CHAPTER 2: SOCIOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE OF THE

SELF
• Sociology, or the study of how human society is established, its structure and how it
works, the people’s interaction with each other and the effects they have to one another
is an aspect in which we have to consider with regards to the development of a person. It
is also important to understand that the establishment of the “Self” based on social
structures could give us a better understanding of who we are and provide reasons
how our interactions can affect us as a person.
GEORGE HERBERT MEAD AND THE SOCIAL SELF

• George Herbert Mead is an American Sociologist, he is considered as the Father of

American pragmatism, and one of the pioneers in the field of social psychology because
of his contributions on the development of the person relating to various social factors.
• Mead rejected the idea of biological determination of the self which proposes that an
individual already has an established self from the moment he is born. For him, the notion
of a person with regards to who they are develops from one’s social interaction with
other people. He reiterated that the process of establishing the self is through the
construction and reconstruction of the idea of who we are as a person during the
process of social experience.
THE “I” AND THE “ME”

• Mead proposes that there are two components of the self which the person have, these
components are the “I” and the “Me”. The “Me” are the characteristics, behavior, and or
actions done by a person that follows the “generalized others” that person interacts with,
while the “I” is the reaction of the individual to the attitude of others, as well as the
manifestation of the individuality of the person. Simply speaking, According to Mead the
concept the “I” is one’s response to the established attitude, and behavior that a person
assumes in reference to their social interactions while the “Me” are the attitudes, and
behavior of the person with reference to their social environment.
MEAD’S THREE ROLE-PLAYING STAGES OF SELF
DEVELOPMENT
• The Preparatory Stage (Birth – 2 years Old) – According to Mead, during this stage the
infant simply imitates the actions and behaviors of the people that the infant interacts
with. Because the child is only mimicking what he or she observes from his or her
environment their actions are only the reflection of what they can remember without
any intention or meaning behind their actions or behavior.
• The Play Stage (2 – 6 years old) – for the Play stage, it is the time where children begins
to interact with other with which certain rules apply, these rules often time does not
adhere to any set or standards but rather are rules that are set by the children
themselves. Also, this is the stage where the child practices real life situations through
pretend play and is the onset of self-consciousness. The development of the self in this
stage occurs through the preliminary experiences that serves as practice for the child.
• The Game Stage (6-9 years old) – The final stage of self-development according to Mead
where are characterized by the ability of the children to recognize the rules of the game
and be able to identify their roles and the roles of the others that is playing with them.
With this, the children at this stage learns the implications of their actions as well as the
understanding or taking into account how one can take into account the view point of
the society on the attitudes and actions.
ACTIVITY – QUICK POLL

• Conduct a short survey with ten (10) respondents and ask the social influences or behavior
that they adopted and its implications: use the guide questions provided below, Then make a
summary report on the result of your survey.
• Question:
• 1. Can you think of a behavior/belief that you have right now which you acquired from others?
2. Why do you think you were able to adopt said behavior/belief? 3. Do you think that there
will come a time that you will not anymore use the behavior/belief that you acquired? Why?
• With the idea of Mead with regards to the establishment of the sense of self, socialization
is a lifetime endeavor, and the people one interacts with will change throughout a
person’s life, as such, considering the social environment one belongs to along with the
changes on the person’s development, may it be at school, home, or work, the
interactions and experiences the person acquires from those people and situations helps
define a more concrete identity and sense of self. That idea of “Self” may be based on the
general attitudes and behaviors of other people or the individuality of the person that
manifests as a response to those attitudes and behaviors of others.
CHAPTER 3:ANTHROPOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE OF
THE SELF
• The Self and the Person in Contemporary Anthropology.
• I. Anthropology and Its Subdisciplines
• The academic discipline of anthropology, or “four-field” anthropology, studies human
species and its immediate ancestors includes four main sub disciplines or subfields -
sociocultural, archeological, biological and linguistic anthropology. Each sub discipline
studies adaptation, the process which organisms cope with the environmental.
Anthropology is a systematic exploration of human biological and cultural diversity.
THE SUB DISCIPLINES OF ANTHROPOLOGY

• 1. Cultural Anthropology
• Cultural anthropology is the study of human society and culture which describes,
analyzes, interprets and explains social and cultural similarities and differences. It explores
the diversity of the present and the past. Ethnography and ethnology are two different
activities which can study and interpret cultural diversity.
• Ethnography requires fieldwork to collect data, often descriptive and specific to a
group. On the other hand, ethnology uses data collected by a series of researches,
usually synthetic and comparative.
2. ARCHEOLOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY

• Archeological anthropology reconstructs, describes and interprets human behavior and

cultural patterns through material remains. These materials remain such as plant, animal
and ancient garbage provides stories about utilization and actions
3. BIOLOGICAL, OR PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY

• Biological, or Physical Anthropology focuses on these special interest, human evolution as

revealed by the fossil, human genetics, human growth and development, human biological
plasticity and the biology, evolution, behavior and social life of monkeys, apes and other
nonhuman primates.
4. LINGUISTIC ANTHROPOLOGY

• Linguistic anthropology studies language in its social and cultural context across space
and over time. Universal features of language are analyzed and association between
language and culture are evaluated.. It also studies how speech changes in social situations
and over time.
THE SELF EMBEDDED IN THE CULTURE

• Culture refers to customary behavior and beliefs that are passed on through enculturation,
wherein enculturation is the social process which culture is learned and transmitted.
• Culture is a social process that is learned and passes from generation to the next. Culture
depends on images, which have a specific significance and incentive for individuals who share a
culture. Cultural traditions take regular marvels, including organic desires, and transforming
them specifically headings. Everybody is cultured. Social orders are coordinated and designed
through predominant monetary powers, social examples, key images and core values. Cultural
mean of adjustment have been urgent in human evolution. Cultures oblige people, yet the
activities of people can change cultures.
CULTURE DEFINED:

• Culture is shared, symbolic, natural, learned, integrated, encompassing and maladaptive

and adaptive.
ACTIVITY - THINK PAIR SHARE

• Instruction: Students get into pairs and discuss question, and come up with a resolution.
Each pair then shares conclusions with entire class.
• Discussion Question:
• 1. How am I shaped and influenced by culture?