Republic of the Philippines

State Universities and

Colleges
GUIMARAS STATE COLLEGE
Buenavista, Guimaras
UNDERSTANDING THE SELF
UNIT 1: The Self from Various Perspectives
LESSON 3: Sociological Perspectives of the Self

OBJECTIVES
At the end of the unit, the students will be able to:
 recognize what sociology tell about understanding the self and others;
 discuss the different ways by which society shape the self; and
 examine one’s elf against the different views of self that were discussed.

ACTIVATE
Paste a picture of you when you were in elementary, in high school and now in
college. Below the picture, list down the salient characteristics that you remember.
Examine youself in its different stages.

My Elementary Self My High School Self

My College Self

ACQUIRE
The Looking Glass Self by Charles Cooley
Charles Cooley pioneered one of the most prominent Sociological perspectives of
the self. He asserted that individuals develop their concept of self by looking at how
others perceive them, hence, coined his theory as “The Looking Glass Self”. Using
the view of others, Cooley denotes that understanding of self is socially
constructed. Through social interaction, one’s sense of self is mirrored from
the judgments they receive from others to measure their own worth, values, and
behavior. This process involves the following steps: 1. An individual in a social
situation imagines how they appear to others.
2. That individual imagines others’ judgment of that appearance.
3. The individual develops feelings (of pride or shame) and responds to those
perceived judgments. Seemingly, the theory of Charles Cooley is appealing if not

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 Republic of the Philippines
State Universities and
Colleges
GUIMARAS STATE COLLEGE
complicated by some context Buenavista, Guimaras
of interaction and nature of people involved in the
process. Feedback for one plays an important role in the process. However, not all
feedback are taken or carried out in the same weight. Thus, not all judgments or
view of other people to one’s self may affect how he/she measure his/her worth,
values and behavior. For instance, some take responses from those whom they
trust more seriously than those of strangers. Misinterpretations of signals may also
occur from the point of view of the person examining him/herself. One’s value
system can be also taken into consideration when thinking through any changes to
their behavior or views of self. Ultimately, people constantly seek to create
consistency between their internal and external worlds and, therefore, continue to
perceive, adjust, and strive for equilibrium throughout their lives (Self and
Socialization, nd).
Theory of the Self-Development by George Herbert Mead
Similar to Charle’s Cooley’s theory of self, George Herbert Mead also gave
emphasis to other’s perspective in view of one’s self. As a prerequisite of being able
to understand the self, one has to develop self-awareness. This can be derived from
looking at ourselves from the perspective of others. For instance, we put ourselves
into someone else’s shoes and look at the world through that someone’s
perspective. This process is only made possible by social interaction. If social
interaction is absent particularly in one’s early experiences, he/she will find
difficulty in developing an ability to see him/herself as others would see him/her.
According to Mead, the “self” in such case is not being developed (Theory of
Self Development,nd).
By stages, Mead states that self develops through social interaction.
1. Preparatory Stage: Children in this stage are only capable of imitating
actions of others (i.e. people they particularly in contact with such as their
family members). They have no ability to imagine yet how others see things.
2. Play Stage: At this stage, children begin to try to take on the role of other
person by acting out grown up behaviors, dressing like adults, etc.
3. Game Stage: While children learn about several roles of others, they
understand how these roles interact with each other in this stage. They
learn to understand complex interactions involving different people with variety of
purpose. In a restaurant for instance, a child understands different responsibilities
of people who work together for a smooth sailing experience. He/she
understands that someone from the restaurant takes orders, others wash dishes,
cook the food, etc.)
4. Generalized other: In this stage, children develop, understand and learn the
idea of the common behavioral expectations of the general society. They are able to
imagine how they are viewed by one or many. Mead pointed out that “self” in this
stage is being developed.
The Self and Culture
The self should not be seen as a static entity which remains constant through time.
It persistently struggles with its external reality and is malleable in dealing with it.
Being active participant in its social world, the self, through interaction, is made and
remade. As it continuously interacts with others, society is continually changing and
dynamic, so thus self. Self being endlessly exposed to its social world and is
subjected to its influences here and there. While the social world is changing and
dynamic, being the same person across time and space therefore is illogical. In
this perspective, self is considered as multi-faceted.
The Moi and Personne Self

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 Republic of the Philippines
State Universities and
Colleges
GUIMARAS STATE COLLEGE
Buenavista,
Marcel Mauss and his contemporaries Guimaras
claimed that society is a result of a process
whereby actions of humans is built upon everyday social continuity. As an
Anthropologist and Sociologist, he asserted that self adapts to its everyday social
condition. In particular, the behavior of human groups and the way they
perceive themselves in daily life are influenced by their environmental and
seasonal variations. Everyday life is an endless process of actions and exchanges
between and among humans to sustain their existence and meet their needs.
Cultural identity therefore is intertwined with space and time (Airton José
Cavenaghi, 2016) making one’s self determined according to its circumstances
and context.
As a result of this notion, Marcel Mauss asserted that every self has two faces--the
personne and moi. MOI refers to a person’s sense of who he is, his body and his
basic identity, his biological givennes. It is a person’s basic identity. PERSONNE on
the other hand, is composed of the social concepts of what it means, to be who he
is. It has much to do with what it means to live in a particular institution, a particular
family, a particular religion, a particular nationality, and how to behave given
expectations and influences from others. Personne therefore shifts from time to
time to adapt to his social situation (Alata, EJ et. al., 2018).
The “I” and the “Me” Self
As an offshoot of his theory previously presented, George Herbert Mead
characterized the self as “I” and “Me”. Based on the theory, an individual imports
from the social process. As an individual organism, he/she may display gestures on
his/her own but takes collective attitude of others and reacts accordingly to
their organized attitudes while in constant interaction with them.
The process according to Mead involves the creation of the two facets of self. The
“me” is the social self and the “I” is the response to the “me”. Both arising from the
social process, the “I” is the one responding to the attitudes of the others while
“me” is the result of the “I” assuming the organized set of attitudes of the
others (it is the result of the individual’s accumulated understanding of the
generalized other). The “I” learns about the “me”, hence, it is the knower, while
the “me” is the known. Ultimately, self is developed through language and role-
play where the child learns to delineate his/her “I” from the rest.l “tapat ko, linis
ko”.
knower, while the “me” is the known. Ultimately, self is developed through
language and role-play where the child learns to delineate his/her “I” from the rest.
Lev Vygotsky
Together with George Herbert Mead, Lev Vygotsky stressed the important role of
language acquisition and interaction with others in human development. According
to them, mind is made or constituted through language that one acquires or
experiences with his/her external world. This process is mediated by one’s
internal dialogue with his/her own head. Through it, he/she learns to internalize
values, norms, practices, social beliefs, etc., Consistent exposure to internal
dialogues will eventually become part of one’s individual world. For Mead, role-
playing of children indicates that they create scripts in their head, thus a
manifestation of internal dialogue within self. For Vygotsky, a child internalizes
real life dialogues that he/she had with others by recycling this during one of their
mental and practical problem solving (Alata, et. al, 2018).
Self in Families
Every human is born helpless or dependent from the external world. The
first group that one interacts with and depend for the fulfilment of his/her needs is
the family. As the basic social institution, the family is the primary provider or
source of a child’s needs (human, social, economic). It is also the main

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 Republic of the Philippines
State Universities and
Colleges
GUIMARAS STATE COLLEGE
Buenavista,the
avenue for teaching young individuals Guimaras
basic things that they need to learn in
order to fit in the society. It has also the capacity to develop or encourage the
actualization of one’s potentials. These are all made possible by way of socialization
whereby one learns basic ways of living, language, values, etc. by way of
imitating or observation or teaching by an adult member of the family such as
the mother and the father.

APPLICATION & ASSESMENT

1. How would you develop your self image? Is it based on your own evaluation
of your self or it is based on how you believe others perceive you?
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2. What are the influences of your family in your development as an individual?
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References:
Alata, E., Caslib B. Jr., Serafica J., &Pilawen R. (2018). Understanding the Self.
Manila, Philippines: Rex Book Store.
Arcerga, A. &Brawner, D. (2018). Understanding the Self. Quezon City: C & E
Publishing Inc.
Corpuz, Ronald M. (2019). Understanding the Self. C & E Publishing Inc.
Go-Monilla, Ma.Jocelyn A.(2018). Understanding the Self. C & E Publishing Inc.
Villafuerte, Salvacion T.(2018). Understanding the Self. Nieme Publishing House
Co.Ltd.

Module 2 - Sociological Perspectives OF THE SELF - Module 2 SOCIOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVES OF THE SELF
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