Socializing the individual Chapter 5

Personality Development Personality is the sum of total behaviors, beliefs, and values that characteristics of an individual. Example: being assertive or humorous Our personal traits determine how we adjust to our environment and how we react in specific situations. People’s personalities continue to develop throughout their lifetimes. Some traits remain stable while others change

Personality development Nature vs Nurture Nature = heredity Genetic characteristics Instincts Example: hair/eye/skin color Nurture = social environment Contact with others Example: religion, manners, political views Sociobiology looks at biology as the basis for all social behavior.

Personality development Heredity Not only does heredity determine your physical characteristics, but it also includes certain types of aptitudes. An aptitude is the capacity to learn a particular skill or body of knowledge Aptitudes can be learned as well! Humans also inherit certain basic needs and capacities. Example: the hunger drive makes you want to eat, but does not tell you when to eat, what to eat, or how to eat. Inherited traits put limits on what is possible. Example: someone who is 5 feet tall is less likely to be a successful basketball player than someone over 6 feet in height.

Personality Development Birth order Our personalities are influenced by if we have brothers, sisters, both, or neither Children with siblings see the world differently than children who do not. People born first or last in a family have different perspectives than middle children. First born children are most likely to be achievement oriented and responsible, as where those born later are more sociable, more affectionate, and friendly. Only children tend to be like first born children.

Personality development Parental Characteristics Younger parents relate to their children differently than older parents do. Characteristics of parents that influence a child’s personality include: Education level Religious orientation Economic status Cultural heritage Occupational background

Personality development The cultural environment has a strong influence on personality development. Each culture gives rise to personality traits. Ex: In America the “model personality” embodies individualism and competativeness How we experience culture also influences our personalities. Attitudes, expectations, and behavior affect personalities Ex: being male or female Subcultures also affect personality. The region of the country or the type of neighborhood affect personality development. Ex: Growing up Mexican American is going to differ from growing up as an Italian American

Personality development Feral children or children who grow up without cultural influence have been existed in history. Wild/untamed children often live with animals In other instances, children wee isolated in their homes by family members to keep their existence secret. Children who were isolated often only resemble humans in appearance. They had acquired no: Reason Manners Speech Control of bodily functions https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=STn3bpTTU6c

Personality development Sociologists are also interested in institutionalized children. Kids in hospitals and orphanages. These children show many of the same characteristics of isolated children. This highlights the importance of human interaction for social and psychological development. A study was done on infants at an orphanage in 1953 by Rene Spitz The kids were given medical care/food They did not receive human contact, love, being held ect.. Within two years 1/3 of the infants died Fewer than 25% of the survivors cold walk, dress themselves, or even use a spoon! Only ONE could speak in complete sentences

The Social Self At birth we cannot talk, walk, feed ourselves, protect ourselves from harm, or the norms of society. The interactive process through which people learn basic skills, values, beliefs, and behavior patterns of society is called socialization. The self is your conscious awareness of possessing a distinct identity that separates you and your environment from other members of a society. There are three major theories of socialization by: John Locke Charles Horton Cooley George Herbert Mead

The Social Self John Locke: The Tabula Rasa Locke was an English philosopher from the 1600s. He insisted newborns are tabula rasas or blank slates. He also believed we are born without personalities, thus they are acquired via social experiences. This is an extreme view, most sociologists believe socialization as a process by which individuals absorb the aspects of culture they are introduced to.

Cooley: The looking-glass self Charles Horton Cooley was a founder of the interactionist perspective in sociology. He is noted for developing the idea of the primary group and how individuals develop a sense of self. The looking-glass self refers to the interactive process by which we develop an image of ourselves based on how we imagine we appear to others. The development of the looking-glass self has three steps: We imagine how we appear to others Based on their reaction to us determines how we view ourselves We use our perception of how other judge us to develop feelings of ourselves.

The Social Self Cooley: The looking-glass self cont… The process begins in early childhood. The members of the child’s primary group (parents, siblings, family members, friends…)interact with the developing child and provide the child a mirror that reflects his/her image. Children who are put down will feel inferior Children who are praised will be more competent Cooley noted that although the looking-glass self starts in early childhood it continues throughout the lifespan.

The Social Self Meade: Role Taking Meade is another founder of the interactionist perspective – he developed ideas related to Cooley’s. According to Meade, seeing ourselves as how others see us is only the beginning. Eventually we see ourselves as other see us, but actually take on or pretend to take on the roles of others this is called role-taking. We tend to first internalize the expectation of those closest to us or our significant others. As we get older significant others become less important, instead we take on the expectations and attitudes of society. The internalization of attitudes, expectations, and viewpoints of society is called the generalized other. We do this via role-taking.

The Social Self Children are not automatically capable of role-taking. They learn the skill through social interaction. Mead said role-taking involves three steps: Imitation Children under 3 imitate. Play At around 3 children begin to play and act out roles of specific people Games By the time children are in school they play organized games and role taking resembles real life.

The Social Self Through role-taking individuals develop a sense of self. Mead say the self consists of two related parts the “I” and “Me”. The “I” is the unsocialized, spontaneous, self-interested component of personality and self- identity. The “Me” is the part of ourself that is aware of the expectations and attitudes of society . This is known as the socialized self

Agents of Socialization Locke, Cooley, and Mead provide the theoretical explanation of the socialization process, but there are specific forces and situations that shape socialization called agents of socialization. Agents of socialization are things like individuals, groups, and institutions that enable socialization to take place. In the US the primary agents of socialization are: The family Peer groups School The mass media

Agents of Socialization The Family This is the most important socializing agent in almost every society. Children learn values, norms, and beliefs of a society through their family. There are deliberate and unintended acts of socializing in families Deliberate Ex: telling the truth Unintended Ex: teaching children to be polite, but modeling the opposite behavior. Socializing differs from family to family since all families have their own dynamics. Single parent vs two-parent household Only child vs several children Religious vs non-religious

Agents of Socialization The Peer Group As children grow older, they are influenced by forces outside of the family. A peer group is a primary group composed of individuals of roughly equal age and similar social characteristics. Particularly influential during the teenage years Without peer acceptance people often get labeled as an “outsider” “loser” ect… To win acceptance young people will often conform to the values and standards of their peer group. Peer groups the focus is on the subculture of the group, this may sometimes be at odds with the norms/values of the larger society.

Agents of Socialization The School For most young people, school occupies large amounts of their time. Most socialization in school is deliberate because schools transmit cultural values such as: Patriotism, responsibility, and good citizenship Class activities have the goals of teaching children skills such as: Reading, writing, math, athletics, ect.. Some socialization is unintended such as: Manners, speech, style of dress

Agents of Socialization The Mass Media Mass media are instruments of communication that reach large audiences with no personal contact between those sending the information and those receiving it. The major forms of mass media include: Newspapers/magazines Internet TV 98% of US homes have a television set We spend an average of 28/week watching tv.

Agents of Socialization Positives of Television Expand the viewers world Provide education Immediate coverage of world events Introduces to viewers to the world outside of their own Negatives of Televsions Limits viewers to white middle class values Many racial, religious, and economic groups are ignored or portrayed in a negative light.

Agents of Socialization Resocialization The total institution is a unique agent of socialization. A total institution is a setting which people are isolated from the rest of society for a set period of time and are subject to tight control. Examples: Prisons Military boot camp Psychiatric wards monasteries

Agents of socialization Socialization in total institutions is differs from the process found in most other settings because they deal with resocialization. Resocialization involves a break with past experiences and the learning of new values and norms. This is generally geared to changing the individuals personality and social behavior. This is done by stripping away any semblance of the individual’s identity and replacing it with an institutional identity. Ex: uniforms, haircuts, denial of freedoms