturing, and socializing children.
 offers a way to transmit a society’s skills, knowledge, and culture to its youth.
 provides a means of governing members of society.
 provides for the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services.
 provides moral guidance and an outlet for worship of a higher power.

Functionalists use the terms functional and dysfunctional to describe the effects of social
elements on society.
Elements of society are functional if they contribute to social stability and dysfunctional
if they disrupt social stability.
CONFLICT PERSPECTIVE
• Conflict perspective views society as composed of different groups and interest
competing for power and resources.
• The conflict perspective can be traced to the classic works of Karl Marx who
suggested that all societies go through stages of economic development.

Karl Marx’ Social Classes

• Bourgeoisieclass owning the means for producing wealth
• Capitalist person who owns or controls the means for producing wealth
• Proletariat working class those who labor for the bourgeoisie

Class Conflictis the ongoing struggle between the bourgeoisie and the proletariat.

INDIVIDUALISTIC VS COLLECTIVE SELF

The individual self highlights one’s unique side. It consists of attributes (e.g.,
traits, goals and aspirations, experiences, interests, behaviors) that differentiate the person
from others. This self-representation is relatively independent of relational bonds or
group memberships.

The collective self highlights one’s intergroup side. It consists of attributes that
are shared with ingroup members and differentiate the ingroup from outgroups. This self-
representation reflects membership in valued social groups.
 SOCIAL CONSTRUCTIVISM

Social constructivism emphasizes the importance of culture and social context in

understanding what occurs in society and constructing knowledge based on this
understanding.Social constructivism is on a macro level. "We" as society, assign labels to
certain things and associate those things/objects with meanings.
• Money is simply paper (or abaca apparently) but as a society and on a macro
level, that paper can be used to trade for goods and services.
• Another example could be road signs and road lines. Those signs are just blocks,
shapes, and letters but they mean that as a driver, I must stop or yield or stay
under the speed limit.

SYMBOLIC INTERACTIONISMON FOCUS

Micro sociology is concerned with the social psychological dynamics of

individuals interacting in small groups. Symbolic interactionism reflects the micro-
sociological perspective, and was largely influenced by the work of early sociologists and
philosophers, such as George Simmel, Charles Cooley, George Herbert Mead, and Erving
Goffman.

• Symbolic interaction theory analyzes society by addressing the subjective

meanings that people impose on objects, events, and behaviors.
• Subjective meanings are given primacy because it is believed that people behave
based on what they believe and not just on what is objectively true.
ex. smoking among young people
• Symbolic interactionism is on a micro level
• We define certain things and associate those things/objects with meanings like
social constructivism, but in a smaller setting.
• Critics of this theory claim that symbolic interactionism neglects the macro level
of social interpretation or misses the larger issues of society by focusing too
closely on the “trees” rather than the “forest”. The perspective also receives
criticism for slighting the influence of social forces and institutions on individual
interactions.
• The Self as Social Construction
• Charles Cooley“Looking Glass Self”
A person’s self grows out of a person´s social interactions with others. The
view of ourselves comes from the contemplation of personal qualities and
impressions of how others perceive us. The main point is that people shape their
self-concepts based on their understanding of how others perceive them. We form
our self-image as the reflections of the response and evaluations of others in our
environment.
• George Herber Mead“The I and the ME”
The "Me" is what is learned in interaction with others and (more
generally) with the environment: other people's attitudes, once internalized in the
 self, constitute the Me. By contrast, 'the "I" is the response of the individual to the
attitude of the community'.

In Confucianism the quest for the human self, the search for what it is to be
human in terms of substance or no-substance, in terms of spirit or body, does not exist.
The form which that question takes in Confucius’ writings, is one of personality.
Personality as such is not seen as inherently existing, but as something that is being
formed through upbringing and environment. In that, the human being is seen as a social
being. (Some have even used the term: Social animal). Accordingly, every person is born
with four beginnings, which do not encapsulate a concept of self as yet, but which
together, if put in the western framework of thinking, may be called ‘pre-self’, or
‘potential-self’:
• heart of compassion – leads to Jen
• heart of righteousness – leads to Yi
• heart of propriety – leads to Li
• heart of wisdom – leads to Chih