GED 101, LESSON 2:

THE SELF, SOCIETY, AND CULTURE

TRAYFALGAR, RALPH CARLO | ROXAS, REI HONEYLET
VILLAPANDO, THERESE ELEONOR | SAYAS, JOICE ANN
Introduction
• Can the self be developed on its own?
• Can a person grow into a person regardless of his/her environment?

• Consider Tarzan.
• Both of his parents died in the forest as an infant and was
adopted by apes, becoming less human, more ape.

The self, therefore, cannot be developed on its own. It

is heavily affected by the person’s environment.
Characteristics of the Self
According to Richard Stevens (1996, Understanding the Self), the self is:
1. Separate - The self is distinct from other selves, unique, and has
its own identity.
2. Self-contained - The distinctness of the self allows its contents to be
self-contained.
3. Independent - The self does not need another self to exist.
4. Consistent - A person’s self persists and cannot be easily
changed.
5. Unitary - The self is the centre of the person’s emotions,
thoughts, etc.
6. Private - The self does all of its thought processes within the
self. The self lives in its own world.
Social Constructivism
• How can a private self – a self that has its own world – still be
influenced by its environment?

• Social Constructivism attempts to reconcile the self and the

environment.
• The self is not static, but dynamic and ever-changing;
• The self is malleable and adjusts to varying social contexts;
• The self both affects, and is affected by, its environment.

“Social constructionists argue for a merged view of ‘the person’

and ‘their social context’ where the boundaries of one cannot
be easily separated from the other.” (Stevens 1996)
The Self and Culture
How does one retain his/her self but adjust one’s
mannerisms in different social contexts?

French anthropologist Marcel Mauss explains this

through the concept of personne and moi.

• Moi refers to a person’s original self – his identity, his “real me”
• Personne refers to a person’s adjusted self – the person in
different social contexts

The concept of personne and moi can be seen in

how a person adjusts to cultural and societal norms.
The Self and Development of the Social World

• The growing self actively shapes its own world and the world
around it.
• The connection between the shaping of the self and the shaping of
the world is established through language.
• Language is another manifestation of social constructivism in
society.
• Modifying/adding new meanings to existing words
• Adding new words into the common lexicon
Mead & Vygotsky’s Perspective
G.H. Mead and L. S. Vygotsky opined that the
development of the self progresses with the person’s
language capabilities. They state further that:
• For Mead, a child internalizes values, norms, practices, and
social beliefs through exposure to dialogue with others that
eventually becomes part of his/her individual world.
• This manifests in the “role-play” of a child. Mead states that it is through
role-play that a child separates the “I” from the rest of the world.
• For Vygotsky, the child internalizes dialogue with others and
applies that to the problems that he/she deals with, along with
the social and cultural infusions brought about by the said
dialogue.
 “Can you notice how children eventually become
what they watch?”
Self in Families

The developing self is most affected by the impact

of his/her family.
• The family serves as a child’s benchmark/foundation for:
• customs & traditions
• manners & behaviour
• first language

Without the family’s proper upbringing, a child cannot

become a functioning member of society.
Gender and the Self
• Freedom of gender expression has become a hot topic in
recent years, particularly in the LGBT community.
• The prevalence of binary gender in most societies led to the
imprinting of gender roles.
• “Men make houses, women make homes”
• Family upbringing enforces these gender roles onto the next
generation.

 What is your take on freedom of gender expression and

gender roles?
Recap Questions

1. What is the relationship between the self, society, and

culture?
2. How does culture shape the self? What are the most
significant?
3. How does society shape the self? What are the most
significant?
THANK YOU | 谢谢大家 | ありがとう