Understanding the Self

(Modular Learning)
MINSCAT, Main Campus

Subject Code: Soc Sci 111

Units: 3

Time Frame
Module Title Week To Accomplish
1 The Self from Various Philosophical Perspectives I
2 The Self from Sociological Perspective II ✓
3 The Self from The Anthropological Perspective III
4 The Self from Various Psychological Perspectives IV
5 The Self in the Western and Eastern Thought V
6 The Physical Self: The Self as Impacted by the Body VI
MID-TERMS
7 The Sexual Self VII
8 The Material /Economic Self VIII
9 The Spiritual Self IX
10 The Political Self X
11 The Digital Self: Self and Other in Cyberspace XI
12 Learning to be a Better Student XII
13 Setting Goals for Success XIII
14 Taking Charge of One’s Health XIV
FINALS

Prepared by:

Herbert F. Chavez
Instructor I
Module 2: The Self from Sociological Perspective

Introduction
The sayings, “no man is an island” reminds us that no one can live alone like an island in the midst of
an ocean. Human life is a social life where one, since birth, has been already attached to others, our family.
Thereby sociological perspective depicts how the self emerges as the awareness of one self together with others.
The emergence of this self is nurtured by the very awareness of and the relationship with others who become
the sole source of one’s identity and meaning for one’s actions. Thus, the self develops through interaction with
others in the society. To explain this matter, this module shall present the two social theories from sociologists,
Charles Horton Cooley, George Herbert Mead.

Learning Objectives
At the end of this module, the students must have:

1. Discussed the self as a product of socialization process

2. Compared and contrasted G.H. Mead and C.H. Cooley on the relationship between the self and others in
society
3. Examined and related one's self with the sociological views of the self being discussed in the class

Activity
Write an essay about the profession that you dream of.

Analysis
1. Why do you think that kind of profession is desirable for you?
2. Who influenced you to have that dream?

Content/Abstraction
Readings: The Development of Self (https://open.lib.umn.edu/sociology/chapter/4‐2‐
explaining‐socialization/) 
 

Sociological Explanations: The Development of the Self

One set of explanations, and the most sociological of those we discuss, looks at how the self, or one’s identity,
self-concept, and self-image, develops. These explanations stress that we learn how to interact by first interacting
with others and that we do so by using this interaction to gain an idea of who we are and what they expect of us.

Table 4.1 Theory Snapshot

Major
Theory Major assumptions
figure(s)

Charles
Looking- Children gain an impression of how people perceive them as the children interact
Horton
glass self with them. In effect, children “see” themselves when they interact with other
Cooley
 Major
Theory Major assumptions
figure(s)

people, as if they are looking in a mirror. Individuals use the perceptions that
others have of them to develop judgments and feelings about themselves.

Children pretend to be other people in their play and in so doing learn what these
other people expect of them. Younger children take the role of significant others,
Taking the George
or the people, most typically parents and siblings, who have the most contact with
role of the Herbert
them; older children when they play sports and other games take on the roles of
other Mead
other people and internalize the expectations of the generalized other, or society
itself.

Charles Horton Cooley

Among the first to advance this view was Charles Horton Cooley (1864–1929), who said that by interacting with
other people we gain an impression of how they perceive us. In effect, we “see” ourselves when we interact with
other people, as if we are looking in a mirror when we are with them. Cooley (1902) developed his famous concept
of the looking-glass self to summarize this process. Cooley said we first imagine how we appear to others and
then imagine how they think of us and, more specifically, whether they are evaluating us positively or negatively.
We then use these perceptions to develop judgments and feelings about ourselves, such as pride or
embarrassment.
Sometimes errors occur in this complex process, as we may misperceive how others regard us and develop
misguided judgments of our behavior and feelings. For example, you may have been in a situation where
someone laughed at what you said, and you thought they were mocking you, when in fact they just thought you
were being funny. Although you should have interpreted their laughter positively, you interpreted it negatively and
probably felt stupid or embarrassed.

Charles Horton Cooley wrote that we gain an impression of ourselves by interacting with other people. By doing so, we “see” ourselves as
if we are looking in a mirror when we are with them. Cooley developed his famous concept of the looking-glass self to summarize this
process.
Helena Perez García – The Looking Glass – CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.
Whether errors occur or not, the process Cooley described is especially critical during childhood and adolescence,
when our self is still in a state of flux. Imagine how much better children on a sports team feel after being cheered
for making a great play or how children in the school band feel after a standing ovation at the end of the band’s
performance. If they feel better about themselves, they may do that much better next time. For better or worse,
the reverse is also true. If children do poorly on the sports field or in a school performance and the applause they
hoped for does not occur, they may feel dejected and worse about themselves and from frustration or anxiety
perform worse the next time around.
Yet it is also true that the looking-glass-self process affects us throughout our lives. By the time we get out of late
adolescence and into our early adult years, we have very much developed our conception of our self, yet this
development is never complete. As young, middle-aged, or older adults, we continue to react to our perceptions
of how others view us, and these perceptions influence our conception of our self, even if this influence is often
less than was true in our younger years. Whether our social interaction is with friends, relatives, coworkers,
supervisors, or even strangers, our self continues to change.

George Herbert Mead

Another scholar who discussed the development of the self was George Herbert Mead (1863–1931), a founder
of the field of symbolic interactionism discussed in Chapter 1 “Sociology and the Sociological Perspective”.
Mead’s (1934) main emphasis was on children’s playing, which he saw as central to their understanding of how
people should interact. When they play, Mead said, children take the role of the other. This means they pretend
to be other people in their play and in so doing learn what these other people expect of them. For example, when
children play house and pretend to be their parents, they treat their dolls the way they think their parents treat
them. In so doing, they get a better idea of how they are expected to behave. Another way of saying this is that
they internalize the expectations other people have of them.
Younger children, said Mead, take the role of significant others, or the people, most typically parents and siblings,
who have the most contact with them. Older children take on the roles of other people and learn society’s
expectations as a whole. In so doing, they internalize the expectations of what Mead called the generalized other,
or society itself.
This whole process, Mead wrote, involves several stages. In the imitation stage, infants can only imitate behavior
without really understanding its purposes. If their parents rub their own bellies and laugh, 1-year-olds may do
likewise. After they reach the age of 3, they are in the play stage. Here most of their play is by themselves or with
only one or two other children, and much of it involves pretending to be other people: their parents, teachers,
superheroes, television characters, and so forth. In this stage they begin taking the role of the other. Once they
reach age 6 or 7, or roughly the time school begins, the games stage begins, and children start playing in team
sports and games. The many players in these games perform many kinds of roles, and they must all learn to
anticipate the actions of other members of their team. In so doing, they learn what is expected of the roles all
team members are supposed to play and by extension begin to understand the roles society wants us to play, or
to use Mead’s term, the expectations of the generalized other.
Mead felt that the self has two parts, the I and the me. The I is the creative, spontaneous part of the self, while
the me is the more passive part of the self stemming from the internalized expectations of the larger society.
These two parts are not at odds, he thought, but instead complement each other and thus enhance the individual’s
contributions to society. Society needs creativity, but it also needs at least some minimum of conformity. The
development of both these parts of the self is important not only for the individual but also for the society to which
the individual belongs.
Assessment
1. Comprehension Skill Test
In your own words, explain:
a. Charles Horton Cooley’s Self Looking Glass Theory and its Stages
b. George Herbert Mead’s Role-Taking Theory and its Stages

2. Evaluative Skill Test

a. Do you think you could always guess others’ expectation of and their reaction on your actions?
Explain your answer.
b. Do you think you are becoming effective member of your society performing your role? Explain
your answer.

Reference:
(https://open.lib.umn.edu/sociology/chapter/4‐2‐explaining‐socialization/)