SOCIOLOGICAL

PERSPECTIVE OF THE
SELF
Learning Outcomes
1. Explain the relationship between and among the self,
society, and culture;
2. Describe and discuss the different ways by which
society and culture shape the self;
3. Compare and contrast how the self can be influenced
by the different institutions in the society; and
4. Examine one’s self against the different views of the
self that were discussed in the class.
THE SOCIOLOGICAL SELF
• The self should not be seen as a static entity that stays constant
through and through. Rather, the self has to be seen as something
that is in unceasing flux, in a constant struggle with external reality
and is malleable in its dealing with society.
• Sociology - is the study of the role of society in shaping behavior.
Derived from Latin words “socious”, means companion or society,
and “logos” , which means study.
• Social construction - means that individuals develop a sense of self
based on how they think other people see and judge them.
• Socialization - is the process of learning one's culture and how to
live within it.
The Self and the Social Agencies
• Family - it is the most pervading, influential social group that
impacts ourselves in the entire course of development.
• School - we are expected to meet certain criteria of
achievement and oftentimes, in collaborative learning
conditions.
• Communities - From an anthropological and sociological
perspective, our cultural beliefs and practices are influenced
by what our communities and societies dictate.
THE SELF AS A PRODUCT OF SOCIAL
INTERACTION
• The self is not present at birth.
• It develops only with social experience wherein language,
gestures, and objects are used to communicate
meaningfully,
• The sociological perspective of the self assumes that human
behavior is influenced by group life.
• A particular view of oneself is formed through interactions
with other people, groups, or social institutions.
• Ex. “No man is an island”
 George Herbert Mead: Social
Self
• Self is not biological but social. Self is something that is
developed through social interactions.
• He postulated that, the self represents the sum total of
people’s conscious perception of their identity as distinct from
others.
• Mead argued that the self like the mind is social emergent.
This means that individual selves are the products of social
interaction and not logical or biological in nature.
• Role playing is the process in which one takes on the role of
another by putting oneself in the position of the person with
whom he or she interacts.
George Herbert Mead: Social
Self
• He believed that through role playing, the individual develops a
concept of self. By putting oneself in the position of others, one is
able to reflect upon oneself.
• Babies cannot interpret the meaning of other people's behavior. It is
usually learned during childhood which comes in three stages of
development.
• The social emergence of self is developed due to the three forms of
inter-subjective activity, the language/preparatory, play, and the
game.
• He proposed the stages of self formation.
1. Preparatory Stage – (0-2 y/o) also referred to as the
imitation stage, is a phase in which children copy or imitate the
behaviors, symbols, gestures or etc. of others as a way of learning.

- The symbols serve as the

foundation for communication.
Knowing and comprehending
the symbols is vital at the
beginning since this will be their
means of connecting with
others throughout their life.
 2. Play Stage - (2 – 6 y/o) involves the child playing the
role of others. In doing these, he or she becomes aware that
there is a difference between himself or herself and the role
that he or she is playing, and realizes that there are others
around him whose presence he/she has to consider.
- According to Mead, role-
taking in the play stage is the
process of mentally assuming
perspective of another person
to observe how this person
could behave or respond in a
certain circumstance
 3. Game Stage – (6 – above) During this stage, people learn to
follow rules and how to take on social roles through their experiences
in organized games involving other players.
- By the knowledge gathered in stage two,
the youngsters is now able to not just his
own perspective, but also the perspectives
of others
- At this stage, the child may respond to
multiple people of his social surroundings
rather than simply one.
- Mead also introduced the phrase
“generalized other”, to describe a person’s
conduct when he observes or considers
other persons in the course of his actions
The “I” Self and “Me” Self
Theory
• The “I” Self - is the phase of the self that is unsocialized and
spontaneous. It is the acting part of the self, an immediate
response to other people. It represents the self that is free and
unique. It is the subjective part of the self.
• The "Me“ Self - is the self that results from the progressive stages
of role playing or role-taking and the perspective one assumes to
view and analyze one's own behaviors. It represents the
conventional and objective part of the self.
• To simply put it, the 'me' represents learned societal behaviors and
expectations, and the 'I' represents the individual's identity based
on the response to those social behaviors and expectations.
• It is important to remember that the formation of
the self is not the end of the socialization
process. Socialization continues throughout the
whole of a person’s life. The self may change as a
result of life situations that have a significant
influence on it. Even though a person has no
control over such occurences, he does have the
influence over how he reacts to and deals with
them, which is still a significant component of the
self.
• The full development of the self is attained when the
“I” and the “me” are united.
• Who you really are and what others see you as.
 Charles Horton Cooley (1864 –
1929)
Looking Glass Self
• People learn about themselves through their
social interactions with others.
• or the process wherein individuals base their
sense of self on how they believe others view
them.
• People are the way they are at least partly because
of other people's reactions to them and to what
they do. They are constantly picking up feedback
and incorporating it into their sense of self.
The self is built through social interaction which involves
three steps;
• First stage, we imagine how we appear to others. (E.g., you
dress elegantly for a graduation ball)

• Second stage, we imagine how others will see or evaluate us;

(E.g., people will perceive you as lovely and desirable based on
how you present yourself.

• Final stage, as the result of such impressions, we develop some

sort of feeling about ourselves or a self-concept. (E.g., you may
regard yourself as confident or embarrassed.
• Cooley used the term
“imagine” three times in his
three stages. This might
imply that people form self-
identities based on incorrect
perceptions of how others
see them.
• Incorrect views on the other
hand, might alter as a result
of pleasant social
encounters.
Erving Goffman (1922 – 1982)
• Introduced the concept of the “Presentation of Self”
as a theoretical framework for understanding
human behavior in social interactions.
• He described how he had seen people slanting how
they presented themselves in order to generate
desired looks and appease certain others.
• Impression management – the process of changing
how a person present themselves to others.
• Goffman observed individuals in
their daily contacts and noted
parallels between everyday social
interaction and theatrical
presentation.
• He thought of social settings as
the scene and people
as actors deliberately presenting
themselves in a certain way to
impress others.
• The primary goal of social
actors (people) is to frame their
multiple selves in ways that
generate and maintain specific
(mostly positive) impressions on
their changing audiences.
THE SELF AS A PRODUCT OF
MODERNAND POST MODERN
SOCIETIES
• According to Gerry Lanuza, in modern societies the
attainment and stability of self identity is freely chosen.
It is no longer restricted by customs and traditions.
• In postmodern societies, self-identity continuously
change due to the demands of multitude of social
contexts, new information technologies, and
globalization. (Ghetto eyy, BGC, memes, etc.)
• Is the Philippines Postmodern?
• These freedom and changes offer opportunities
for self-cultivation but problems may also arise
(e.g., alienation and dehumanization).
• For instance, it limits the face to face, close
relationships with others especially among
family members. (maybe in other countries or
social status etc.)
• It limits close contact and communication with
others.
 THE SELF AS APRODUCT OF
MODERN AND POST MODERN
SOCIETIES
• Jean Baudrillard – individuals achieve self-identity
through prestige symbols that they consume.
• The cultural practices of advertising and mass media
greatly influence individuals to consume goods not
fort heir primary value and utility but to give them a
feeling of goodness and power when compared with
others. (E.g., Kardashan’s lifestyle, Apple products,
Tiktok influence, clout chasing, etc.)
THINK ABOUT IT…
• The postmodern person has become an
insatiable consumer and may never be
satisfied in his life.
• Thus, the self may be a never-ending search
for prestige in the postmodern society.
(KAKA-DESERVE MO YAN???)
FOR REFERENCE
• https://xoler.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/sociological
-perspective-of-the-self.pdf
• https://medium.com/@chase_16748/georges-meads-theory-of-self-bei
ng-mindful-in-social-interactions-ddf03a010db3
• https://www.sociologylearners.com/erving-goffmans-theory-of-present
ation-of-self/#:~:text=In%20Goffman's%20theory%2C%20individuals%2
0have,to%20societal%20norms%20and%20expectations
.
• https://www.slideshare.net/slideshow/ged101understandingtheselfpdf
/251673437
• https://www.collegesidekick.com/study-docs/1723550
• Alata, Eden Joy P., et al. Understanding the Self. (2018) (you can find it
on our library)