Chapter 5
Socializing the Individual
Nature Versus Nurture
Some social scientists argue what determines personality and social behavior. Some believe its heredity- what you are born with- and others believe it's social environment- what you see and are around in the world-.
Isolation in Childhood
Locke: The Tabula Rasa
Cooley: The Looking-Glass Self
Charles Horton Cooley was one of the founders of the interactionist perspectives. The looking-glass self is his concept of a interactive process of how you think people see you and in return how you see yourself based on their reactions.
Looking-Glass Self
~First, we imagine how we appear to others.
~Second, based on their reactions to us, we attempt to determine whether others view us like we view ourselves
~Finally, we use our perceptions of how others judge us to develop feelings about ourselves.
Mead: Role- Taking
This American philosopher goes by the name George Herbert Mead. He developed ideas similar to Cooley's theories. Mead stated that under the age of three we lack a sense of self. We internalize with the people closest to us expect, than expand.
The Family
The Peer Group
The School
The Mass Media
Mass media- communication that reach others without personal contact. Mass media's major forms are films, magazines, films, the internet, television, radio and or newspapers. Several studies show television violence encourages viewers to act in aggressive ways and to see aggression as a valid way to solve problems. Mass media can cause a lot of problems, but it can expand the viewers' world and can be a powerful educational tool in life.