WESTERN MINDANAO STATE UNIVERSITY
Office of Instructional Support and Materials Production (ISMP)
US 101
UNDERSTANDING THE SELF
Prepared by:
QUEENZEL DARYL B. ALACIO
Instructor
SOCIOLOGY
Introduction
The social aspect of the self is explored in many ways, in which social situations influence
one's view of self. The self is not created in isolation, and people are not born with perception of
oneself as good in sports, make-up artistry, dancing, or business. Such perceptions are identified
through observations, or interactions with other people. "Am I beautiful?" "Do my eyebrows look like
Andrea Brillantes na?" These questions can be answered by looking at those people around. The self
has meaning only within the social context, and it is not wrong to say that the social situation defines
our self-concept and our self-esteem. We rely on others to provide a "social reality" – to help us
determine what to think, feel, and do (Hardin & Higgins, 1996).
Objectives:
At the end of this learning module, the student is expected to:
a. Compare and contrast the different views of the self;
b. Examine the two components of self;
c. Describe the concept of the looking glass self and how it affects self-concept; and
d. Explain the concept of social comparison and why it is important to human behavior.
Try This!
ACTIVITY: My Self Through the Years
Paste a picture of you when you were in elementary, in high school, and now that you
are in college. Below the picture, list down your salient characteristics that you remember.
My Elementary Self My High School Self My College Self
Think Ahead!
Answer the following questions cogently but honestly. Write your answers in the space provided.
1. How would you describe yourself?
2. What are the influences of family in your development as an individual?
3. Think of a time when you felt you were your "true self". What made you think you were truly
who you are during this time of your life?
4. Following the question above, can you provide a time when you felt you were not living your
"true self"? why did you have to live like that? What did you do about it?
5. What social pressures help shape yourself? Would you have wanted it otherwise?
6. What aspects of your self do you think may be changed or you would like to change?
Read and Ponder!
1. SOCIOLOGICAL VIEWS OF THE SELF
1.1 The Self as Product of Modern Society Among Others
With modernization, the self becomes a "delocalized" self which is free to seek its own
identity; defining religion; theological tradition; free from customary constraints hence,
deviating from the traditional way of life. Stability of one's self-identity is no longer based on
pre-given traditional broad definition of the self.
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 about by urbanized way of life "delocalizes" the self. This
poses certain problems as:
1. The newfound freedom threatens the very authenticity of the self (e.g. love)
2. Alienation (Marx) – human beings haunted by the very images they have created
3. Objectification of the body (e.g. medical practice)
4. Dehumanization of self
Solution: For the individual to discover the "true" and "authentic" part of himself/ herself to realize
his/her potentials, there is a need to abolish repressive social constraints.
1.2 Self as Necessary Fiction
Self for Nietzsche, is the sum of individual's action, thoughts and feelings. Self is
nothing more than a metaphor, a representation of something abstract; symbolic. It is possible
for us to remember something even if we have not experienced it. Self has a continuity even if
it is only a memory i.e, either heard or witnessed which did not happen to you. A true given
self is not what unites these experiences, but it is the presumed unity of these experiences
that gave rise to a concept of the self.
1.3 Post-modern View of the Self
Self is a narrative, a text written and rewritten. Self is a story. It is dynamic. Self is a product
of modern discourse that is historically and socially imprisoned by what is acceptable by
norms, etc. Self in post modernity is complicated by electronic mediated virtue interaction of
cyber self – such as change in appearance (in the cyberspace), a virtual version of who we
are. The self is seen in websites or social media – facebook, twitter, Instagram, etc.
The following are the manifestations:
1. Information technology dislocates the self, thus self is "digitalized" in cyber space.
2. Global migration produces multicultural identities.
3. Post-modern selves are "pluralized" selves.
Social Construction of the Self:
Self is not discovered; it is made through the socialization process. BUT, individuals are
not just hapless victims of socialization. The individual is an active, strategizing agent that
negotiates for the definition of himself. ("Ikaw ang gumagawa ng kung ano ka"). Self is
acquired socially through language, like symbols. We construct ourselves based on our
social roles through socialization agents – family, school, community, etc.
1.4 Rewriting the Self as an Artistic Creation
Nietzsche states that the unity of the self is not pre-given but accomplished through
conscious
effort – transform self through beautiful work of art. Individuals must fashion, care for and
cultivate themselves. We can recreate ourselves to get gold of the present, forgive the past
and plan the future.
Rorty: contingencies of selfhood – conceal the "ugly" by reinterpreting the overall
aesthetic contours of the self. This does not mean that by rewriting the narrative of herself she
will discover something deep about herself… redescribing one's past.
1.5 Self Creation and Collective Identity
Memories (phtographs, videos) play significant role in creating the self and identity.
Memory
and forgetting are most important powers in recreating a person's identity. Such
memories memories of the past include pain, triumph, etc. Such experiences of the past can
be linked with social transformation.
Another important aspect of this view of the self is that self creation is formed within
"examined communities". Selves obtain their nature from cultural traditions, embodied in
various social institutions. These are preserved in a collective narrative which becomes the
reservoir for the project of self-creation. Self creation along cultural lines must be done in
maximum cultural recognition of differences among and between individuals and cultural
groups.
1.6 Self Creation and the struggle for cultural recognition
This is a challenge of self-identity amidst recognition of racial and ethnic identities. 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.
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 post-modernity, new information
technologies and globalization, reconfiguring ourselves as to gender, sex, ethnicity, and
creating one's own style, signature.
Yet the prject of self creation is embedded within imagined communities. The self
constantly lives in this paradox: to pursue self creation within pre-given, not willfully
chosen social circumstances.
2. MEAD'S THEORY OF SELF
George Herbert Mead (1863-1931) is 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.
Mead's theory of the self maintains that the conception a person holds of
himself/herself in his/her mind emerges from social interaction with others. This is, in
effect, a theory and argument against biological determinism because it holds that the
self is neither initially there ate birth nor necessarily at the beginning of a social
interaction, but is constructed and re-constructed in the process of social experience
and activity.
The self, according to Mead, is made of two components: the "I" and the "me".
The "me" represents the expectations and attitudes of others (the "generalized other")
organized into a social self. The individual defines his or her own behavior with
reference to the generalized attitude of the social group(s) he/she occupies. When the
individual can view himself or herself from the standpoint of the generalized other, self-
consciousness in the full sense of the term is attained. From this standpoint, the
generalized other (internalized in the "me") is the major instrument of the social control
over the conduct of its individual members.
The "I" is the response to the "me", or the person's individuality. It is the essence
of agency in human action. So, in effect, the "me" is the self as object, while the "I" is
the self as subject (Crossman, 2017).
` In other words, the "I" is the response of an individual to the attitudes of others,
while the "me" is the organized set of attitudes of others which an individual assumes.
The "me" is the accumulated understanding of the "generalized other, " i.e. how one
thinks one's group perceives oneself. The "I" is the individual's impulses. The "I" is self
as subject; the "me" is self as object. The "I" is the knower, the "me" is the known. The
mind, or stream of thought, is the self-reflective movements of the interaction between
the "I" and the "me". These dynamics go beyond selfhood in a narrow sense, ad from
the basis of a theory of human cognition. For Mead the thinking process is the
internalized dialogue between the "I" and the "me".
Understood as a combination of the "I" and the "me", Mead's self proves to be
noticeably entwined within a sociological existence. For Mead, existence in a
community comes before individual consciousness. First one must participate in the
different social perspective of others and become self-conscious (Boundless, 2016).
2.1 Mead's Three Stages of Development of Self
Stage 1: The Preparatory of Self
The first stage is the preparatory stage. The preparatory stage lasts from the time we
are born until we are about age two. In this stage, children mimic those around them. This is why
parents of young children typically do not want you to use foul language around them. If a two-year-
old child can “read,” what he or she has most likely done is memorized the book that had been read
to him or her. In a noontime TV show, Vic Sotto, Allan K., Jose Manalo, use quite foul languages like
"bwisit," "bastos! " "sira ulo", and so is the language of the child who hears them. Does she have any
idea understanding of what she is saying or doing? No. He/She is mimicking. He/She is in the
preparatory stage. If he/she had been an older child, the scenes in the segments of the show would
cease to have any humor. It works because she doesn’t understand the meaning behind her words,
actions, or tone of voice
Stage 2: The Play Stage
From about age two to six, children are in the play stage. During the play stage, children play
pretend and do not adhere to the rules in organized games like patintero or basketball (Rath, 2016).
Have you ever played a game with children of this age? It is far easier to just go with any “rules” they
come up with during the course of the game than trying to enforce any “rules” upon them. Playing the
never-ending Chinese garter with girls do not actually have one specific set of rules as last time
played, and yet they still play the game while adhering to these rules. During this stage, children play
pretend as the significant other. This means that when they play "bahay-bahayan" , they are literally
pretending to be the mommy or the daddy that they know.
Stage 3: The Game Stage
The third stage is the game stage, which is from about age seven onwards. In this stage,
children can begin to understand and adhere to the rules of games. They can begin to play more
formalized games because they begin to understand other people’s perspective–or the perspective of
the generalized other. In this stage, when children play pretend, they may still play "bahay-bahayan"
but are pretending to a mommy or a daddy independent of the one that resides in their home. The
generalized other refers to the viewpoint of the social group at large. The child begins taking this
perspective into account during this stage (Rath, 2016).
2.2 The Looking-Glass Self: Our Sense of Self is Influenced by Other's 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).
According the American sociologist Charles Horton Cooley (1864-1929), the degree of personal
insecurity you display in social situations is determined by what you believe other people think of you.
Cooley's concept of the looking glass self, states that a person's self grows out of a person's social
interactions with others. The view of ourselves comes from the contemplation of personal qualities
and impressions of how others perceive us. Actually, how we ourselves does not come from who we
really are, but rather from how we believe others see us.
Sometimes, the influence of other people’s appraisals of ourselves on our self-concept may be so
strong that we end up internalizing them. For example, we are often labeled in particular ways by
others, perhaps informally in terms of our ethnic background, or more formally in terms of a physical
or psychological diagnosis. The labeling bias occurs when we are labeled, and others’ views and
expectations of us are affected by that labeling (Fox & Stinnett, 1996). For example, if a teacher knows that
a child has been diagnosed with a particular psychological disorder, that teacher may have different
expectations and explanations of the child’s behavior than he or she would if not aware of that label.
Where things get really interesting for our present discussion is when those expectations start to
become self-fulfilling prophecies, and our self-concept and even our behavior start to align with them.
For example, when children are labeled in special education contexts, these labels can then impact
their self-esteem (Taylor, Hume, & Welsh, 2010).
If we are repeatedly labeled and evaluated by others, then self-labeling may occur, which
happens when we adopt others’ labels explicitly into our self-concept . The effects of this self-labeling on our
self-esteem appear to depend very much on the nature of the labels. Labels used in relation to
diagnosis of psychological disorders can be detrimental to people whom then internalize them. For
example, Moses (2009) found that adolescents who self-labeled according to diagnoses they had
received were found to have higher levels of self-stigma in their self-concepts compared with those
who described their challenges in non-pathological terms. In these types of situation, those who self-
label may come to experience internalized prejudice, which occurs when individuals turn prejudice directed
toward them by others onto themselves . Internalized prejudice has been found to predict more negative
self-concept and poorer psychological adjustment in members of various groups, including sexual
minorities (Carter, 2012) and racial minorities (Szymanski & Obiri, 2011).
In other cases, labels used by wider society to describe people negatively can be positively
reclaimed by those being labeled. Galinsky and colleagues (2013) explored this use of self-labeling
by members of oppressed groups to reclaim derogatory terms, including “queer” and “bitch,” used by
dominant groups. After self-labeling, minority group members evaluated these terms less negatively,
reported feeling more powerful, and were also perceived by observers as more powerful. Overall,
these results indicate that individuals who incorporate a formerly negative label into their self-concept
in order to reclaim it can sometimes undermine the stigma attached to the label.
2.3 Social Comparison Theory: Our Sense of Self Is Influenced by Comparison with Others
Self-concept and self-esteem are also heavily influenced by the process of social
comparison (Buunk & Gibbons, 2007; Van Lange, 2008). 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 . These comparisons can be
with people who we know and interact with, with those whom we read about or see on TV, or with
anyone else we view as important. However, the most meaningful comparisons we make tend to be
with those we see as similar to ourselves (Festinger, 1954).
Social comparison occurs primarily on dimensions on which there are no correct answers or objective
benchmarks and thus on which we can rely only on the beliefs of others for information. Answers to
questions such as “What should I wear to the interview?” or “What kind of music should I have at my
wedding?” are frequently determined at least in part by using the behavior of others as a basis of
comparison. We also use social comparison to help us determine our skills or abilities—how good we
are at performing a task or doing a job, for example. When students ask their teacher for the class
average on an exam, they are also seeking to use social comparison to evaluate their performance.
See if you can do this!
GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS: Write your answers in a short bondpaper. Written (must be
neat and readable) or encoded.
I. Multiple Choice. Encircle the letter of your chosen answer.
1. It represents the self as subject, and the individual's impulses.
a. I b. Me c. You d. We
2. In this stage, children can begin to understand and adhere to the rules of games.
a. Game b. Language c. play d. Preparatory
3. He is known for his concept of looking-glass self.
a. Cooley b. Mead c. Erikson d. Freud
4. This occurs when one is labeled, and others' views and expectations of an individual
are affected by that labeling.
a. Internalized prejudice c. self labeling
b. Labeling bias d. social comparison
5. This occurs when an individuals turn prejudice directed towards them by others onto
themselves.
a. Internalized prejudice c. self labeling
b. Labeling bias d. social comparison
II. Essay.
1. How do you negotiate your self-identityy in the different social contexts you are
into? (Write your answer in no less than 300 words)
2. Describe some aspects of your self-concept that have been created through
social comparison. Write down your thoughts and feelings in no less than 300
words.
Congratulations for a job well done!
