ANTHROPOLOGICAL VIEW OF THE SELF

Tabula Rasa (John Locke)

The implication is that at birth all individuals are basically the same in their potential for
character development and that their adult personalities are exclusively the products of
their postnatal experiences, which differ from culture to culture.

Brofenbrenner’s Ecological Theory

(Bioecological Systems Theory)
•a child’s own biology is a primary
environment fueling her development.

•The interaction between factors in

the child’s maturing biology, his
immediate family/community
environment, and the societal landscape fuels
and steers his development.

MICROSYSTEM  This is the layer closest to the child and

contains the structures with which the child has direct contact. The
microsystem encompasses the relationships and interactions a child
has with her immediate surroundings

MESOSYSTEM  This layer provides the connection between the structures

of the child’s microsystem.

EXOSYSTEM  This layer defines the larger social system in which the child does
not function directly. The structures in this layer impact the child’s
development by interacting with some structure in her microsystem

MACROSYSTEM  Comprised of cultural values, customs, and laws

CHRONOSYSTEM  Encompasses the dimension of time as it relates to a child’s

environments.

CULTURAL IDENTITY  The self-image that we derive from our family, culture, ethnicity, and
society around us.

SOCIAL IDENTITIES
Racial Identity – a classification system used to categorize individuals Into large and
distinct populations
Ethnic Identity – derived from a sense of shared heritage, history, traditions, values, area
of origin, and sometimes language
National Identity – the nation/country one was born into
THE DARKSIDE OF IDENTITY

STEREOTYPES •categorization into a particular group of people. “Everyone fits into the same
mold.”

PREJUDICE • are deeply held negative feelings associated with a

particular group (anger, fear, aversion, anxiety).

RACISM • an extension of stereotyping and prejudice. The belief

that one race is inherently superior to another

ETHNOCENTRISM •one’s own culture is superior to any other.

Western conception of self (Geertz, 1983)

A bounded, unique, more or less integrated motivational and cognitive universe, a dynamic center of
awareness, emotion, judgment, and action organized into a distinctive whole and set
contrastively both against other such wholes and against its social and natural background...(p.59)
From simple to complicated. . .
•Ecological theories argued that its because of the environment; natural, social and
cultural, that influence the human being.
•what makes SELF or IDENTITY difficult to study is simply because the ecological system keeps on changing.

ASPECTS OF CULTURE

• Government
The leadership that creates laws or rule for a society.
• Economics
How people in society earn a living
• Religion
The belief in and worship of a superhuman controlling power, especially a personal GOD or
GODS. It helps answer the questions about life’s meaning.
• Technology and Invention
Advancement
• Language
How a society communicate
• Arts
Creative way to express
• Daily Life
Every day activities of people

CULTURAL AWARENESS
The foundation of communication and it involves the ability of standing back from ourselves and
becoming aware of our cultural values, beliefs and perceptions. Why do we do things in that way? How do
we see the world? Why do we react in that particular way?

LEVELS OF CULTURAL AWARENESS

• My way is the only way - Parochial stage

• I know their way, but my way is better - Ethnocentric stage

• My Way and Their Way - Synergistic

• Our Way - Participatory