The Self and Interaction

1
Chapter 5

• The Self and Interaction

2
Overview

• What is Human Nature?
• Video presentation
• The Development of the Self
• Theories (Freud, Cooley, Mead and Goffman)
• The Process of Socialization
• Agents of Socialization
• Adult Socialization
• New Interactional Contexts

3
The Naturevs.Nurture Debate
What is Human Nature?

• Explains traits as related to biology
• genetics
• heredity
• instincts

• Explains traits as related to culture
• learning
• social interaction
• socialization

• Nature provides a basic genetic blueprint, but
• We can overcome limitations
• We can fail to live up to our potential

4
Case Studies in Social Isolation

• The Garden of Eden
• Frederick II in the 13th Century
• Experiments on primates
• Children raised in social isolation
• Feral children, orphanages

5
(No Transcript)
6
Video Presentation

• Secrets of the Wild Child

7
Extreme Isolation by Kingsley DavisThe case
of Isabelle

• Illegitimate child (1930s)
• Mother was deaf-mute
• Secluded in dark room
• Behaved like a wild animal
• Spoke only in croaking sounds
• 6½ years old

• Found by social workers
• Tested at 2½ age level
• Made rapid progress through developmental stages
• Reached normal level by 8 years old
• Deficiencies can be reversed if caught early
  enough

8
THEORIES ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE SELF

• What is the self?
• Central to being human
• A conscious experience of a distinct, real,
  personal identity
• Different and separate from others
• Where does a sense of self come from?

9



10
(No Transcript)
11
PSYCHOANALYTIC APPROACH

• Sigmund Freud

• (1856-1939)

12
PSYCHOANALYTIC APPROACH

• The mind consists of 3 interrelated systems
• Id
• Basic inborn drives that are the source of
  instinctive psychic energy
• Ego
• Operates on reason and mediates the demands of
  the id and superego
• Superego
• Represents the internalized demands of society
• Conscience keeps us from socially undesirable
  behavior
• Ego-ideal upholds vision of ideal self
• Psychosexual stages of development
• Transitions or fixations

13
THE LOOKING-GLASS SELF

• Charles Cooley
• Each to each a looking-glass,
• Reflects the other that doth pass

• (1864-1929)

14
3-PART PROCESS

• 1. We imagine how we appear to others
• 2. We interpret others reactions
• 3. We develop a self-concept

There is no sense of self without an other
15
The Looking Glass Self
16
MIND, SELF and SOCIETYGeorge Herbert Mead

• 3-Part Process
• 1. Imitation
• Young children mimic
• 2. Play
• Children play at or pretend
• take the role of the significant other
• 3. Games

17
Older children play organized games

• Understand rules that apply to all
• Take the perspective of the generalized other
• The expectations of a network of others
• Shapes your own behavior

• We develop a sense of self by seeing how others
  see us

18
The Social Construction of Reality

• The Thomas Theorem
• If people define situations as real, they are
  real in their consequences
• Society and life experiences define what is real
• Our behavior does not depend on objective
  reality, but on our subjective experience of it

19
All the world's a stageAnd all the men and
women merely playersThey have their exits and
their entrancesAnd one man in his time plays
many parts William Shakespeare

• Strike a poseMadonna

20
(No Transcript)
21
The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life
Erving Goffman
22
DRAMATURGY

• Personal Front
• Appearance, costumes, props, manner
• Region
• Scenery and Settings
• Front stage
• Impression Management
• Try to control impressions we make on others
• Present ourselves in most convincing way

• Uses metaphor of the theater
• Life as a drama
• Roles
• Performances
• Back stage
• Audiences

23
Impression Management

• Why use self-presentation techniques?
• to conform to social norms
• to achieve personal goals
• Not all performances are successful
• Losing and saving face
• Is there a true or real self?
• We all wear masks

24
SOCIALIZATION

• Agents of Socialization
• Individuals, groups or institutions that provide
  socialization
• Influences self-concept, emotions, attitudes, and
  behavior

• A two-fold process
• a society or group teaches its members
• members learn and internalize the values and
  norms

25
The 4 MajorAGENTS OF SOCIALIZATION

• 1. The Family
• The most significant, lifelong influence
• 2. Schools
• The first outside influence, hidden curriculum
• 3. Peers
• The most immediate influence on lifestyle
• 4. The Media
• The most powerful, overarching influence

26
ADULT SOCIALIZATION

• Re-Socialization
• Breaks from or integrated with past
• Life transitions
• Workplaces, partnerships, communities,
  organizations

• Total Institutions
• Controls activities, strips members of identity
  to rebuild them
• Boarding schools, military, prisons, cults,
  monasteries

27
(No Transcript)
28
New interactional contexts

• Postmodernism
• Technology and relations online
• The saturated self
• Exposed to more sources and multiple viewpoints
• Borrow bits and pieces of identity

• What is social interaction?
• What we think, feel and do in each others
  co-presence
• Face-to-face
• Para-social interaction
• Virtual
• Imaginary
• One-sided

29
SOCIALIZATION AND FREE WILL

• Are we prisoners of socialization?
• Robots, products of conditioning, brain-washed?
• Human agency
• Ability to act freely and independently
• A dynamic sense of self
• Interpreting and creating our social world
• Reciprocal process
• We socialize others

30
Next