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Module 1 - Lesson 3 - Anthropological Perspective

This document discusses the anthropological view of the self as embedded in culture. It explains that anthropology views both biological and cultural factors as influencing self-development. Cultures can view the self as either egocentric (independent) or sociocentric (dependent on social relationships). A person's identity is constructed based on characteristics like kinship, gender, age, language, religion, and socioeconomic status. Rites of passage help transition people between identity stages through separation, liminality, and incorporation phases. Culture provides meanings and understanding of the world that shape human behavior and the self.

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Baniel, Chester Leo P.
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169 views18 pages

Module 1 - Lesson 3 - Anthropological Perspective

This document discusses the anthropological view of the self as embedded in culture. It explains that anthropology views both biological and cultural factors as influencing self-development. Cultures can view the self as either egocentric (independent) or sociocentric (dependent on social relationships). A person's identity is constructed based on characteristics like kinship, gender, age, language, religion, and socioeconomic status. Rites of passage help transition people between identity stages through separation, liminality, and incorporation phases. Culture provides meanings and understanding of the world that shape human behavior and the self.

Uploaded by

Baniel, Chester Leo P.
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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The

Anthropological
Conceptualization
of the Self: The
Self as Embedded
in Culture

Chapter 1, Lesson 3
Objectives:
After completing the lesson, the students are expected to:
– Recognize what the field of anthropology can contribute to the
understanding of the self.
– Understand how culture and self are complementary concepts.
– Discuss the cultural construction of the self and social identity.
– Explain the concept of identity struggles.
– Develop insights on how to achieve a sense of self, situated in
multicultural and dynamic situations
Anthropology
– holds a holistic view of human
nature
– concerned with how cultural
and biological processes
interact to shape the self
Nature vs Nurture
“nature” “nurture”
genetic inheritance sociocultural
which sets the environment
individual’s potentials

*Both biological and cultural factors have significant


influence in the development of self.
In the Anthropological perspective, there are two ways in which the
concept of self is viewed in different societies:

egocentric sociocentric
egocentric sociocentric
In the sociocentric concept of the self, the self is
The egocentric concept of the self viewed as dependent on the situation or social
suggests that each person is defined as a setting.
replica of all humanity but capable of Example:
acting independently from others.
For example, the Japanese possess a sociocentric
Example: view of the self, wherein the membership of a person
in a particular social group defines the boundaries of
In egocentric view, the self is viewed as the self.
autonomous and distinct individual with The Chinese prioritize kin ties and cooperation. They
inherent characteristics. The Americans put importance to compliance and subordination of
are egocentric. They believe that they one’s will to the authority figures in the family.
should be assertive and independent
identity toolbox
– From the similarities and differences in
characteristics among individuals, people
construct their social identities.
– The identity toolbox refers to the “features
of a person’s identity that he or she chooses
to emphasize in constructing a social self.”
self-identification
may be attained by: kinship, family membership,
gender, age, language, religion, ethnicity, personal
appearance, and socioeconomic status. Some
characteristics such as kinship, gender, and age are
almost universally used to differentiate people.

Other characteristics, such as ethnicity, personal


appearance, and socioeconomic status are not
always used in every society.
family membership

the most significant feature to determine


the person’s social identity
language and religious affiliation

Another important identity determinant that is often


viewed as essential for the maintenance of a group
identity is language. In other societies, religious
affiliation is an important marker of group identity. In
Mindanao, being a Christian or a Muslim is possibly the
most important defining feature of social identity.
personal naming
name is an important device to individualize a person
and to have an identity. One’s identity is not inborn.
It is something people continuously develop in life.
Changes in one’s identity usually involve rites of
passage that prepares individuals for new roles from
one stage of life to another.
three-phased rite of passage

separation liminality incorporation


separation phase
people detach from their former identity to another.
For example, in a wedding, the bride walking down
the aisle to be “given away” by the parents to the
groom implies the separation from one’s family to
become part of a new one.
liminality phase
a person transitions from one identity to another. For
example, the wedding ceremony itself is the process
of transition of the bride and groom from singlehood
to married life.
incorporation phase
the change in one’s status is officially incorporated. For
example, the wedding reception and parties that
celebrate the wedding serve as the markers that officially
recognize the bride and groom’s change towards being
husband and wife
Clifford Geertz, an
American The Self as
anthropologist, offers a
reformation of the
Embedded in
concept of culture which Culture
favors a symbolic
interpretative model of
culture. He defines
culture as a system of
inherited conceptions
The function of culture
expressed in symbolic is to impose meaning
forms by means of on the world and make
which people it understandable.
communicate,
perpetuate and develop
their knowledge about
and attitude toward life.
Geertz suggests two important ideas:
(1) culture should not be
perceived only as “complexes of
concrete behavior patterns – (2) man is precisely the
customs, usages, traditions, habit animal most desperately
clusters – as has, by and large, dependent upon such
been the case up to now, but as a extragenetic, outside-the-skin
set of control mechanisms – plans, control mechanisms, such
cultural programs, for ordering
recipes, rules, instructions – for
his behavior
the governing behavior, and
– considered human beings as cultural
animals as they create the meanings of
objects, persons, behaviors, emotions
and events, and behave in accordance Robbins (2012)
with meanings they assume to be true.
Every aspect in their lives is filled with
meanings they assume to be true.
Culture differences exist when groups
of people assign different meanings to
different life events and things. Hence,
the self is embedded in culture.

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