Socialization Flashcards
Debate the social and biological factors on developing the social self
Without social interaction humans
- will find it difficult to survive
- cannot develop a social self
Social Self
- that relatively organised complex of attitudes, beliefs, values and behaviour associated with an individual.
Social self arises through
interaction with others
Elaborate on Cooley’s looking-glass self
View of ourselves comes from contemplation of personal qualities and impressions of how others perceive us
The self is product of social interactions with other people
Social self is constructed as a result of this reflective process
In our primary group we
- Learn to read what other people are thinking
- Discover what happens when we adjust our behaviour according to what they are thinking
Elaborate on Mead’s “I” and “Me”
Self consists of 2 parts / phases
- “I” self
- “Me” self
“I” self
- Subjective sense of who we are
- Seeks self-fulfillment
- Part of self that is based on how others see you
- Made up of attitudes we internalise from interactions with others
- The self as object
“Me” self
- Objective part of who we are
- Questions how others might interpret our actions
- Understands symbols that others give us
- Seeks to find favourable reactions to our behaviours from others
- Part of self that is uniquely you – your personal reactions to the situation
- The active, spontaneous creative part of the self
- The self as subject
Self is built up through interaction of “I” and “Me”
Self begins as privileged, central position in a person’s world
As the person matures, the self changes and begins to reflect greater concern about reactions of others
Significant others
Individuals most important in the development of the self
What are the stages of self?
Continued Cooley’s exploration of interactionist theory
Developed 3-stage model on how self emerges
- Preparatory / Imitation stage
- Play stage
- Game stage
Preparatory stage
- Self is not present at this stage
- Child imitates the actions of others
- As they grow older, children become more adept at using symbols
- They don’t attribute meanings to their actions, nor do they understand the implications of their behaviour.
- Children under the age of 3 have no sense of self. They imitate others, model their behaviours.
- Birth to 2/3 years of age
- Example: When adults laugh and smile, child laughs and smiles
Play stage
- Self is developing at this stage
- Child takes the role of a single other, as if he or she were the other.
- Children develop skill in communicating through symbols and role taking occurs
- from 2/3 to 6 years of age
- Example: Child first takes the role of doctor, then the role of patient
As they play, children :
Take on a variety of roles
Begin to appreciate the perspectives of other people
Build up a sense of themselves as something that other people look at and make judgments about.
First step in constructing a “Me”
First exposure to taking on the roles of others and seeing themselves as others might see them
Game stage
- Self is present at this stage
- Child considers the roles of two or more others simultaneously
- Children of about 8 or 9 consider several actual tasks and relationships simultaneously
- Have rules that specify the roles people play and the behaviour associated with those rules
- Example: In game of hide-and-seek, child takes into account the roles of both hider and seeker
Generalized other
- Attitudes, viewpoints, and expectations of society as a whole that a child takes into account in his or her behavior
Generalised Self
- Participating in games enhances children’s ability to do role-taking (take on the role of another and see how things look from the other’s point of view
- Acquires the generalised self
- The attitude of the generalised other is the attitude of the whole community
