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    This document provides an overview of the sociological perspective of the self. It discusses how sociologists like Mead, Cooley, Goffman, and Festinger conceptualized the formation of identity and self. Specifically: - Mead believed that the self develops through social interaction and is divided into the "I" and "me." The "I" is spontaneous while the "me" considers social norms and expectations. - Cooley introduced the concept of the "looking glass self" which holds that people see themselves through imagining how others perceive them. - Goffman viewed social interaction as performance, distinguishing between front stage behavior for audiences and back stage behavior when people are not being observed. - Fest

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    understanding the self

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    UTS_LESSON2

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    This document provides an overview of the sociological perspective of the self. It discusses how sociologists like Mead, Cooley, Goffman, and Festinger conceptualized the formation of identity and self. Specifically: - Mead believed that the self develops through social interaction and is divided into the "I" and "me." The "I" is spontaneous while the "me" considers social norms and expectations. - Cooley introduced the concept of the "looking glass self" which holds that people see themselves through imagining how others perceive them. - Goffman viewed social interaction as performance, distinguishing between front stage behavior for audiences and back stage behavior when people are not being observed. - Fest

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    35 views9 pages

    Lesson 2: Sociological Perspective of The Self

    Uploaded by

    Shane Baldonado
    This document provides an overview of the sociological perspective of the self. It discusses how sociologists like Mead, Cooley, Goffman, and Festinger conceptualized the formation of identity and self. Specifically: - Mead believed that the self develops through social interaction and is divided into the "I" and "me." The "I" is spontaneous while the "me" considers social norms and expectations. - Cooley introduced the concept of the "looking glass self" which holds that people see themselves through imagining how others perceive them. - Goffman viewed social interaction as performance, distinguishing between front stage behavior for audiences and back stage behavior when people are not being observed. - Fest

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    of 9

    Lesson 2: Sociological Perspective of

    the Self

    “Our job in this life is not to shape ourselves into some ideal we imagine we ought to be,
    but to find out who we already are and become it.”
    ― Steven Pressfield

    Overview

    As a scientific field of study on society and human interaction, Sociology provides


    insights in the interconnectedness of an individual to the society and how society
    influence an individual. The sociological perspective of the self is rooted on the
    notion that the self is surrounded and influenced by social groups. In this, the self is
    formed and developed through the process of socialization and interaction with
    other people, groups and social institutions. These social forces include family,
    school, peers, church, and mass media.
    In this lesson, you will be provided with the theory, approaches, and concepts of
    well-known sociologists like Mead, Cooley, Goffman, and Festinger. Specifically, this
    lesson will give you understanding on how groups and society, in general, shape
    your understanding and formation of your identity.

    Specific Objectives
    At the end of this lesson, students are expected to:

    1. Discuss the different representations and conceptualization of the self from


    various sociological perspectives (Mead, Goffman and Cooley)
    2. To be able to identify the distinction between the concepts of I and the Me of
    George Herbert Mead
    3. Describe the concept of the looking-glass self and how it affects self-concept
    4. Explain the concept of social comparison and why it is important to human
    behavior
    Activity #1
    Watch a Documentary (Genie Wiley Case).

    Students will watch a video on the case of Genie


    Wiley. The video is uploaded in Moodle named
    Genie Wiley Case Docu. They can also access the
    video through this link:
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VjZolHCrC8E.

    Genie Wiley via shorturl.at/gmtC1

    Analysis
    After the activity, students must be able to answer the following guide questions:

    1. What can you say about Genie Wiley?


    ___________________________________________
    ___________________________________________
    2. Why do you think she could not really speak and walk?
    ___________________________________________
    ___________________________________________
    3. How helpful were the researchers and experts help in Genie’s development?
    ___________________________________________
    ___________________________________________
    4. Did the presence of nurturing and supportive family influence one’s
    development? How and why?
    ___________________________________________
    ___________________________________________

    5. What were your realization after completing the activity?


    ___________________________________________
    ___________________________________________

    Activity #2
    Click, Click, Click. Take a Selfie Activity.

    1. Take at least five photos of yourself


    2. Choose the best selfie then analyze the photo using the following guide
    questions:
    a. Who is that a picture of? _______________________
    b. Who took picture? ____________________________
    c. What did you just do? _________________________

    – Now, imagine you will send the four not-so-best selfie of you to
    someone you are not close with or to your crush.

    3. What did you notice from the activity?


    _________________________________________
    _________________________________________

    4. What are your thoughts and emotions while doing the activity?
    _________________________________________
    _________________________________________

    Abstraction
    George Herbert Mead
    He is an American symbolic interaction theorist and
    sociologist whobelieved that the self was a social
    product acquired by observing and assimilating the

    identities of others. His key concepts include “I” &

    “me”, significant other, generalized other, role taking,


    preparatory stage, play stage, game stage.
    Stages in the Development of the Self
    Stage 1: Preparatory stage (birth to two years old)
    -During this stage, children interact with others through imitation. They are
    also observed to be mimicking those around them without the understanding
    of the underlying intention or meaning of the mimicked behaviors.

    Mead via shorturl.at/bsEGZ Stage 2: Play Stage (two to six years old)
    -Children starts to develop an understanding of
    themselves in relation to others as they learn to interact through verbal and
    nonverbal; language. The self emerges as children take on different roles,
    pretend, and express expectation of others.

    ***Important during this stage is role-taking which is mentally assuming


    the perspective of another person and acting based on their perceived point
    of view.

    Stage 3: Game Stage (about seven to nine years old)


    - Children begin to understand other people’s perspective. The self
    develops by allowing individuals to understand and adhere to the rules of
    the activity.

    Generalized other- a composite of societal expectations

    Mead’s Theory of the Self

    Mead asserted that there are two divisions of the self: I and Me
    – “I”
    This is the subjective and active aspect of the self. It is spontaneous,
    unpredictable, impulsive, and acts without considering social consequences

    – “Me”
    This is the objective aspect of the self that knows the rules of society and
    attempts to channel the impulses of the “I” into socially acceptable behavior
    that still meets the “I’s” needs.

    Erving Goffman
    He is an American sociologist who proposed
    an approach called
    dramaturgical analysis. This is the study of
    social interaction in terms of theatrical
    performance. He asserted that Each
    performance involves the presentation of self
    Goffman via shorturl.at/nsCY7
    in which an individual demonstrates efforts to
    create specific impressions in the minds of others.
    According to Goffman, just like actors and actresses, people perform their “act” in
    two places: “front stage” and “back stage”. People engage in “front stage”
    behaviors when they are aware that other people are watching. Behaviors
    portrayed reflects the internalized societal norms and expectations. On the other
    hand, people engage in “back stage” behavior when other people are not watching.
    In this manner, people are more relaxed in back stage because they are free from
    the societal norms and expectations. People can let their guard down and allowed
    to express their “true” selves.

    Charles Horton Cooley


    He is an American sociologist who introduce
    the concept of “looking glass self”. This
    concept highlights how we develop a sense of
    who we are in society based upon interaction
    with others and how we feel others perceive
    us. According to him, self-image is achieved
    from the following processes:
    1. We imagine how we appear to others

    Cooley via shorturl.at/dlPU4


    2. We interpret how others judge that appearance and then respond to that
    interpretation through behavior
    3. We experience feelings of pride or shame based on this imagined appearance
    and judgment by others
    4. We respond based on our interpretation
    In this manner, our understanding of ourselves are shaped based on our
    understanding of how others perceive us.

    Leon Festinger

    He is an American social psychologist who proposed


    the theory of social comparison. This perspective
    explains how people evaluate one’s ability and opinion
    by comparing oneself to other people (Myers, 2013).
    For him, people are innately driven to assess their
    capabilities to reduce the uncertainty about
    themselves and to answer questions like “How am I
    doing” (Gibbons & Buunk, 1999 as cited from Reer,
    Tang, & Quandt, 2019). Through comparison, a
    person can consider the difference he/she has with
    Festinger via shorturl.at/gwBEU
    others and gain information about oneself. There are
    two types of social comparison proposed by Festinger which are upward comparison
    and downward comparison.

    ● Upward social comparison


    -process by which a person assesses themselves to those individuals who are
    perceived to be superior to them in a certain dimension.

    ● Downward social comparison

    -occurs when an individual evaluates their capabilities to an inferior other.


    Activity #3
    Identifying People Who Influence Me. Using the kite figure, identify the
    people that you think influence who and what you are today. You can identify as
    many as you can. You can use coloring materials to make your kite creative. After
    completing the activity, answer the following questions.

    Guide Questions:
    1. Why did you choose these people and how do you think they influence you
    (in relation to your development of the self)?
    _________________________________________
    _________________________________________
    _________________________________________
    _________________________________________

    2. What concepts in our discussion can you identify in relation to our activity?
    _________________________________________
    _________________________________________
    _________________________________________

    Assessment
    Graphic Organizer. Using Mead’s concepts of self, make a list of your
    characteristics for each of these aspects of the self. Determine which better
    describe your social self.
    Social Self

    I self Me self

    References
    Alata, E. P., Caslib, B., Serafica, J., Pawilen, R. A. (2018). Understanding the self
    (1st ed.). Sampaloc, Manila: Rex Book Store, Inc.

    Cole, N. (2019). Goffman's Front Stage and Back Stage Behavior. Thought.com.
    Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/goffmans-front-stage-and-back-
    stage-behavior-4087971

    Go-Montilla, M., Ramirez, N. (2018). Understanding the self. Quezon City: C & E
    Publishing, Inc.
    Myers, D. (2018). Social Psychology (13th ed.). McGraw-Hill Education.
    Reer, F., Tang, W., & Quandt, T. (2019). Psychosocial well-being and social media
    engagement: The mediating roles of social comparison orientation and fear of
    missing out. New Media & Society 1 –2, 1-20. doi:
    org/10.1177/1461444818823719

    Villafuerte, S. L., Quillope, A. F., Tunac, R. C., Borja, E. I. (2018). Understanding


    the self. Quezon City, Philippines: Nieme Publishing House Co. Ltd.

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