1. CHAPTER 4 Socializing the Individual
Sociology
11/24/2018
CHAPTER 4 Socializing the Individual
Section 1: Personality Development
Section 2: The Social Self
Section 3: Agents of Socialization
Chapter 5

2. if you were isolated from birth?
Would you be
“you”
if you were isolated from birth?
Nature v. Nurture
“Nature is Our Nurture”

3. Then how do “you” become “you”?
Nature v. Nurture
“Nature is Our Nurture”
We are partially products of our biology, but a far greater portion of who “you” are is a reflection of what those around you tell you you are.

4. Socialization lifelong social experience by which people develop
their human potential
&
learn culture
Nature v. Nurture
“Nature is Our Nurture”
We are partially products of our biology, but a far greater portion of who “you” are is a reflection of what those around you tell you you are.

5. Objectives: Section 1: Personality Development
Sociology
11/24/2018
Section 1: Personality Development
Objectives:
Identify the four main factors that affect the development of personality.
Explain how isolation in childhood affects development.
Chapter 5

6. Factors That Shape Personality Development
Sociology
11/24/2018
Section 1: Personality Development
Factors That Shape Personality Development
Heredity – physical traits, aptitudes, inherited characteristics, biological drives
Chapter 5

7. Factors That Shape Personality Development
Sociology
11/24/2018
Section 1: Personality Development
Factors That Shape Personality Development
Parents – parental characteristics, such as age, education, religion, & economic status
Chapter 5

8. Factors That Shape Personality Development
Sociology
11/24/2018
Section 1: Personality Development
Factors That Shape Personality Development
Birth order – personalities are shaped by whether one has siblings
Chapter 5

9. Factors That Shape Personality Development
Sociology
11/24/2018
Section 1: Personality Development
Factors That Shape Personality Development
Cultural environment – determines the basic personality types found in a society
Cultural Environment Influences Brain Function
By Rick Nauert PhDSenior News Editor Reviewed by John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on August 4, 2010
A new study extends the debate between the behavioral effects of nature vs. nurture — whether your upbringing influences the food you eat, the clothes you wear, and surprisingly, even how your brain works.
Researchers Denise C. Park and Chih-Mao Huang discuss ways in which brain structure and function may be influenced by culture in a report found in the journal Perspectives on Psychological Science.
According to the authors, there is evidence that the collectivist nature of East Asian cultures versus individualistic Western cultures affects both brain and behavior.
East Asians tend to process information in a global manner whereas Westerners tend to focus on individual objects.
There are differences between East Asians and Westerners with respect to attention, categorization, and reasoning. For example, in one study, after viewing pictures of fish swimming, Japanese volunteers were more likely to remember contextual details of the image than were American volunteers.
Experiments tracking participants’ eye movements revealed that Westerners spend more time looking at focal objects while Chinese volunteers look more at the background.
In addition, our culture may play a role in the way we process facial information. Research has indicated that when viewing faces, East Asians focus on the central region of faces while Westerners look more broadly, focusing on both the eyes and mouth.
Examining changes in cognitive processes (how we think) over time can provide information about the aging process as well as any culture-related changes that may occur. When it comes to free recall, working memory, and processing speed, aging has a greater impact than does culture—the decline in these functions is a result of aging and not cultural experience.
Park and Huang note that, “with age, both cultures would move towards a more balanced representation of self and others, leading Westerners to become less oriented to self and East Asians to conceivably become more self-focused.”
While numerous studies suggest that culture may affect neural function, there is also limited evidence for the effect of cultural experiences on brain structure.
A recent study conducted by Park and Michael Chee of Duke/National University of Singapore showed evidence for thicker frontal cortex (areas involved in reasoning) in Westerners compared to East Asians, whereas East Asians had thicker cortex in perceptual areas. Park and Huang observe that using neuroimaging to study the impact of culture on neuroanatomy faces many challenges.
They write, “The data are collected from two groups of participants who typically differ in many systematic ways besides their cultural values, rendering interpretation of any differences found quite difficult.”
In addition, for each study, it is important that the MRI machines use identical imaging hardware and software.
The authors conclude, “This research is an important domain for understanding the malleability of the human brain and how differences in values and social milieus sculpt the brain’s structure and function.”
Source: Association for Psychological Science
Chapter 5

10. Isolation in Childhood and Development
Sociology
11/24/2018
Section 1: Personality Development
Isolation in Childhood and Development
Research shows a healthy cultural environment essential for child’s full development
Isolation can lead to severe effects such as causing children to waste away & die, or to have stunted development
Chapter 5

11. Objectives: Section 2: The Social Self
Sociology
11/24/2018
Section 2: The Social Self
Objectives:
Explain how a person’s sense of self emerges.
Identify & describe the theories that attempt to explain the process of socialization.
Chapter 5

12. How Sense of Self Emerges
Sociology
11/24/2018
Section 2: The Social Self
How Sense of Self Emerges
Through interaction with social & cultural environments people are transformed into members of society
The interactive process through which people learn basic skills, values, beliefs, & behavior patterns of a society = socialization
Chapter 5

13. Three Theories of Socialization
Sociology
11/24/2018
Section 2: The Social Self
Three Theories of Socialization
John Locke – The Tabula Rosa
Charles Horton Cooley – The Looking Glass Self
George Herbert Mead – Role-Taking
Chapter 5

14. John Locke – The Tabula Rosa
Sociology
11/24/2018
Section 2: The Social Self
John Locke – The Tabula Rosa
blank slate at birth; no personality
develop personality as a result of social experiences
infants can be molded into any type of person
Chapter 5

15. Charles Horton Cooley – The Looking Glass Self
Sociology
11/24/2018
Section 2: The Social Self
Charles Horton Cooley – The Looking Glass Self
Infants have no sense of person or place.
Children develop an image of themselves based on how others see them.
People act as a mirror, reflecting back the image a child projects through their reactions to the child’s behavior.
Chapter 5

16. Reflect on how it’s perceived
“Me”
Initiate the action
Reflect on how it’s perceived
The subject part of ourself,
active & spontaneous
The objective side, we think of ourselves as other see us

17. George Herbert Mead – Role-Taking
Sociology
11/24/2018
Section 2: The Social Self
George Herbert Mead – Role-Taking
People not only come to see themselves as others see them, but also take on, or pretend to take on, the roles of others through imitation, play, and games.
enables people to anticipate what others expect of them.
Chapter 5

18. Agents of Socialization
Sociology
11/24/2018
Section 3: Agents of Socialization
Objectives:
Identify the most important agents of socialization in the United States.
Explain why family and education are important social institutions.
School Grammar Rules Social setting values
Clubs/ Social Groups Social interaction rules governing activites
Ethnic Background Beliefs Values Customs
Work Employment Money Rules Roles
Media Stereotypes Trends How to act
Government Laws, sense of security, Sanctions of punishment
Religion Values, love for others, meaning of life, Guidelines on how to live
Peers Activities trends
Family Language acquisition, relationships, rules, initial social interactions, morals, role models, behaviour
Agents of Socialization
There are a number of things that can affect an individual’s socialization process. The amount of impact that each of the agents has on an individual will depend on the situation, the individuals experiences, and the stage of life the individual is in.
What specific forces shape our personality?
Chapter 5

19. Agents of Socialization
Sociology
11/24/2018
Section 3: Agents of Socialization
Agents of Socialization
Family – the most important agent
Chapter 5

20. Family Loving family produces happy well-adjusted child
Parental attention is very important
bonding & encouragement
Household environment
stimulates development
Social position
race, religion, ethnicity, class

21. Agents of Socialization
Sociology
11/24/2018
Section 3: Agents of Socialization
Agents of Socialization
Peer group
primary group composed of individuals of roughly equal age & social characteristics
particularly influential during pre-teenage & early teenage years
Chapter 5

22. Peer Groups Developing sense of self - goes beyond family
Young & old attitudes - “generation gap”
Peers often govern short-term plans while parents influence long-term goals.
Anticipatory socialization
Practice toward gaining desired positions

23. Agents of Socialization
Sociology
11/24/2018
Section 3: Agents of Socialization
Agents of Socialization
School – plays a major role
Chapter 5

24. School Experience diversity Hidden curriculum First bureaucracy
Sociology
11/24/2018
School
Experience diversity
Racial & gender clustering
Hidden curriculum
Informal, covert lessons
First bureaucracy
Rules & schedule
Gender socialization begins
Gender-linked activities from grade school through college
School is the first time children encounter people different from them and learn to understand the importance of factors such as race & social position. (Macionis, p. 80)
Hidden curriculum – students learn about competition and cooperation, etc.
Bureaucracy – impersonal rules and strict time schedules, similar to industry/work
Chapter 5

25. Importance of Family and Education
Sociology
11/24/2018
Section 3: Agents of Socialization
Importance of Family and Education
Teach life skills
Teach values, norms & beliefs
Chapter 5

26. Agents of Socialization
Sociology
11/24/2018
Section 3: Agents of Socialization
Agents of Socialization
Mass media – books, films, Internet, magazines, TV; not face-to-face
Chapter 5

27. Mass Media TV in the USA Hours of viewing
98% of households have at least 1
2/3 households have cable or satellite
Hours of viewing
Average household = 7 hours per day
Almost ½ an individuals’ free time
Children average 5 ½ hours per day.
TV, videotapes, video games

28. What do we learn here?

29. And then there are commercials & ads.
What do we learn here?

30. Criticisms About Programming
concerns regarding race & gender inequality
conservative concerns about advancing liberal causes–“politically correct”
Violence in mass media
A 1998 survey: 2/3 of TV programming contains violence
characters show no remorse
characters aren’t punished
In 1997, the television industry adopted a rating system.

31. Sociology
11/24/2018
Stop here to parse and read article
Chapter 5

33. CHAPTER 4 Socializing the Individual
Sociology
11/24/2018
CHAPTER 4 Socializing the Individual
Section 1: Personality Development
Section 2: The Social Self
Section 3: Agents of Socialization
Chapter 5