UNDERSTANDING THE

SELF
 WHAT IS SOCIOLOGY?
• STUDY OF THE COLLECTIVE
BEHAVIOR OF PEOPLE WITHIN
SOCIETY AND FOCUSES ON SOCIAL
PROBLEMS ENCOUNTERED BY
INDIVIDUALS.
 HOW DOES SOCIETY
INFLUENCE YOU?

WHO ARE YOU AS A PERSON

TO YOUR SOCIETY?
 THE SELF AND CULTURE
MARCEL MAUSS – French anthropologist
explained that every self has two faces :
PERSONNE AND MOI
Moi - refers to a person’s sense of who is, his
body and his basic identity, his biological givenness.
Personne – composed of the social
concepts of what it means to be who he is.
 SOCIOLOGICAL VIEWS OF
SELF
1.1 THE SELF AS PRODUCT OF MODERN SOCIETY AMONG OTHERS

– CHOOSING WHERE TO LIVE, WHAT LINE OF WORK, AND EVEN WHO

TO MARRY WAS VERY LIMITED (Hermannsdottir, 2011)

– IN MODERN SOCIETIES, INDIVIDUALISM IS DOMINANT, AND

DEVELOPING ONE’S SELF-IDENTITY IS CENTRAL (Giddens, 1991)
 KEY CHARACTERISTICS OF
MODERNITY (Giddens, 1991)
1. Industrialism - the relations implied in the extensive use of material
power and machinery in all processes of production

2. Capitalism – a production system involving both competitive product

markets and the commodification (putting a price tag) of labor power

3. Institutions of surveillance - the massive

increase of power and reach by institutions, especially in government; and

4. Dynamism – characterized as having vigorous activity and progress.

 CLIFFORD GEERTZ (1973)
– Believes that the struggle for one’s individuality is
only possible in modern society where religio-
theological traditions are gradually replaced by
rational and scientific calculations; and
– the intimate personal affiliations are replaced by
exceedingly impersonal associations brought by
urbanized way of life.
 Problems
– the newfound freedom threatens
the very authentic of the self e.g.
love
–Alienation (Marx) – human beings
haunted by the very images they
have created
–Objectification of the body (medical
practice)
–Dehumanization of self
What is the solution
to that problem?

ABOLISH REPRESSIVE SOCIAL CONSTRAINTS

 SOCIOLOGICAL VIEWS OF SELF
1. SELF AS NECESSARY FICTION

–NIETZSCHE
• DEFINED SELF AS THE SUM OF INDIVIDUAL’S ACTION,
THOUGHTS, AND FEELINGS.
• SELF IS NOTHING MORE THAN A METAPHOR, A
REPRESENTATION OF SOMETHING ABSTRACT; SYMBOLIC.
SOCIOLOGICAL VIEWS OF SELF
1.1 POST- MODERN VIEW OF THE SELF

– SELF IS A NARRATIVE, A TEXT WRITTEN AND REWRITTEN.

– SELF IS A STORY.
– SELF IS DYNAMIC.
– SELF IN POST MODERNITY IS COMPLICATED BY ELECTRONIC
MEDIATED VIRTUAL INTERACTION OF CYBER SELF SUCH AS CHANGE
IN APPEARANCE.
– SELF IS DIGITALIZED IN CYBERSPACE, A VIRTUAL VERSION OF WHO
WE ARE (N. GREEN)
SOCIOLOGICAL VIEWS OF SELF

SOCIAL GROUPS – two or more people

interacting with one another

SOCIAL NETWORK – ties or connections that

link you to your social group
 Kinds of Social Group
1. ORGANIC SELF – naturally occurring, and it is
highly influenced by your family; traditional
• ORGANIC MOTIVATION – rootedness; giving the sense of
belongingness
• YOU ARE EXPECTED TO ACT AND BEHAVE
ACCORDING TO YOUR COMMUNITY’S STANDARDS
(Allan, 2012)
 Kinds of Social Group
2. RATIONAL SELF – occur in modern societies.
– Formed as a matter of shared self-interests; moreover
, people join these groups out of their own free will.
• RATIONAL MOTIVATION – imply greater freedom, especially
the freedom of movement.
• THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN RATIONAL SOCIAL NETWORKS IS
TENOUS, AND THE PERSON FEELS NO MEANINGFUL
CONNECTION WITH OTHERS (Allan, 2012)
 SOCIAL CONSTRUCTION OF THE SELF
 Self is not discovered; it is made through the
socialization process. BUT, individuals are just
hapless victims of socialization.

 IKAW ANG GUMAGAWA NG KUNG ANO KA.

1.4 REWRITING THE SELF AS AN ARTISTIC CREATION

–WE CAN RECREATE OURSELVES

TO GET HOLD OF THE PRESENT,
FORGIVE THE PAST AND PLAN
THE FUTURE.

–REDESCRIBING ONE’S SELF IS

JUST A WAY OF REINPRETING
AND REDESCRIBING ONE’S
PAST.
 1.6 SELF CREATION AND THE STRUGGLE FOR
CULTURAL RECOGNITION
 SELF CREATION IS NECESSARILY
GROUNDED ON COLLECTIVE
SOLIDARITIES.
 WE CREATE OURSELVES BY
STRUGGLING WITH CULTURAL
HASSLES THEN OWNING THE
CREATED SELF.
 WE HIDE THE UGLY PART OF OUR
CULTURAL NATURE.
 WE LEARN TO ADJUST.
1.5 SELF CREATION AND COLLECTIVE IDENTITY

 MEMORY AND FORGETTING ARE

MOST IMPORTANRT POWERS IN
RECREATING A PERSON’S
IDENTITY.

 SUCH EXPERIENCES OF THE

PAST CAN BE LINKED WITH
SOCIAL TRANSFORMATION.
 BEYOND SELF CREATION
• The quest or search for self-identity is
a product of modern society but
this is complicated by the socio-
cultural sensibilities of postmodernity,
new information technologies and
globalization, reconfiguring ourselves
as to gender, sex, ethnicity, and
creating one’s own style, signature.
“A MULTIPLE PERSONALITY
IS IN A CERTAIN SENSE
NORMAL.”
(George Herbert Mead)
 MEAD’S THEORY OF SELF
GEORGE HERBERT MEAD – an American sociologist
best known as a founder of American pragmatism, a
pioneer of symbolic interaction theory, and as one of
the founders of social psychology.
 HAVE YOU EVER
WATCHED SOMEONE
DO SOMETHING?
WHILE YOU GET TO KNOW YOURSELF
AND UNDERSTAND OTHERS BY
WATCHING PEOPLE, HOW CAN YOU
UNDERSTAND YOURSELF?

CAN YOU “WATCH”YOURSELF AS

OBJECTIVELY ASYOU DO TO
OTHERS?
STAGES OF SELF-DEVELOPMENT ACCORDING
TO MEAD

1. LANGUAGE / PREPARATORY STAGE

– through shared understanding of symbols,
gestures, and sound; it gives the individual the
capacity to express himself or herself.
• Age from birth to two
• Children mimic those around them
STAGES OF SELF-DEVELOPMENT ACCORDING
TO MEAD

2. PLAY STAGE
– individuals role-play or assume the
perspective of others; enables the person to
internalize some other people’s perspective.
• From three to six
• Children play ‘pretend’ as the significant other
STAGES OF SELF-DEVELOPMENT ACCORDING
TO MEAD
3. GAME
– the individual not only internalizes the other’s
perspectives; able to take into account societal rule, and
one must abide by it to win the game or be successful at
an activity.
• Age from seven onwards
• Children can begin to understand and adhere to the
rules of the games; understand other people’s
perspective or the perspective of the generalized other
Mead sees the person as an
active process, not just a
mere reflection of society.
 Two interactive facets of the self
I - the part of self that is unsocialized and spontaneous.
• Presents impulses and drives
• Response of an individual to the attitudes of others
• Self as subject
• The knower
• who I am on the inside
Me – the product of what the person has learned while interacting
with others and with the environment.
• Organized set of attitudes of others which an individual assumes
• Accumulated understanding of the “generalized other”
• Self as object
• Known
• How people see me on the outside
 The Looking Glass Self: Our sense of Self is
Influenced by Others’ Views of Us

The concept of the looking-glass

self states that part of how we
see ourselves comes from our
perception of how others see us
(Cooley, 1902)
 The Looking Glass Self: Our sense of Self is
Influenced by Others’ Views of Us

Charles Horton Cooley

– the degree of personal
insecurity you display in social
situations is determined by what
you believe other think of you.
 How we see ourselves
does not come from
who we really are, but
rather from we believe
others see us ( Isaksen,
2013).
The labeling bias occurs
when we are labeled,
and others’ views and
expectations of us are
affected by that labeling
( Fox and Stinnett,
• SELF-LABELING
–occurs when we adopt others’ labels
explicitly into our self-concept

• INTERNALIZED PREJUDICE
–occurs when individuals turn prejudice
directed toward them by others onto
themselves
Social Comparison Theory: Our sense of Self is Influenced
by Comparisons with Others

• Social Comparison
–occurs when we learn about our abilities and
skills, about the appropriateness and validity of
our opinions, and about our relative social status
by comparing our own attitudes, beliefs, and
behaviors with those of others.
• WHAT SHOULD I WEAR TODAY?
• WHAT KIND OF MUSIC SHOULD I HAVE AT MY
WEDDING?
• BAKIT SIYA ANG PINILI AT HINDI AKO?
• BAKIT AKO PINAGPALIT SA MAS MALAPIT?
• ANONG MAYROON SIYA NA WALA AKO?
• BAKIT MAS GUSTO SIYA KAYSA SA AKIN? MAS
MAGALING NAMAN AKO? MAS MABAIT? MAS
MASUNURIN?
• BAKIT MAS MATAAS GRADE NIYA?