Activity: My Self through the years

List down your salient characters that you remember.

My Elementary Self My High School Self My College Self

After having examined your “self” in its different stages,
fill out the table below:
Similarities in all Differences in my Possible reasons for
stages of my “self” “self” across the these the differences in me
stages of my life
What is Social Science?
Social Science – is the study of people: as
individuals, communities and societies; their
behaviours and interactions with each other.

Social Science – study of groups of people

and how do these group that we belong affect
how we behave our values, beliefs and how
do these groups define our identity.
The Self, Society
and Culture
Introduction
From the perspective of philosophers, they have
explain the meaning of self according to their own
concepts. Some philosophers say that the self has two
parts, which are the body and the soul, with the soul
being said to exist in the realm of ideas. Others state
that the recognition of self arises from our continuous
stream of memories and experiences. And in other
statements, the self is describe as collection of
experiences. Eventually, with the advent of social
sciences, it becomes possible for new ways and
examples to re-examine the true nature of the self. The
relationship between the self and the external world is
an important area of study.
 Lack of Social Relationships
-no understanding of human relationship
-emotions
-social hierarchies

Lack of socialization
Language and
-societal roles
-cultural practices
Tarzan Communication
-social expectation

Cultural understanding
-rituals and ceremonies
-festival
-cuisine
-arts, music and dance
What is the Self in contemporary
literature ?
 Separate- it is meant that the self is distinct
from other selves. The self is always unique
and has its own identify.

 Acknowledging the influence of external

factors. It emphasizes personal boundaries,
self-expression, and the pursuit of individual
goals, while also recognizing the value of
empathy and understanding in relationships
with others.
What is the Self?

Self is self-contained and

independent- its distinctness allows it
to be self-contained with its own
thoughts, characteristics and volition.

With own strength and can make

decisions based on their own
thoughts and feeling.
What is the Self?
 Self is unitary in that is the center of all
experiences and thoughts that run through
a certain person. It is like the chief
command post in an individual where all
processes, emotions, and thoughts
converge.

 You are aware of your thoughts emotions,

sensations, and memories. All these
different aspect of your being come together
to form your sense of self.
What is the Self?

Self is private – self being private

suggest that self is isolated from the
external world.

It acknowledge that not all aspects of

our thoughts, emotions, and
experiences are meant to be public or
shared openly.
 Social Constructivists Perspective
 Argue that self should not be seen as a static entity
that says constant through and through. The self has
to be seen as something that is in constant struggle
with external reality, and is malleable in its dealings
with society.

 Self is always in participation with social life and its

dealing with society.

 We ourselves play different roles, act in different ways

depending on our circumstance.
 Example:
 Jon is a math professor at a Catholic university for more than a decade now. Jon
has a beautiful wife whom he met in college, Joan. Joan was Jon’s first and last
girlfriend. Apart from being a husband, Jon is also blessed with two doting kids, a
son and a daughter. He also sometimes serves in the church to as lector and a
commentator. As a man of different roles, one can expect Jon to change and adjust
his behaviour’s, ways, and even language depending on his social situation.

 When Jon is in the university, he conducts himself in a matter that benefits his title
as a professor. As a husband, Jon can be intimate and touchy. Joan considers him
sweet, something that his students will never conceive him to be. Hid kids fear him.
As a father, Jon can be very serious. As a lector and commentator, on the other
hand, his church mates knew him as a guy who is calm, all-smiles, and always
ready to lend a helping hand to anyone in need.

 This short story is not new to most of us. We ourselves play different roles, act in
different ways depending on our circumstances. Are we being hypocritical in doing
so? Are we even conscious of our shifting selves? According to what we have so
far, this is not only normal but it also is acceptable and expected. The self is
capable of morphing and fitting itself into any circumstances it finds itself in .
Are we being hypocritical in doing so?

Are we even conscious of our shifting

selves?

Is the behaviour of Jon acceptable

and expected?
 The Self and Culture
According to Mauss, every self has two faces:

Moi Personne
Moi refers to a person's sense of who Personne is composed of the social
he is, his body, and his basic identity; concepts of what it means to be who he
his biological givenness. This is a is. It means to live in a particular
person’s basic identity. This is a institution, a particular family, a
person’s identity. particular religion, a particular
nationality, and how to behave given
Moi represent the individual’s inner the expectation and influences from
subjective experience and personal other.
desires. It encompasses the unique
thoughts, emotions, and personal Personne refers to the social, collective,
experiences that shape an individual’s and relational aspect of an individual’s
sense of individuality and autonomy. identity. It encompasses the roles,
obligations, and social group or
community. The person is viewed as a
social being whose identity is shaped
by their relationships, interactions, and
societal expectations.
Example:
 This dynamics and capacity for different personne can be
illustrated better cross- culturally. An oversees Filipino worker
adjusting to life in another country is very good case study. In
the Philippines, many people unabashedly violate jaywalking
rules. A common Filipino treats road, even national ones,
basically his and so he just merely crosses whenever and
wherever. When the same Filipino visits another country with
strict traffic rules, say Singapore, you will how suddenly law-
abiding the said Filipino becomes.
The Self and the Development of the World

 How do children grow up and become social

beings?

 How can a boy turn out to be just like?

 How do twins coming out from the same mother turn

out to be terribly different when given up for
adoption?
 George H. Mead
 Rejected the idea of biological determination of the self
which proposes that an individual already has an
established self from the moment he is born.

 For him the notion of a person regards to who they are

develops from one’s social interaction with other people.

 He reiterated that the process of establishing the self is

through the construction and reconstruction of the idea
of who we are as person during the process of social
experience.
 George H. Mead
I
Me
• The “I” is the reaction of the • The “Me” are the characteristics,
individual to the attitude of the others, behavior, and or actions done by a
as well the manifestation of the person that follows the “generalized
individuality of the person others” that persons interact with.

• The accept the “I” is one’s response • Part of self created through
to the establishment attitude, and socialization
behavior that a person assumes in
reference to their social. • “Me” represents the socialized and
conforming aspect of the self.
• “I” originates from our personal
desires, needs, individual
experiences. It is less influenced by • Learned behavior
social expectations and can
challenge or deviate from societal • The “Me” is how we act based on that
norms. society expects from us.

• Part of the self that reacts to the

attitude of others
 Lev Vygotsky
Vygotsky s theory of self emphasizes the social
and cultural influences on or development. According
to Vygotsky, the self is shaped through interactions
with others, particularly within the context of
meaningful activities. Our sense of self emerges as
we internalize the knowledge, values, and beliefs out
culture community. In simpler terms, Vygotsky
believed that our sense of self is formed through
social interaction and the things social interactions
and the things we learn from others around us.
 Human minds as
something that made,
developed through
language as experienced
in the external world and
as encountered in
dialogues with others.

 Notice how little children are fond of playing role

play with their toys?

 Notice how they make scripts and dialogues for

their toys as they play with them?
 Self in Families
 The kind of family that we are born in and the resources available to us ( human, spiritual,
economics) will certainly affect us and the kind of development that we will have answer go
through life.

 Human persons learn the ways of living and therefore their selfhood by being in a family. It is
what family initiates a person to become that serves as the basis for this person s progress.
Babies internalize ways and styles that they observe from their family. By imitating, for
example, the LANGUAGE of its primary agents of rearing its family, babies learn the
language. The same is true for ways of behaving. Notice how kids reared in a respectful
environment becomes respectful as well and the converse if raised in a converse family.
Internalizing behavior may either be conscious or unconscious. Table manners or ways of
speaking to elders are things that are possible to teach and therefore, are consciously
learned by kids. Some behaviors and attitudes, on the other hand, may be indirectly taught
through rewards and punishments. It is then clear at this point that those who develop and
eventually grow to become adult who still did not learn simple matters like basic manners of
conduct failed in internalizing due to parental or familial failure to initiate them into the world.

 Learning, therefore, is critical in our capacity to actualize our potential of becoming a fully
realized humans. In trying to achieve the goal of becoming a fully realized human, a child
enters a system of relationships, most important of which is the family.
 Without a family, biologically and sociologically, a
person may not even survive or become a human
person.
 Gender and the Self
 Gender is one of those loci of the self that is subject to
alteration, change, and development

 People fought hard for the right to express, validate, assert

their gender expression
Society forces a particular identity unto
us depending on our sex and gender.
 Husbands are expected to provide for the family

 The eldest man in a family is expected to head the family and hold
it in.

 Mothers role of taking care of children

 Young women are encouraged to act like fine ladies, are trained
to behave in a fashion that befits their status as women in society

 Men are taught to behave like a man, like holding in one’s

emotion, being tough, fatalistic, not to worry about danger, and
admiration for hard physical labor.
The sense of self that is being taught
makes sure that an individual fits in a
particular environment. This is
dangerous and detrimental in the goal of
truly finding one’s self, self-
determination, and growth of the self.
Gender has to personally discovered
and asserted and not dictated by culture
and society
 Group Role Playing (10 minutes each) No
duplication of case scenario presentation:

 Group 1, 2, 3: Think of time when you felt you were

your “true self.” What made you think you were truly
who you are during this time of your life?

 Group 4,5 : Can you provide a time when you felt

when you were not living “true self”? Why did you
have to live a life like that? What did you do about
it?