The Self from Various Disciplinal Perspectives INSTRUCTOR: HANNAH SHAIRA ESTOSE, RPM Topic Outline A B C The Sociology and Anthropology of the Self The Psychology of the Self The Western and Eastern Thoughts about the Self What is IDENTITY? Self - Identity • Is the concept that we have of our role in the world around us (James, 2015). • At this stage of your life, you are beginning to make your own decisions — what course to take in college, what school to go to, which friends to be with, and so on and so forth — but this does not mean you are free of influences. • Your perceptions, attitudes, values, and beliefs and those around you all play an important role (Heggertveit-Aoudia, 2012). Self - Identity vs Social Identity Self - Identity • The way you see yourself is your self-identity (Shoemaker, 2015). • Your Self - identity shapes your; • PERCEPTIONS or the way you see the world. • ATTITUDE about life, the way you think or feel about something. • VALUES what you think is right or wrong. • BELIEFS what you see as true and untrue. • On the other hand, your social identity, or the way others see you, is also influenced by others’ perceptions, attitudes, values, and beliefs. • Social identity and self-identity are not always on the same page, which can actually cause conflict in a person's life. Imagine how you might feel if you were identified with being an A+ student and then you were asked to shift to another course because you did not meet the maintaining grade Stereotypes • These are assumptions that are made about individuals because they belong to a particular social group. Example: • Boys should not like pink since it's for girls. • Girls are better at language than boys, and that boys are better in math. Can you say that you are smart, physically attractive and talented? How do you know you are? Sense of Self and Self - Socialization Our sense of self is defined as a collection of beliefs that we hold about ourselves. This lesson will explore the effect of the socialization process on the self according to two social scientists, George Herbert Mead and Charles Cooley (Macionis & John, 2010). George Herbert Mead George Herbert Mead, in his Social Self Theory, believed that the sense of self is developed through social interactions, such as observing and interacting with others (Ritzer, 2008). He also identified three activities that develop the self: language, play, and games (Mead & Morris, 1967). By means of symbols, gestures, words, and sounds, which enables individuals to communicate with and respond to each other, the self is developed through language. It is through play that the self is developed since it allows us to take on different roles, pretend, and express expectation of others. Games develop the self by allowing individuals to understand and adhere to the rules of the activity, teaching them the value of accountability. 2 SIDES OF THE SELF I ME • the socialized aspect of the individual, which represents the learned behaviors, attitudes and expectations of others and of the society. • This is known as the “generalized other,” where children and young adults interact with the society and adopt to other people’s expectations (Gillespie, 2006). • the representation of the person’s identity based on the response to the ‘me.’ • ‘I’ allows us to bend some rules governing social interactions, which enables us to still express our creativity, originality and imagination. To Mead, the ‘me’ and the ‘I’ make up the self Charles Cooley Charles Cooley built on the work of Mead with his theory called the Looking-Glass Self (Cooley, 1998). He explained how people develop a sense of self. Having three elements, the first element is how we imagine we appear to others. The second element is the judgment we imagine that other people may be making about us, and the third element is our self-image based upon the evaluations of others. "I" vs "WE" • individualism - the ‘I’ idea that describes the self as existing independently of others and includes own traits. • Collectivism - the ’we’ idea, views the self in relation to others, emphasizing the interdependence of the self as part of a larger network of people who all help shape each other. Family, Age and Gender • Family, being the primary agent of socialization, we first learn to interact with our parents and other family members — we are a child to our parents and a brother or sister to our siblings. We enter a system of relationship — the family — which is the most important of all. • Our age is also a factor that influences our identity. Notice how protective our parents have been when we were little. Young children are more dependent while older children show more independence. Family, Age and Gender • Gender also contributes to these relationships. Remember, sex is a biological term for a person's genetic condition of being male or female. Hence, we only have two sexes. Gender, on the other hand, is a social interpretation that varies across cultures. • Basically, gender is how a person expresses his or her biological sex according to cultural definitions (Udry, 1994). Ethnicity, Nationality and Socio-Economic Class • Ethnicity is a social construct determined by a person's ancestral origins, culture, and physical attributes inherited from their ancestors (Banaag & Cruz, 2016). • Nationality combines with ethnicity to further define a person's identity within his or her larger community. • our socio-economic class significantly influences one’s selfidentity. Simply, it determines where we live, the benefits and shortcomings we experienced during our upbringing, the kind of education that we have, the kind of language that we learn, and even the choice of social groups. PSYCHOLOGY Psychology is the scientific study of the human mind and its functions, especially those affecting behavior in a given context (Source: English Oxford Living Dictionaries) The ’self’ has been defined several times as one’s personal identity that characterizes who we are as a human being (Jhangiani & Tarry 2014). In psychology, the sense of self is defined as “the way a person thinks about and views his or her traits, beliefs, and purpose within the world” (Dash & Tripathy, 2012). William James William James • known as the “Father of American Psychology,” was one of the first to propose a theory of the ‘self’ in the Principles of Psychology (James, 1983). • According to James, the self has two aspects: the “I Self” and the “Me Self.” The ‘I Self’ is a reflection of what people see in one’s actions in the physical world (e.g., recognizing that one is reading, running or drinking). The ‘Me Self,’ on the other hand, represents an individual’s reflections about himself or herself (e.g. branding oneself as risk-taker, intelligent, kind). Carl Rogers Carl Rogers • How we view ourselves talks about our self-image, which includes personality traits and physical descriptions. Example: Are you tall or short? Are you loyal, confident, aggressive or maybe all three? • Self-esteem may be defined as how much you appreciate and like yourself regardless of the circumstances. Example: You feel confident talking in front of the class. Carl Rogers • The ideal self is the person that you aspire to be (McLeod, 2008). • It is an idealized image that we have developed over time on the basis of what we have learned and experienced. Sigmund Freud • Founder of Psychoanalysis (a clinical method for treating psychopathology through dialogue with the patient). • He postulated that there are three layers of self within us all: the id, the ego and the superego (Stevens, 1996). • Id - a collection of urges that need to be fulfilled. Example: The baby was crying because it was hungry. It cried until it was fed. For teenagers like you waiting for your class to finish before taking your lunch break, you simply take a look at your watch and realize that there is still one hour before you can satisfy your hunger According to Freud, ego is the part of us that functions in reality. While the id is totally irrational, the ego has the capability to distinguish what is right or wrong based on the given context. Example: the ego is at work when a teenager decides to wait for the right time to eat, rather than cutting class to eat or violate the rule of eating something inside the classroom, which can spoil his or her appetite MULTIPLE vs UNIFIED SELF MULTIPLE SELF • theory states that the identity of a • The self is not one thing, but a person develops in a continuity of complex of multiple definitions and consciousness. parts — in short, we develop a divided • In other words, we think of ourselves as one person, whose thoughts, self or a multiple self. • Remember that our sense of identity hopes, expectations and feelings are has developed out of our past just a part of who we are experiences. Other parts of our ‘self’ (Baumeister, et. Al., 2011). may even be hidden or masked. WESTERN CULTURE • Individualistic culture since their EASTERN CULTURE • Collectivistic culture since the focus is on the person and group and social relations are individual needs and wants. given more importance. • Values competition and is • Values cooperation and tends straightforward when to go around the bush when communicating with others. explaining things to others • Emphasizes equality even if the • Emphasizes on hierarchy as individual is seen to rise above the culture wants to keep everything else things in harmony and in order HINDUISM • A major religion common in the south Asian countries like India and Sri Lanka. • Two important concept of hinduism; • Brahman (considered as the sacred, the god spirit or the universe) and the Atman (which is the human soul or the self) • Hinduism also believe in reincarnation (or the belief that people die and are reborn over and over again). BUDDHISM BUDDHISM • a common Eastern religion and philosophy where the self is often thought of as an illusion.Two important concept of • To Buddhists, there is no such as thing as a ‘self’ at all. • Two concepts of buddhism; • interconnectedness simply means that everything is connected. • one can attain the highest state called Nirvana, a place of perfect peace and happiness akin to heaven (Wolter, 2013; No Author, 2001). TAOISM • Taoism is an ancient Chinese philosophy that stresses the importance of living simply and honestly and in harmony with nature (Ho, 1995). • Three of the most important tenets of Taoism are the First Principle, the yin-yang classification and the wu wei concept. • .The First Principle, sometimes translated as ‘Oneness’ states that everything in nature is all part of the same whole. • Taoism also teaches the yin-yang concept, or classification (Lowe, 2003). Its uber-popular black and white circular symbol, suggests the idea that opposites are needed in order for harmony to exist. Thank you for listening! Don't hesitate to ask any questions!
