Socio-Anthropological Perspective of the Self

Social relationship defines our self

Socialization-the interactive process through which people learn such as basic skills, values, belief
and behavior patterns of a society.
Within socialization, a person develops a sense of a self.

Self-concept is the sum total of beliefs we each have about ourselves.

The beginnings of the Self-Concept
Recognizing oneself- human infants begin to recognize themselves in the mirror when they
are about two years old. Beginning to able to recognize yourself as a distinct entity is a
necessary first step in the evolution and development of a self-concept.
The Looking Glass Self (Charles Horton Cooley, 1902)
Other people serve as a mirror in which we can see ourselves.
Created the idea of how Primary Groups-parents, sibling, play groups, elders; are the
foremost force in developing a person’s character.
Based on the idea of Reflected Appraisal- it states that our self-views from as a result of
our perceptions of other people’s opinions of us.
People develop a sense of who they are and what to think of themselves by watching the
reactions of the people in their primary groups as well as those they meet throughout their lives.
We gain a sense of who we are by observing our own actions but we also pay close attention
to what others think of us- or to put it more exactly, what we think others think of us. This notion
is especially applicable to the way children forms their self-esteem.
Using a social interaction as a type of “mirror”, people use the judgments they receive from
others to measure their own worth, values and behavior.
Not all people’s assessments have the same weight. The opinions of family and close relationships
seem to be more relevant to our self-concept than those of strangers.
The process of the formation of our Self-Concept:
1. We imagine how others see us- an individual in social situation imagines how they appear
to others.
2. We imagine how others assess us- that individual imagines others’ judgment of that
appearance.
3. We develop our self-views through these judgments- the individual develops feelings about
and responds to those perceived judgments.
Self-esteem doesn’t form only a result of self-knowledge, or how much we generally like or dislike
ourselves, but is also a by-product of our own social interactions.
Self-concept is built not in solitude, but rather within social settings.
Society and individuals are not separate, but rather two complementary aspects of the same
phenomenon.

George Herbert Mead- The concept of “I” and “Me”

Sense of self stems from the human ability to be self-conscious, to take ourselves as object of
experience.
A sense of self only arises as we begin taking the perspectives of others toward ourselves,
internalizing them as our own perspective and viewpoint on who I am.
The self, then, an emergent product of social experience. Only by being able to take other’s
perspective can we gain a viewpoint from outside of our own egos from which to think about and
evaluate our personal identities.

The concept of “I” and “Me”

The “I” and the “Me” as a dynamic relationship that actually forms what we call the self. The self,
in other words, is the relationship between the “I” and “Me”
The “Me” is the internalization of others’ perspective on ourselves- the perspective we get
of ourselves from how others treat us.
The “I” then, is the part of us that responds to these internalized attitudes- how we act based
on other’s perspectives of us.
The “I” acts creatively in response to the “Me”, conforming to the “Me”, to be sure, but rarely in
a total way.
Social interaction with others helps build self-picture of oneself.

As he says, when human is born there is no concept of Self, so therefore there at birth there is no
social interaction so there is no self.

Three Main activities with which the self develops:

1. Language- it allows ne to act or take the role of the others and allows others to pay feedback
to his own actions in terms of the attitudes of others.
2. Play- here person takes on the roles of others and also pretend as them and display the
expectations of others. This process of playing different roles is said to generate self-
consciousness and to generally develop a feeling of self.
3. Game- the person is said to make attitudes part of one’s nature by learning the roles of
others, therefore who are part of the game need to follow the rules of the game.
People can change their actions according to the situations they are involved in. people can
form their own meanings of different things.

Characteristics of the Self (Stevens, 1996)

1. The self is separate and distinct from other selves- one cannot be another person, one is
unique and has its own identity.
2. The self is self-contained and independent- it does not require any other self to exist, it has
its own thoughts, characteristics and volition.
3. The self is consistent and has an enduring personality- traits, characteristics, tendencies
and potentialities are more or less the same.
4. The self is unitary- it is the center of all experiences and thoughts. The command center
where all processes, emotions and thought converge.
5. The self is private- each person sorts out information, feelings and emotions and thought
processes within the self. The self lives in its own world.