1. Socializing the Individual
Sociology / Chapter 5 / Mr. Niño

2. Section 5.1
Personality Development

3. 5.1 Objectives The four factors of personality development
How isolation in childhood affects development
Define
Personality, heredity, instinct, sociobiology, aptitude, feral children

4. Personality Define personality Personality
Personality—the sum total of all behaviors, attitudes, beliefs, and values that are characteristic of an individual
Write some nouns/adjectives that describe your personality
Personality
Social skill/appeal
Characteristic: humorous, assertive
Determines acclimation to environment and situational reaction
Develops and changes throughout lifetime

5. Nature vs. Nurture What determines personality? Nature or nurture?
Nature argument: human behavior is instinctual in origin
Heredity—the transmission of genetic characteristics from parents to children
Instinct—unchanging, biologically inherited behavior
Ex: birds build nests and migrate

6. Nature vs. Nurture
Nurture argument: human behavior is the result of social environment and learning
Humans can be conditioned/trained
Ex: Pavlov’s dog
Sociobiology—the systematic study of the basis of all social behavior
Supports the nature viewpoint
Cultural characteristics and behavioral traits (religion, cooperation, envy) are rooted in the genetic makeup of humans

7. Personality Development Factors
Heredity
Physical: body build, hair/eye color, skin
Aptitudes—a capacity to learn a particular skill or body of knowledge
Ex: music, art, sports
Heredity provides limits but does not determine

8. Personality Development Factors
Birth Order
Only child vs. Siblings
Order:
First (achievement-oriented, conservative),
Last (social, affectionate, friendly, liberal),
Middle (open-minded, friendly, loyal)

9. Personality Development Factors
Parental Characteristics
Age (twenties vs. thirties)
Education and occupation
Religion and culture

10. Personality Development Factors
Cultural Environment
Determines basic types of personalities
Provides model personalities
Ex: U.S. (competitiveness, assertiveness, individualism)
Male vs. Female treatment (interests, activities, clothing, speech, habits)

11. Isolation in Childhood
Feral Children—wild or untamed children who are isolated in homes by parents or family members
few human characteristics
No reasoning, manners, control of bodily functions
Examples:
Anna (confined to an attic)
Isabelle (confined to a dark room)
Genie (confined for 13 years)

12. Section 5.2
The Social Self

13. 5.2 Objectives How a person’s sense of self emerges
Theories of socialization process
Define
Socialization, self, looking-glass self, role-taking, significant others, generalized other, I, me
Identify
Locke, Cooley, Mead

14. 5.2 Objectives How a person’s sense of self emerges
Theories of socialization process
Define
Socialization, self, looking-glass self, role-taking, significant others, generalized other, I, me
Identify
Locke, Cooley, Mead

15. The Social Self At birth, human beings cannot:
Talk, walk, feed, or protect
Transformed through socialization—the interactive process through which people learn basic skills
A sense of self—your conscious awareness of possessing a distinct identity—is developed

16. Locke: The Tabula Rasa John Locke (English Philosopher)
Each human being is a tabula rasa “clean slate”
Born without personality
Social experience creates personality
Infants can be molded into any type of person

17. Cooley: The Looking-Glass Self
Charles Horton Cooley (interactionist)
Looking-Glass Self
Interactive process that develops self image
How we imagine we appear to others
Others are a mirror, reflecting back the image we project through their reactions to our behavior
Three Step Process
1) we imagine how we appear
2) we reflect on how others judge us
3) we develop feelings about ourselves

18. Mead: Role-Taking George Herbert Mead (interactionist)
Beyond how we see ourselves as others see us
Role-taking—pretending to take on the role of others; anticipating what others expect of us.
Internalize expectations of “close ones” or significant others (parents, siblings, relatives)
As we grow, significant others become less imp.
Instead, generalized other—the attitudes, expectations, viewpoints of society

19. Mead: Role-Taking (cont.)
Role-taking three step process
Imitation (2-3 years)
Play (3-6)
Games (6-11)
Role-taking develops sense of self
The Self consists of two parts
“I” the unsocialized, spontaneous, self-interest
“Me” aware of expectations, attitudes of society

20. Erving Goffman Dramaturgy Shakespeare (1564 – 1616)
Social interaction is like a drama being performed on a stage
People are audience & judge of character
Shakespeare (1564 – 1616)
Sociologist
Psychologist
Political Scientist
“All the world’s a stage…”

21. “Looking Glass Self” Interview
To better understand how your socialized behavior is formed, you will interview family, friends, and teachers.
Focus on questions that describe your personality.
Interview 3 family members, 2 friends and 1 teacher.

22. Section 5.3
Agents of Socialization

23. Objectives Identify most important agents of socialization in the U.S.
Family and Education as important social institutions
Define
Agents of socialization, peer group, mass-media, total institution, resocialization

24. Agents of Socialization
Locke, Cooley, Mead provide general theories of socialization process
Agents of Socialization—are specific individuals, groups, and institutions that enable socialization to take place.

25. Agents of Socialization
Primary Agents:

26. The Family Most important, principal socializer
Deliberate vs. Unintended Socializers
Deliberate: father teaches child about honesty, courtesy of others; mothers instructs how to save money
Unintended: father teaches child to be polite but child sees father being impolite
Process differs family to family
One-parent families
Other family members (grandparents, aunts, uncles)
Subgroups: racial, ethnic, class, religion, geography

27. The Peer Group
Peer Group—a primary group composed of individuals of roughly equal age and similar social characteristics.
Influential during pre-teen/adolescence
Peer acceptance requires adaptation of values, standards, views of the group
Family=norms/values of larger culture
Peers=norms/values of subcultures

28. The School Occupies large amount of time (30 wk/year)
Deliberate socialization
Classes teach deliberate skills
Reading, writing, math, socializing
Extracurricular prepare for real life
Ex: dances, clubs, athletics
Transmit cultural values
Patriotism, responsibility, citizenship
Teachers as role models (unintended)

29. The Mass Media No face-to-face contact
Mass media—instruments of communication that reach large audiences
Books, films, internet, social media, radio, TV
Most influential?