SOCIALIZING
THE INDIVIDUAL
Personality Development
The Social Self
Agents of Socialization
 Read
the following statements. Do
you think they are true or false?
 It
has been proven that people’s
personalities are not shaped by their
environment.
 As long a child’s basic needs such as
food and clothing are met, he or she
has no need for human contact to
develop basic skills.
 People’s personalities are rarely shaped
by their families.
PERSONALITY
DEVELOPMENT
 Personality- the sum total of
behaviors, attitudes, beliefs,
and values that are
characteristic of an
individual
 Our personality traits
determine how we adjust to
our environment and how
we react to situations
 People’s personalities
continue to develop
throughout their lifetimes.
NATURE VS NURTURE
 Heredity- the
transmission of genetic
characteristics from
parents to children
 Instinct- an unchanging,
biologically inherited
behavior pattern
 Sociobiology- the
systematic study of the
biological basis of all
social behavior
Nature
Nurture
What is
it?
In the "nature vs.
nurture" debate, nature
refers to an individual's
innate qualities
(nativism).
In the "nature vs. nurture"
debate, nurture refers to
personal experiences (i.e.
empiricism or behaviorism).
Example
Nature is your genes.
The physical and
personality traits
determined by your
genes stay the same
irrespective of where
you were born and
raised.
Nurture refers to your
childhood, or how you were
brought up. Someone could
be born with genes to give
them a normal height, but
be malnourished in
childhood, resulting in
stunted growth and a failure
to develop as expected.
Factors
Biological and family
factors
Social and environmental
factors
HEREDITY
 Everyone has certain
characteristics that are
present at birth.
Ex: body build, hair type, eye
color, skin color
Even though identical twins share the
same genetic makeup, environmental
factors contribute a great deal to their
personalities and social behavior
 Aptitude- a capacity to
learn a particular skill or
acquire a particular body of
knowledge
Ex: a natural talent for music or
art would be considered an
aptitude
BIRTH ORDER
 The order in which we are
born into our families
influences our
personalities.
 First-born children are
more likely to be
achievement oriented and
responsible
 Later-born children tend to
be better in social
relationships and be more
affectionate and friendly
PARENTAL
CHARACTERISTICS
 Personality development
in children is also
influenced by the
characteristics of their
parents.
 Characteristics include:
 Parents Age
 Level of Education
 Religious Orientation
 Economic Status
 Cultural Heritage
 Occupational Background
CULTURAL ENVIRONMENT
 Culture has a
strong influence
on personality
development.
 Each society has
model
personalities that
are typical of
members of that
society.
Ex: In the United
States
competitiveness,
assertiveness, and
individualism are
common
ISOLATION IN CHILDHOOD
 Remarkably, several
recorded instances
exist in which children
have been raised
without the influence of
a cultural environment.
 Feral Children- wild or
untamed children
 Anna and Isabelle pg
102
 Genie pg 103
THE SOCIAL SELF
 At birth, humans cannot talk,
walk, feed themselves, or
protect themselves from harm.
 Through interaction with their
social and cultural
environments, people are
transformed into participating
members of their society.
 Socialization- the interactive
process through which people
learn basic skills, values,
beliefs, and behavior patterns
of a society.
 Self- your conscious awareness
of possessing a distinct identity
that separates you and your
environment from other
members of society
LOCKE: TABULA RASA
 John Locke, a philosopher
from the 1600s insisted
that each newly born
human being is a tabula
rasa, or clean slate.
 He claimed that each of us
is born without a
personality.
 Today few people have
such an extreme view.
COOLEY: THE LOOKING
GLASS SELF
 Known for developing
the idea of the primary
group for his theory of
explaining how
individuals develop a
sense of self
 Looking Glass Self- the
interactive process by
which we develop an
image of ourselves
based on how we
imagine we appear to
others.
According to Cooley, our understanding
of how others see us influences how we
view ourselves and forms part of our
identity
MEAD: ROLE-TAKING
 According to Mead, seeing
ourselves as others see us
is only the beginning.
Eventually we take on or
pretend to take the roles of
others.
 Role Taking- allows us to
anticipate what others
expect of us
School-age children participate in
organized games to help further the
socialization process. During these
games children play specific roles
and anticipate others’ actions
AGENTS OF
SOCIALIZATION
 Agents of
Socialization- the
specific individuals,
groups, and
institutions that
enable socialization
to take place
 In the United States,
the primary agents
of socialization
include family, the
peer group, the
school, and the
mass media.
AOS: THE FAMILY
 The family is the most
important agent of
socialization in almost every
society.
 Its primary importance is its
role in socializing young
children.
 Children first interact with
others and first learn the
values, norms, and beliefs of
society through their families.
An example may be a mother teaching
her children about the importance of
telling the truth
AOS: THE PEER GROUP
 Peer Group- a primary
group composed of
individuals of roughly equal
age and similar social
characteristics
 Peer groups are particularly
influential during the preteenage and early teenage
years.
 Parents become alarmed if
they believe that the norms
and values of the peer group
are more important to their
children than the family
AOS: THE SCHOOL
Between the ages of 5 and 18,
students spend some 30 weeks a year
in school. Teachers may become role
models that influence students through
regular academics as well as extra
curricular activities
 For most young people,
school occupies large
amounts of time and
attention, thus school
plays a major role in
socializing individuals
 Class activities are
planned for teaching
various subjects
 Extracurricular activities
are intended to prepare
students for life in the
larger society.
AOS: THE MASS MEDIA
 Mass Media- instruments
of communication that
reach large audiences
with no personal contact
between those sending
the information and
those receiving it
Ex: books, films, internet,
magazines, newspapers,
radio, and TV
 98% of homes in the US
have at least one TV
 Children 6-17 average 28
hours of TV a week
Sociologists who study mass media
have raised concerns about the
influence of violent programming on
the behavior of children
AOS: RESOCIALIZATION
 Total Institution- setting in
which people are isolated
from the rest of society for a
set period of time and are
subject to tight control
Ex: prisons, military boot camps,
monasteries, and psychiatric
hospitals
Prison attempts to resocialize
individuals by removing all semblance
of personal identity. Prisoners wear the
same uniform and have to give up
many freedoms
 Resocialization- involves a
break with past experiences
and the learning of new
values and norms
 Once the person’s sense of
self has been weakened, it
is easier for those in power
to convince that person to
conform to new patterns of
behavior