SOCIOLOGICAL, UNDERSTANDING THE

ANTHROPOLOGICAL AND SELF

THSELF1
PSYCHOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE
SOCIOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE
OF THE SELF
 THE SELF AS A PRODUCT OF MODERN
SOCIETY AMONG OTHER CONSTRUCTIONS
Sociology
-Concerned with questions about persons in the community
-Sociology posits that socially formed norms, beliefs and
values come to exist within the person to a degree where
these become natural and normal
PRE-MODERN, MODERN AND POST-
MODERN SOCIETIES
PRE-MODERN SOCIETIES
MODERN SOCIETIES
POST-MODERN
 MODERNIZATION’S EFFECT ON SOCIETY
- Improved living conditions
-Freedom to choose who to be with, where to live and
what to do.
-Decrease in stability due to decrease in traditions and
traditional support systems such as family.
-Individualism and developing the self is central.
KEY CHARACTERISTICS OF MODERNITY

1. Industrialism
2. Capitalism
3. Institutions of surveillance
4. Dynamism
 INDUSTRIALISM
Social relations implied in the extensive use of material
power and machinery in all processes of production
CAPITALISM
Production system involving both competitive product
markets and commodification (putting a price tag) of
labor power.
INSTITUTIONS OF SURVEILLANCE
Massive increase of power and reach by
institutions, especially in the government.
 DYNAMISM
Characterized by having vigorous activity and
progress.
Everything is subject to change
SOCIAL GROUPS AND SOCIAL
NETWORK
According to sociologist George Simmel people create
social networks by joining social groups.
SOCIAL GROUP- two or more people interacting
together, sharing similar characteristics and whose
members identify themselves as part of the group.
SOCIAL NETWORK- ties or connections that link you to
your social group.
SOCIAL GROUPS can be classified into two:
1.ORGANIC GROUP
- naturally-occurring and highly influenced by your family.
-you join the group since your family is also a part of the
group….ORGANIC MOTIVATION
-Develops rootedness
-Promotes less freedom and greater social conformity.
2. RATIONAL GROUPS
-Occur in modern societies.
-Formed as a matter of shared interests
-Join out of one’s free will…RATIONAL MOTIVATION
-Greater freedom
-Relationship in rational groups are tenuous and people feel no
meaningful connection with others.
MEAD AND THE SOCIAL SELF
-Known for his “theory of social self”
-Self is a product of social interactions and
internalizing the external (i.e. other people’s) views
along with one’s personal view of oneself.
-“SELF” is not present at birth rather it develop over
time through social experiences and activities.
DEVELOPING THE SELF
STAGES OF SELF-DEVELOPMENT:

Language
Play and
game.
STAGES OF DEVELOPING SELF: LANGUAGE
 LANGUAGE
-Through shared understanding of symbols, gestures and
sound language gives the individual the capacity to
express himself or herself while at the same time
comprehending what the other people are conveying.
STAGES OF DEVELOPING SELF: PLAY
PLAY
-Individuals role-play or assume the perspective of others.
-Role-playing enables the person to internalize some other people’s
perspectives
-Helps in developing an understanding of how people feel about
themselves (and about others) in a variety of situations.
STAGES OF DEVELOPING SELF: GAME
GAME
Level where the individual not only internalizes other
people’s perspectives, he/she is also able to take into
account societal rules and adheres to it.
Self is developed by understanding the rule.
TWO SIDES OF THE SELF: I AND ME
“ME”
-Product of what the person has learned while interacting
with others and the environment.
-Learned behaviors, attitudes and expectations
-Exercises social control over the self
TWO SIDES OF THE SELF: I AND ME
“I”
-Unsocialized and spontaneous
-Individual’s response to the community’s attitude towards the
person
-Impulses and drives
-Helps in expressing individualism and creativity.
-Does not blindly follow rules
-Constructs a response based on what has been learned by “me”
 ANTHROPOLOGICAL
PERSPECTIVE OF THE SELF
 ANTHROPOLOGY
Study of people, past and present
Understanding the human condition on its cultural aspect
Concerned with understanding how humans evolved and how
they differ from one another.
 WHAT IS CULTURE?
 According to Edward B. Tylor…complex whole
which includes knowledge, belief, art, morals law,
custom and any other capabilities and habits acquired
as member of society.
COMPONENTS OF CULTURE
1.Language
2.Symbols
3.Norms
4.Values
5.Beliefs
6.Cognitive Elements
 LANGUAGE
Language is a set of socially sound pattern, words, and
sentences having specific meaning and terminology common to
the same culture
Language is a source of communication and to transmit message
from one person to another. It is the method to mold the behavior
and experience of a person. Language differs from culture to
culture and is transmitted from one generation to another.
SYMBOLS
SYMBOLS
Symbols are anything used to represent express and stand
for an event situation. Symbols direct to guide our
behavior. It is used to show an event of past, present or
future
NORMS
- Norms as elements of culture are the rules and the
guidelines which specify the behavior of an individual.
Norms keep a person within the boundary of society and
its culture. It gives us restriction about something which to
do and which not to do

-define how to behave in accordance with what a society

has defined as good, right, and important, and most
members of the society adhere to them.
2 KINDS OF NORMS
- Formal norms are established, written rules. They are
behaviors worked out and agreed upon in order to suit
and serve the most people.
Examples: Laws are formal norms, but so are employee
manuals, college entrance exam requirements, and “no
running” signs at swimming pools.
2 KINDS OF NORMS
- Informal norms—casual behaviors that are generally and
widely conformed to.
- People learn informal norms by observation, imitation,
and general socialization

Examples: Wait your turn

Don’t butt in during conversations.
EXAMPLE
Don’t touch people’s heads
In Thailand, the head is considered sacred and the cleanest part of
the body, so it’s deemed offensive to touch people’s heads or hair. If
you slip up and do this accidently, apologise as soon as you can and
you’ll find most Thais will quickly forgive you for it.
VALUES
Values are what we like and what we say will in
our society are the good ideas and thinking of a
person
BELIEFS
beliefs for cultural refuge. These beliefs are responsible
fro the spiritual fulfillment of needs and wants. Muslims
believe in God, Holy Prophet, recitation of Holy Quran,
Cross for Christians and the Bible
COGNITIVE ELEMENTS
Cognitive elements of culture are those though which an
individual know how to cope with an existing social
situation. How to survive, how make shelter from storms
and other natural calamities, how to travel and transport
etc. are the practical knowledge which make a culture.
Such knowledge is carefully thought to every generation.
 A UNIT BUT UNITARY
Self as encompassing “ the physical organism, possessing
psychological functioning and social attributes”
According to LeDoux (2002)
- We have the explicit self…aspect of the self we are consciously
aware of.
-Implicit Self… not immediately available to consciousness
-Both are framed, maintained, and affected biologically, mentally
and socially.
 SELF EMBEDDED IN CULTURE
Cultural traditions and social practices regulate,
express, and transform the human psyche, resulting
less in psychic unity for human kind than in ethnic
divergences in mind, self and emotion.
 INFLUENCES OF CULTURE IN:
Relationships-voluntary or duty-based
Personality Traits- traits that are valued
Achievement-definitions of success
Expressing Emotions – showing feelings in public or
keeping it private.
 SELF AS REPRESENTATION
“Self” is illusory
People construct a series of self-representation that are based
on selected cultural concepts of a person and selected ‘chains’ of
personal memories.
Each self-concept is experienced as a whole and continuous
with its own history and memories that emerge in a specific
context to be replaced by another self-representation when the
context changes.
BEAUTY IN OTHER CULTURES
TWO WAYS HOW SELF IS CONSTRUCTED

Individualistic Culture- self as separate, distinct,

with emphasis on internal attributes or traits, skills
and values.
Collectivistic Culture- connection between the
individual to other people
ACTIVITY

Create a symbol of the self

Explain the meaning of the symbol
One whole. White or yellow pad
PSYCHOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE
WHAT IS PSYCHOLOGY?

Psychology is the scientific study of how people

behave, think and feel.
Includes topics such as: how the brain works, how
our memory is organized, how people interact in
groups, how children learn about the world.
WILLIAM JAMES AND THE ME-SELF, I-SELF
Self has two elements
THE “I-SELF”
-Pure ego, subjective self, aware of its actions
FOUR FEATURES OF THE I-SELF
1. The Sense of Being the Agent/Initiator of Behavior
2. Sense of Being Unique
3. Sense of Continuity
4. Sense of Awareness About Being Aware
WILLIAM JAMES AND THE ME-SELF, I-SELF
Object, self that you can describe
Examples include physical characteristics, personalities, social
role or relationships, thoughts, feelings
Empirical Self- verifiable by observation.

Dimensions of the “ME-SELF”

1. MATERIAL-things that belong to us or that we belong to
2. SOCIAL- who we are at given social situations…numerous
selves
3. SPIRITUAL-we are at our core….personality, core values
and conscience.
REAL AND IDEAL SELF-
CONCEPTS
 CARL ROGERS’ REAL AND IDEAL SELF
Ideal Self
-Person you would like to be…refers to goals and ambitions in
life
-Idealized image of the self that the individual has developed
based on what you have learned or experienced.
INCLUDES:
-Notions coming from parents
-What you admire in others
-What society sees as acceptable
-What you think is in your best interest.
REAL SELF

Actual self
It is how you behave right at the moment of
situation.
How you think, feel, act at present.
Aspects of one’s being and one’s experiences
that are perceived in awareness by the
individual.
 ALIGNMENT OF REAL SELF AND IDEAL
SELF
REAL SELF = IDEAL SELF…CONGRUENCE
- Greater sense of self-worth
REAL SELF ≠ IDEAL SELF…INCONGRUENCE
-Maladjustment – inability to react successfully and
satisfactorily to the demands of one’s environment
D.W. WINNICOTT’S FALSE AND TRUE SELF

•According to Winnicott the self is simply defined

as the “person who is me”
•True self and False Self develops during the
infancy as a reaction to the interaction with one’s
caregivers.
FALSE SELF
 FALSE SELF
False Self
-maternal care that intrudes, rejects or abandons the child’s
experience
-complete obedience to parents
-Includes modified behavior, inhibited feelings, drives needs
aside to meet others.
-Mask or persona
1. Healthy False Self- functional and compliant
2. Unhealthy False Self- forced compliance …identifying with
external factors.
TRUE SELF
-Mother is positively responsive to child’s spontaneous
expressions
-Authentic self: core of who you are, sense of conscious,
instinctive and authentic experience.
-As an adult…stable self-image, sees people realistically,
accepts both positive and negative sides of every person
including the self.
THE SELF AS PROACTIVE AND AGENTIC
Agent Self – executive
function that allows for
actions.
- Making of choices
- Decision-making, self-
control, taking charge
in situations
SELF AS AGENTIC CONTINUED…

• active process of exploring, manipulating, influencing the

environment in order to attain desired outcomes.
•Core Features of Human Agency
•Intentionality
•Forethought- setting goals, anticipation of outcomes,
behavior selection, avoiding undesirable outcomes.
•Self-Reactiveness-monitoring progress
•Self-Reflectiveness- examination of own functioning,
evaluation of the effect of other’s reaction on them
 SELF AS AGENTIC CONTINUED…

• Self –Efficacy – belief that we are capable of

performing actions that will produce a desired effect.
•People with high self-efficacy often are eager to
accept challenges because they believe they can
overcome them.
•People with low self-efficacy may avoid challenges or
believe experiences are more challenging than they
actually are.
SELF AS COMPOSED OF TRAITS
WHAT IS PERSONALITY?
Personality refers to individual differences in characteristic
patterns of thinking, feeling and behaving.
http://www.apa.org/topics/personality/
ALLPORT’S PERSONALITY THEORY

Personal Disposition
-Like a trait a general determining characteristic,
but it is unique to the individual who has it.
-Describes an individual’s uniqueness
1. Cardinal Disposition
2. Central Disposition
3. Secondary Disposition
ALLPORT’S PERSONALITY THEORY

Asserts that every person possesses “traits”

Trait is your essential characteristics that never,
ever changes and stick’s with you all your life
Shape who we are (how we think, feel, or
behave etc.)
CARDINAL DISPOSITION
disposition that is so pervasive that almost all
every behavior of the individual appears to be
influenced by it.
Usually rare
CENTRAL DISPOSITION
Characteristic tendencies of an individual.
Adjectives/phrases a person uses in
describing essential characteristics.
(example: intelligent, responsible, independent
etc.)
to fully describe a person, 5 to 10 adjectives
are used.
SECONDARY DISPOSITION

Specific focused tendencies that are often

situational in character and less crucial to
personality structure.
THE BIG FIVE
FIVE FACTOR THEORY BY MCRAE AND
COSTA
 Openness to Experience
Conscientiousness
Extraversion
Agreeableness
Neuroticism
THE BIG FIVE

- the five factors show some permanence

with age; that is, adults—in the absence of
catastrophic illness such as Alzheimer’s—
tend to maintain the same personality
structure as they grow older (McCrae &
Costa, 2003).
 OPENNESS TO EXPERIENCE
People high on openness are generally creative,
imaginative, curious, and liberal and have a preference
for variety.
By contrast, those who score low on openness to
experience are typically conventional, down-to-earth,
conservative, and lacking in curiosity.
 CONSCIENTIOUSNESS
People who score high on C are hardworking,
conscientious, punctual, and persevering.
In contrast, people who score low on conscientiousness
tend to be disorganized, negligent, lazy, and aimless
and are likely to give up when a project becomes
difficult.
 EXTRAVERSION
People who score high on extraversion tend to be
affectionate, jovial, talkative, joiners, and fun-loving.
In contrast, low E scorers are likely to be reserved,
quiet, loners, passive, and lacking the ability to express
strong emotion
AGREEABLENESS
Agreeableness Scale distinguishes soft-hearted
people from ruthless ones.
People who score in the direction of
agreeableness tend to be trusting, generous,
yielding, acceptant, and good-natured.
Those who score in the other direction are
generally suspicious, stingy, unfriendly, irritable,
and critical of other people.
AGREEABLENESS
 NEUROTICISM
Neuroticism tend to be anxious, temperamental, self-
pitying, self-conscious, emotional, and vulnerable to
stress related disorders.
Those who score low on N are usually calm, even-
tempered, self-satisfied, and unemotional.
 REFERENCES
 THEORIES OF PERSONALITY BY BARBARA ENGLER (2012)
THEORIES OF PERSONALITY BY JERRY FEIST AND GREGORY
FEIST (2008)
 A HOLISTIC APPROACH IN UNDERSTANDING THE SELF
(OTIG, GALLINERO, BATAGA, SALADO & VISANDE, 2018)
https://psychology.edu/the-premodern-society/
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/11185627/Edward
-Snowden-the-true-story-behind-his-NSA-leaks.html
https://www.thelist.com/40387/men-think-attractive-
different-parts-world/