GE1 Module 2 - Sociology PDF

Preview

Summary

Download GE1 Module 2 - Sociology PDF

Description

STUDY GUIDE FOR MODULE NO. ___ CHAPTER I: THE SELF FROM VARIOUS PERSPECTIVE

2

LEARNING CONTENTS I. The Self as Product of Modern Society Among Others With the modern society people is facing at present, life becomes urbanized. And with such situation, people tend to be more impersonal and leads to destruction of the traditional way of life. From the limitations impose by the society before, people nowadays are already free to seek their own identity. Thus, their selves gets “delocalize”. Such instances that Clifford Geertz (1973) believes that struggle for individuality can already be possible. And having a delocalized self as a product poses certain problems such as: a. b. c. d.

The authenticity of self is threatened as a result of the new found freedom According to Marx, human beings are being haunted and gets alienated to their own self as an effect to the images they created. The objectification of the body removes human qualities in man. Dehumanization of self.

II. Mead’s Theory of the Self George Herbert Mead is known for his theory of the social self which stands on the point that the self is not initially there at birth. Instead, it arises out of one’s social communication, our activities such as observing and interacting with others, responding to others’ opinions, and internalizing external opinions and internal feelings about oneself. According to Mead’s theory, the self has two sides of phases: the “I” and “me”. The represents the self as subject, and the individual’s impulse, while the “me” is considered to be the socialized component of the individual that represents the learned behaviors, expectations and attitude of others organized into a social self. It is referred as the “generalized other” as one acts according to the generalized attitude of the social group the person occupies. When one is able to be aware as to how other view him / her, then full sense of “me” is attained. Moreover, three activities are identified the results to the development of the self, the language, play, and game. At the age of 0 to 2 years old, children tends to imitate the language used by people that are around them. Thus, the symbols, gestures, words, and sound for children at this stage are mere words and sound and does not have any meaning. Hence, since children at these ages are on preparatory stage, it is important that language conveyed on them are screened as eventually these language could already be understood as a child grows older. During ages 2 to 6 years old, play develops the one’s self consciousness through role playing. It develops the self by allowing people to take on different roles, pretend, and express expectations of others. The play done at these ages are far easier as children do not adhere to any roles. During roleplay, a child is able to internalize the view of others and develop an understanding of how other people feel about themselves and others in different situations. The game activity that is engaged by children ages 7 years old onwards allows the child to 1

understand and adhere to the roles of the games which as a result may lead to the development of self. To add, self will be developed when a child understands that rules of the game are existing and that these rules should be followed to possibly win the game. The game stage results to what Mead identifies as one side of the self, the “me” or the generalized other. III. The Looking-Glass Self Social interaction plays an important role to individual’s understanding of self, thus, behavior and a person’s self esteem may be dictated by how they will predict how others perceived them. American sociologist Charles Horton Cooley coined the concept “looking-glass self” as pertaining to an individual’s development of self concept based on their observation of how other people sees them. The social interaction people have are used as “mirror” to measure their own worth, values, and behavior. Hence, not all feedback made by others carries the same weight, How one perceived the self will depend on the context of the interaction and the nature of the people involved. One may be seen as according to labels put by other people towards us. These labels sometimes are derived from different factors one may be associated with. In example, the milk commercial pertaining to the boys doubting a girls capacity to play soccer with them, “eh babae ka eh, baka umiyak ka lang?’, or Ilocanos are tight-fisted, and you are an Ilocano, so people will see you as tight-fisted individual. Labeling bias occurs when we are labeled, and others’ views and expectations of us are affected by that labeling (Fox & Stinnet, 1996). But when the degree of appraisals are great, it may happen that an individual will adopt such appraisal into their selves. Self labeling may occur when one take into their self concept those labels and evaluation made by others for them. At times labels appears to be exaggerated that it goes beyond the usual, and internalized prejudice happens when people instill such label unto themselves which may lead to poor self concept.

SUMMARY The classical sociological perspective the self is viewed as a relatively fix set of views of who a person is in relation to one’s self, other people, and to social systems. Our self is constructed through interaction with other people. Thus, we are not mere a passive participants in the process of social interaction, rather we have the power to influence how the process of socialization and its consequences will develop.

REFERENCES Alata, E., et. al. (2018), Understanding the Self, Rex Book Store, Inc. (RBSI), Quezon City Cuevo, F., et. al. (2018), Understanding the Self, St. Andrew Publishing House, Bulacan Johnson, B. (2003), Charles Horton Cooley: Looking Glass Self and the Effect of Primary Group, www.study.com Villafuerte, S., et. al. (2018), Understanding the Self, Nieme Publishing House Co. Ltd. Quezon City Wozniak, M. (2018), “I” and “Me”: The Self in the Context of Consciousness, www.frontiersin.org

2...