Understanding the Self 1

Understanding the Self 2

✍️ Module Guide
 This module consists of three (3) parts – the discussion of the lesson, assessment, and
references. Place your answers in a single Word document. Below is the prescribed format.

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Assessment
1. Cite the test question/s.
2. Write your answers.

 Use the following standard format.

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section in the Google Classroom. You are encouraged to submit your answers on time.
 Understanding the Self 3

Chapter 2: The Sociological Perspective of the Self

“Our job in this life is not to shape ourselves into some ideal we imagine we ought to be, but to find
out who we already are and become it.” – Steven Pressfield

Suggested Time Allotment: 3 Hours

Learning Objectives

At the end of the lesson, you should be able to:

1. identify and explain the various sociological views of the self; and
2. examine how the social theories are relevant to how you perceive yourself.

Introduction

Sociology examines how social institutions (i.e. family, peers, school, church,
government, mass media, and among others) and social interactions shape human behaviors.
The social aspect of the self explores how social forces and socialization influence the
formation of the self and identity. Moreover, social situations also affect a person’s self-
concept and self-esteem. This lesson will help you gain a deeper understanding about your
social self using the different social concepts and theories from the notable sociologists like
Mead, Cooley, Goffman, and Festinger.
 Understanding the Self 4

A. Discussion

George Herbert Mead

 Self-development Stages

 The American sociologist George Herbert Mead examined how

people developed self-awareness. He asserted that the self is
developed through social experiences and activities. Mead theorized
that there are three stages of self-development that people
experience during their childhood which subsequently shape them
as they grow.

Preparatory Stage (from birth to 2 years old)

> In this stage, children learn to copy or imitate the behaviors of others without a
sensible understanding of what they are imitating. Children mimic those people
around them. That is why, parents must avoid misconduct or use foul language
because children are simply great imitators of their behaviors.

Play Stage (2-6 years old)

> In this stage, children begin role-playing and role-taking of the significant others
(e.g. family). "Bahay-bahayan" is an example of this. The child takes a symbolized
role of the significant others (i.e. being a father or mother) and acts as if s/he was
that specific other. This form of role-playing entails that the child takes single role
at a time. S/he learns to take the attitudes or perspectives of the significant others.

Game Stage (7 years old onwards)

> In this stage, children are involved in some organized group activities. They begin
to adopt the established rules of the game, learn what roles in the game they take,
and understand the relationship between the various roles of the game
participants. They are required to internalize the roles of all members involved in
the game.
> This configuration of roles conditioned based on the rules of the game brings the
attitudes of all game participants together to create a symbolized unity. This unity
is the generalized others. Children take the common expectations of the
generalized others within that social group. When the child is able to view herself
from the standpoint of the generalized others, self-consciousness or self-
awareness is attained. The game serves as an instrument of social control because
they are able to learn from their early years to adhere the social norms and
expectations.
 Understanding the Self 5

 The “Me” and “I”

 Mead also theorized the two phases of the self – the “Me” and “I”. The table on the next
page illustrates the key variations between the “Me” and “I”.

1 The “Me” reflects the attitude of the generalized others and the “I” responds to the
attitude of the generalized others.
2 The “Me” is the social self and the “I” is the response to the “Me”.
3 The “Me” is the organized set of attitudes of others which the person assumes.
While the “I” is the response of the person to the attitudes of the generalized
others.
4 The “Me” is a “conventional, habitual individual” (behaving based on the social
expectations of the generalized others) and the “I” is the “novel reply” of the
person to the generalized others.
Source: Cronk (n.d.)

The “Me” and “I” Example

 The “Me” – When we take the perspective of the generalized other, we are both
“watching” and forming a self in relationship to the system of behaviors that
constitute this generalized other. So, for example, if I am playing second base, I
may reflect on my position as a second baseman, but to do so I have to be able to
think of “myself” in relationship to the whole game, namely, the other actors and
the rules of the game.

 The “I” – When a ball is grounded to a second baseman, how he or she reacts is
not predetermined. He reacts, and how he reacts is always to some degree
different from how he has reacted in the past. These reactions or actions of the
individual, whether in response to others or self-initiated, fall within the “sphere”
of the “I.” Every response that the “I” makes is somewhat novel. Its responses
may differ only in small ways from previous responses, making them functionally
equivalent, but they will never be exactly the same. No catch in a ball game is
ever identical to a previous catch.

 The “I” gives the sense of freedom, of initiative. The situation is there for us to
act in a self-conscious fashion. We are aware of ourselves, and of what the
situation is, but exactly how we will act never gets into experience until after the
action takes place.
Source: Aboulafia (2020)
 Understanding the Self 6

Charles Horton Cooley

 Primary Groups
 The American sociologist Charles Horton Cooley introduced the
concept of the primary groups. Cooley believed that the self begins
to develop an idea of who s/he is through social interactions.
Therefore, he claimed that the self is a product of socialization. And
the very first social unit that the person interacts with is his/her
family. Cooley coined the term primary groups to refer to the small
group of members who share intimate relationship and mutual
cooperation with one another. To be concise, Cooley was referring to the family as the
main source and basic foundation of an individual’s sense of self and identity. The family
provides love, care, companionship, security, and among others from the onset the baby
is born until s/he grows up. S/he learns the basic knowledge and skills needed to survive
in the world through the guidance and support of his/her family. However, this form of
traditional family-centeredness is being challenged and constantly changing as societies
become more advanced and industrialized. Unfortunately, as societies progress, there is
a significant decline of traditional collective values among members of the community
because they become more individualistic, distant, and competitive.

 Looking-glass Self Theory

 Cooley sought to understand the meanings people attach to certain situations and the
behaviors they take in those situations because he wanted to examine why people behave
the way they do. He was able to formulate the looking-glass self theory. The looking-
glass self postulates that we create our self-concept or self-image based on how we think
others see us. Our self-concept or self-image is derived from our own self-reflection and
from what we imagine others think of us. We shape our selves based on how people
perceive us. Consequently, we confirm and reinforce those social perceptions about us.
Furthermore, the looking glass self has three phases in the development of the self, to wit:

Three Phases of the

Looking-glass Self Theory

1. We imagine how we present

ourselves to others.

2. We imagine how others evaluate us.

3. We develop some sort of feeling

about ourselves based upon our
perception of what we think others
have of us.
Source: https://bit.ly/3brDdJ5 Source: https://bit.ly/3tTjzfx
 Understanding the Self 7

FURTHER READINGS:
Charles Horton Cooley: Looking
Glass and the Primary Groups
https://bit.ly/2RUGxFE
Theories of Socialization
https://bit.ly/3bsZ6rd
Source: https://bit.ly/3hJm1CX

Erving Goffman
 Dramaturgical Theory
 The Canadian sociologist Erving Goffman published The
Presentation of Self in Everyday Life in 1959. As a symbolic
interactionist, his works evolved around on the sociological
analysis in the micro level particularly about individual identity,
group relations, and the interactive meanings of information.

 Goffman developed the dramaturgical theory derived from his analysis on people’s
everyday interactions. He believed that people are actors that perform in a never-ending
theatrical play called life. People enact assigned roles and expectations accorded by
society. In other words, people present themselves in everyday life is through role
performance. They live their lives and interact with others according to their desired goal
to create certain impression in the minds of others, or how they want to be viewed as. In
the presentation of the self, individuals behave based on two processes – the front stage
and the back stage.

 Front Stage – this process establishes a person’s social identity. It is a part of an

individual’s performance where s/he behaves based on social norms and expectations.
The person, as an actor, fulfills his/her assumed social role and conveys the characteristics
and activities of that role to others in a coherent manner. An individual who engages in
the front stage is aware that people are watching or observing his/her performance.

 For instance, when Maria is invited to a formal

dinner, she will act consistent to what people
expects her to be – that she wears proper attire, she
is nice and courteous, she is friendly and behaves
decently. Maria satisfies these social expectations
because she knows that the guests are observing her
behavior and that she wants to maintain people’s
 Understanding the Self 8

good impressions of her. This example also characterizes the second point of Goffman
– the impression management.

 Impression Management – Goffman coined the term impression management, also

known as dramatic realization, to describe a person’s desire to manipulate people’s
impressions of him/her on the front stage process. The individual attempts to present an
“idealized” version of him/herself by following the social norms, mores, and laws in the
front stage to effectively control and convince the audience or people about the
appropriateness of his/her behavior and the consistency of the role he/she performs.
Goffman believed individuals use variety of mechanisms, termed as sign vehicles, when
they present themselves to others. The following are sign vehicles frequently used.

Social Setting Appearance Manner of Interacting

• Physical Place • Clothing • Nonverbal

• Spaces • Physical Stature Communication
• Props • Race (e.g. gestures, body
language)
• Stereotypes
Source: https://bit.ly/2SPVKIt

 Back Stage – a person who engages in the back stage

process takes a more truthful and genuine type of
performance, as opposed to an idealized projection of the
self in the front stage. In this private zone of the self, the
person doesn’t need to act. S/he is able to express his/her
real self or identity freely, devoid from social pressures and FURTHER READINGS:
judgements. S/he is more comfortable and carefree from Erving Goffman: The Presentation
of Self in Everyday Life
observing social expectations and norms. Using the
https://bit.ly/3flNTdj
previous example, when Maria leaves the dinner party, she
Identity and Reality: Dramaturgy
will behave differently in a casual manner, like what she
https://bit.ly/2SPVKIt
does normally at home, because she knows that she is no
longer being compelled to conform with the social norms.

Leon Festinger
 Social Comparison Theory

 The American psychologist Leon Festinger initially proposed the

social comparison theory in 1954, where he argued that people
have the innate drive to evaluate themselves (e.g. their attitudes,
abilities, traits) in comparison with others in order to fulfill their
basic desire of self-evaluation and self-enhancement.
 Understanding the Self 9

Self-evaluation
It occurs when someone looks for positive traits in himself based on the best person he
compares himself with.
Self-enhancement
It occurs when someone questions which aspects of himself need to be improved in
order to reach the level of goodness of the person he is comparing himself to.
Source: https://bit.ly/3odE7hi

 Festinger believed that people engage in comparison process in order to establish a

benchmark to which they can make accurate evaluations of themselves. He posited two
types of social comparison – upward social comparison and downward social
comparison.

Upward Social Comparison

• It occurs when a person compares himself with
others who are more capable or better off than
him.
• An individual whose highly motivated tends to
engage in upward comparison and typically
assumes himself as better or equal to that “best
person” he is comparing with.

Downward Social Comparison

• It occurs when a person compares himself with Source: https://bit.ly/3eIXw6I

others who are less capable or worse off than him.

• Thomas Wills (1981) further categorized the
downward social comparison in two subtypes:

Downward Social Comparison

FURTHER READINGS:
Passive Downward Active Downward Social Comparison Theory in
Comparison Comparison Psychology
https://bit.ly/3eIXw6I

This occurs when a This occurs when a Leon Festinger’s Social Comparison
Theory
person compares himself person compares himself https://bit.ly/3odE7hi
to someone who is less to someone who is less Thomas Wills’ Downward
capable in order to make capable than him but Comparison Principles in Social
Psychology
himself feel better. causes harm or demeans https://bit.ly/3y9Hzyb
that individual.
 Understanding the Self 10

B. Assessment

Instruction: Answer the following questions comprehensively.

1. Indicate one (1) concrete experience that manifests Goffman’s concepts of the front stage,
back stage, and impression management. Explain why you have employed dramaturgical
strategy in that situation.

2. Cite some benefits and adverse effects of the upward and downward social comparison to a
person. For example, the positive side of the downward social comparison is that it boosts a
person’s ego because s/he knows that there are still people who are worse off than him/her.
Answer each item in few sentences only.

Types of Social Comparison Theory Advantages Disadvantages

2.1. Upward social comparison

2.2. Downward social comparison

Scoring Guide: Refer to the point system below to know how your answers will be graded.

1-2. Each item is equivalent to ten (10) points. Below is the rubric.

Points Descriptor Description

10 Excellent Demonstrates complete understanding of the problem.
8 Very Good Demonstrates considerable understanding of the problem.
6 Good Demonstrates partial understanding of the problem.
4 Fair Demonstrates little understanding of the problem.
2 Poor Demonstrates no understanding of the problem.

 The preceding assessment section has a total of 20 points.

 Understanding the Self 11

C. References

 “Charles Horton Cooley: Looking Glass Self and the Effect of Primary Groups”. (2013).
Retrieved from https://study.com/academy/lesson/charles-horton-cooley-theory-micro
sociology.html
 “Game Stage in Sociology: Definition & Overview”. (2016). Retrieved from
https://study.com/academy/lesson/game-stage-in-sociology-definition-lesson-quiz.html
 “Leon Festinger’s Social Comparison Theory”. (n.d.). The Psychology Notes HQ Online
Resources for Psychology Students. Retrieved from https://www.psychologynoteshq.com
/leonfestinger-socialcomparisontheory/
 “Social Comparison Theory in Psychology”. (n.d.). Retrieved from
https://www.verywellmind.com/what-is-the-social-comparison-process-2795872#
 Aboulafia, M. (2020). George Herbert Mead. The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.
Retrieved from https://stanford.io/2QpQTgg
 Barnhart, A. D. (n.d.). Erving Goffman: The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life. Retrieved
from http://web.pdx.edu/~tothm/theory/Presentation%20of%20Self.htm
 Cronk, G. (n.d.). George Herbert Mead (1863-1931). Retrieved from https://iep.utm
.edu/mead/#H3
 Lumen Learning Editors. (n.d.). The Self and Socialization. Retrieved from
https://courses.lumenlearning.com/boundless-sociology/chapter/the-self-and-socialization
 Lumen Learning Editors. (n.d.). Theories of Socialization. Retrieved from
https://courses.lumenlearning.com/boundless-sociology/chapter/theories-of-socialization
 SparkNotes Editors. (2005). Identity and Reality: Dramaturgy. Retrieved from
https://www.sparknotes.com/sociology/identity-and-reality/section2/
 Villafuerte, S. L., Quillope, A. F., Tunac, R. C., & Borja, E. I. (2018). Understanding the self.
Quezon City, Philippines: Nieme Publishing House Co. Ltd.
 Sample Illustration of the Looking Glass Self – Slideshare. Retrieved from
https://www.slideshare.net/derrickgriffey/chapter-4-4th-ed
 Sample Illustration of the Looking Glass Self – Pinterest. Retrieved from
https://www.pinterest.ph/pin/474777985702364677/

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