SOCIALIZING THE INDIVIDUAL
Chapter 5, Section 1- Personality Development
WHAT IS IT?
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Personality= sum total of behaviors,
attitudes, beliefs, and values that are
characteristics of an individual.
No two individuals have exactly the same
personality. Traits change at different rates and
to different degrees.

Personality changes are more obvious in
childhood because individuals are undergoing
rapid physical, emotional and intellectual
growth.
NATURE VS. NURTURE- THE DEBATE
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Social scientists have long debated what
determines an individual’s personality.
Some believe that it was heredity=
transmission of genetic material from
parents to children.
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‘Nature’ argument
Others believe that is an individual’s social
environment.
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‘Nurture’ argument
ARGUMENTS FOR EACH
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Nature:
Genetic factors determine personality.
 Instinct= an unchanging biologically inherited
behavior pattern.
 Sociobiology= systematic study of biological basis of
social behavior.
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Cultural variations stem from similar genetic makeup.
Originated in the 1970s.
Nurture
Your environment/surroundings play a large role in
personality development.
 Work of Ivan Pavlov conditioned dogs to salivate at
the ringing of a bell.
 American sociologists believed he could take infants and
mold/condition them into being a certain type of person.
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HARRY HARLOW AND HIS MONKEYS
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Summary:
Separated baby monkeys from their mother 6 – 12
hours after birth
 Placed them with surrogate mothers of either
wire, OR cloth; wire had food, cloth had a heat
source inside.
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Findings:
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Babies preferred cloth monkey 23 hours/day
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Moved to wire monkey only when hungry
As adults, the monkeys were seriously disturbed:
Very strange behaviors
 Did not know their cultural behavior patterns
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FACTORS INFLUENCING PERSONALITY
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Most agree that is a combination of ‘nature’ and
‘nurture’. Four main factors influencing
personality:

Heredity certain characteristics present from
birth.

Also, certain aptitudes= capacity to learn a particular
skill or acquire knowledge.
Birth order presence of siblings;
oldest/youngest/middle
 Parental characteristics age, occupation,
religious beliefs, economic status, etc.
 Cultural environment how do those around you
act?
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ISOLATION IN CHILDHOOD
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In some instances, children grow up without a
cultural environment.
These are known as feral children= wild or
untamed children.
 They had very few human characteristics.
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Examples
Anna and Isabelle
 Genie
 Victor/’Wild Boy of Aveyron’
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INSTITUTIONALIZATION
Sociologist Rene Spitz studied infants living in
orphanages and hospitals.
 The children were well-nourished and provided
medical care, but had very little human contact.
 One third of the children died within two years,
and only ¼ had ‘normal’ development
characteristics.
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Which viewpoint does this study support?
THE SOCIAL SELF
Chapter 5, Section 2
SOCIALIZATION- WHAT IS IT?
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When you are born, there are certain things you are
unable to do (i.e. walk, talk). You do not understand
various norms.
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Through social and cultural environment, individuals
are transformed into participatory members of society.
Socialization= interactive process through
which people learn the basic skills, values,
beliefs and patterns of a society.
Socialization helps us develop a sense of self
(conscious awareness of your individual
identify).
THREE THEORIES OF SOCIALIZATION
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Tabula Rasa theory:
Developed by John Locke;
 Belief that all children are ‘blank slates’, born
without personality;
 Thus, infants can be molded into any type of
individual.
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Although most disagree with Locke’s view, many
agree with his belief that socialization
allows an individual to absorb cultural
aspects.
THREE THEORIES OF SOCIALIZATION
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Looking-Glass Self theory:
Developed by Charles Horton Cooley;
 The interactive process by which we develop an
image of ourselves based on how we imagine
we appear to others;
 Others act as a mirror, reflecting back the person we
show to everyone else.
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Develop personality through interactive process
with those around you.
 Continual life process– redefine self-image.
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THREE THEORIES OF SOCIALIZATION
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Role-taking Theory:
 Developed by George Herbert Mead;
 See ourselves through the eyes of others
and take on the roles we believe others
expect of us;
 As an individual gets older, the expectations
of society take on greater importance;
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These internalized expectations are known as a
generalized other.
Develop a sense of self– two parts: ‘I’
(unsocialized, spontaneous) and ‘me’ (socialized).
AGENTS OF SOCIALIZATION
Chapter 5, Section 3
WHAT IS IT?

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Agent of socialization= groups, individuals
and institutions that allow socialization to
happen.
Four agents:
Family
 Peer group
 School
 Mass media
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AGENTS OF SOCIALIZATION
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Peer group= primary group composed of
individuals of roughly equal ages and similar
social characteristics.
Mass media= instruments of communication
that reach a wide audience without personal
contact.
Family learn values, basic norms from an
early age.
School continue to learn norms; influenced by
authority figures and peer groups.
RESOCIALIZATION
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Total institution= setting in which people
are isolated from the rest of society for a set
period of time.
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Examples: prisons, boot camp, monasteries,
psychiatric hospitals, etc.
Primary concern of these total institutions is to
re-socialize members– break from past
experiences to learn new values and norms.