Socialization and Development of Self
Humans are designed to act with self-awareness, apply self-control, illustrate conscience, guiltiness, and make decisions based on some symbol of what they are, what they have been, as well as what they desire to be. Development of self has numerous descriptions including the development of physical or motor self to that of the mind. In the center of this all, three sociologists, Charles Horton Cooley, George Herbert Mead, and Jean Piaget offer varying views on the development of self. The varying theories offered by these and other sociologists means that there is no universally accepted concept of development of self or how people come to aware of themselves. In fact, each individual will have their own
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The following paper argues that the Mead’s theory offers the best insights into the development of the self. Development of self is based on Symbolic Interaction Theory - how the mind perceives one self and the influence of others through cultural norms, values, attitudes, and expectations.
Development of self is centered on the self as both of an active nature and passive nature. As an active object, it triggers the reflexive behavior through the aspect labeled the “I” while its passive nature is labeled as the “me” (Kendall, 2006). Humans understand their self-concept starting with self-differentiation. Cooley developed the theory of looking-glass self which argues human development is developed through social interactions with others. Cooley argued that humans develop self-concept through two
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The first stage is the sensorimotor stage where children develop sensory skills such as seeing, listening and touching (Piaget, 1964). Next is the preoperational stage, where children form the capability to use symbols that help them experience things. A key similarity among all Cooley, Mead, and Piaget is the role of language as a significant symbol in developing self. Language acts as a channel for socializations enabling the development of one’s self-concept. In the third stage, humans can understand reasoning such as causation, size, numbers, and speed (Piaget, 1964). The final stage involves the development of abstract thinking to solve theoretical problems. Piaget makes concrete points, but these stages are controversial since they do not illustrate how socialization and development of self are connected. Moreover, not all humans can make it to the fourth stage to develop self-concept because of various social experiences or biological conditions. For instance, some teens face difficult challenges due to increased social situations such as bullying that can lead them to develop psychological issues or mental illnesses lacking the ability for abstract skills (Wylie, 1974). People also draw their cognitive skills based on their cultural background, meaning they undergo different life experiences; thus the stages may not apply equally to
Before one can analyze the ways in which Cronin demonstrates how an individual becomes self enlightened it is necessary to explain what the process of personal development is. Personal development includes activities that improve awareness and identity, develop talents and potential, build human capital and facilitate employability, enhance quality of life and contribute to the realization of dreams and aspirations. Many discuss the idea in great detail including ways to initiate development. One prominent figure in the field was Lawrence Kohlberg, an American phycologist. He developed what’s popularly known as Kohlberg's Three Levels and Six Stages of Moral Reasoning. The first stage is “pre-conventional” where a individual is focused on obedience and avoiding punishment and is also considered self-oriented. The second stage is “Conventional” where the individual is interpersonal and conforms to maintain a social orientation. The last stage, “Post-Conventional,” is arguably on...
Mead’s most significant contributions to the discipline of social psychology, was the way in which he distinguish between the “Self,”
Piaget proposed that cognitive development from infant to young adult occurs in four universal and consecutive stages: sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete operations, and formal operations (Woolfolk, A., 2004). Between the ages of zero and two years of age, the child is in the sensorimotor stage. It is during this stage the child experiences his or her own world through the senses and through movement. During the latter part of the sensorimotor stage, the child develops object permanence, which is an understanding that an object exists even if it is not within the field of vision (Woolfolk, A., 2004). The child also begins to understand that his or her actions could cause another action, for example, kicking a mobile to make the mobile move. This is an example of goal-directed behavior. Children in the sensorimotor stage can reverse actions, but cannot yet reverse thinking (Woolfolk, A., 2004).
An individuals sense of self-importance or self-esteem can go a long distance in determining their perspective of themselves and their world around them. Erik Erikson, a developmental psychologist, highlights the importance of how the role of society and culture can affect an individual's ego. Erikson’s theory on the development of human beings discusses how a person’s level of confidence influences their ability to solve problems in society. Erikson believed that a persons potential in trusting others, or how a person views themselves personally is affected by how their confidence levels developed throughout certain stages of their life (McLeod, Saul). In order to expand on Erikson's ideas of the development of the human ego, he created a model that represents eight stages of development that occurs in a person's lifespan. In this model, the first five stages take place up to adulthood and the other three stages take place into and after adulthood. The progression and development of these stages is dependent on the previous stage (Davis & Clifton, 1995).
This stage of development was described by Piaget as the preoperational stage. Children are often in this stage from ages two to seven. Children in this stage begin using symbolic thinking. Their reasoning skills begin to develop as well. Cognitive development is also very important in this stage of a child’s life (Feldman, 2011). Their thinking is partially logical, however they are limited (Fleming, 2004). They can only look at things from their perspective, which is called egocentrism. They cannot yet understand steps for transformations. They also do not comprehend that appearances can be deceiving. They do, however, develop their use of symbolic function. This is their ability to use symbols to describe something. Vygotsky also said that cognitive development is the result of social interactions. Children are guided and supported in solving problems (Feldman,
From society to family to media, external influences never seem to disappear from everyday life. These outward forces tend to leave a lasting impression on us for as long as we live. Because they are so prevalent in our daily lives, exterior factors will have a significant influence on us, specifically our sense of self and happiness. When defining our sense of self, it eventually comes down to how we interpret our individual self-image. In most cases, we do not truly know who we are from our own mindset. Therefore, we take into account the reactions that those around us have an influence on our actions and decisions. From these external effects, we create the persona of who we are. In his article, Immune to Reality, Daniel Gilbert explains
To understand how we are able to become such complex and multifaceted individuals, we must grasp the idea of cognitive development. Cognitive development is defined as “the ability to think and reason” (University of Chicago Comer Children's Hospital, 2006). The two main contributors of this topic within psychology, are Piaget and Vygotsky. They are also both the main competitors in terms of contrasting theories, however, do still have many similarities between them. Piaget’s main theories include stages of development; sensorimotor (senses, reflexes and object permanence) preoperational egocentric speech, use of
Charles Cooley believes meaning of the looking-glass self that we shape or definite ourselves by social interaction with others. For example, if people around us can encourage us all the time, we are able to live positively and do our jobs happily because social evaluation and appraisals of us really affect and lead us become the people who they assess and evaluate. In addition, self-development needs to four stages, including preparatory stage, the play stage, taking the role the significant other, and the game stage. Preparatory stage starts to work when we are children. Children are interesting imitating others
Erik Erikson, a German-born American who is a well known developmental psychologist and psychoanalyst, established the grand theory of psychosocial development. Throughout his theory, persistently stresses that one’s personality advances non-stop throughout the duration of several differential stages. Erikson’s theory also goes in depth to explain the immense impact of social experiences in one’s lifespan. The main element that is produced from his theory of psychosocial development is essentially ego identity. Ego identity can be defined as a sense of self, or better, the knowledge of one’s self that forms through a process within all social interaction. Contemporary
The stages are sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete operational, and formal operational. The phase that applies to these children at the age of 4 years old is the preoperational stage, which covers approximately ages 2 to 7 years old. During this stage, “ preschool children use symbols to represent their earlier sensorimotor discoveries,” (Berk, 2010) and the use of language. In this preoperational stage, children do not yet understand concrete logic, and cannot mentally manipulate information . Piaget and Vygotsky had different ways to explain cognitive development. Piaget’s roots were in biology and the evolutionary adaptation of humans, and Vygotsky in theory that focus on how people transform their world rather than adapt to it (Vianna, 2006). Vygotsky focused on the importance on the psychosocial aspect of cognitive development. Piaget believed cognition was a result of the of the child 's maturity. Vygotsky felt that learning was only as strong and powerful as the environment surrounding the child. Piaget’s felt that one stage of devlopment must be completed prior to moving forward, whereas Vygotsky’s cognitive development perspective has little dependence on time, but more emphasize on social
Personality Theory has been a class that has increased my understanding of who I am and the world in which I live in. I have analyzed a few impactful personality theories and theorist, their history, and applications. No matter how great the personality theorist’s relevance for my personal life, Abraham H. Maslow’s work has a vast impact on me as an emerging adult in society and specifically as a college student. Maslow’s Hierarchy has spun out of my desire for self-fulfillment, my own personal journey to become closer to Self-Actualization. Maslow stated that Self-actualization is the highest possible level of human development (Feist, Feist, & Roberts, 2012, p.263). What really does this term entail? This level of human developement has four main criteria that are rarely fully met. The criteria are: freedom from psychopathology, the accomplishment of
Piaget believes functions of language develops over four stages which are, the sensorimotor stage, the preoperational stage, the concrete operational stage, and the formal operational stage. To briefly explain each of these children develop the sensorimotor stage from ages 0 – 2 years, Piaget sees language at this stage as more physical where children experiment with their mouths and learn to repeat parents sounds. The pre-operational stage from ages 2 – 7 years, is when children talk more and have the ability to solve problems about stories on specific and concrete facts. The concrete operational stage begins at about age 6 or 7 when children can work things out in their mind and explain their reasoning. The formal operational stage begins at 11 or 12 years when children use abstract reason and can use language to express and discuss things found in subjects such as mathematics or philosophy. Piaget highlights the roles of language in children’s lives by describing the functions of language. (McDevitt, Ormrod, Cupit, Chandler and Aloa, 2013, p. 209 –
Cognitive development theory was propounded by Piaget in (1972). Piaget proposed that cognitive development from infant to young adult occurs in four universal and consecutive stages. The four stages are; sensorimotor - birth to 2 years, preoperational - 2 years to 7 years, concrete operational - 7 years to 11 years and formal operational (abstract thinking) 11 years and up. Each stage has major cognitive tasks which must be accomplished. In the sensorimotor stage, the mental structures are mainly concerned with the mastery of concrete objects. The mastery of symbols takes place in the preoperational stage. In the concrete stage, children learn mastery of classes, relations and numbers and how to reason. The last stage deals with the mastery
Finding yourself can be a long journey people follow on, sometime life surprises our cognitive intellect of how we see thing, but for people want to know the reasons why. By going through Erickson’s identity formation, and Maslow’s model of self-actualization. Throughout studying those two concept, many individuals can know the reason of their behavior in life, not only that, also working improving ones cognitive resolution.
The development milestones consist of four stages in life in which we grow and learn as humans. First, there is the sensorimotor stage which occurs from age zero to age two where the child now understands how his or her actions can affect the environment around them. Second, comes the preoperational stage which involves children from the ages of two to seven where the child now thinks symbolically about the objects around them. Third, is the concrete operational stage which occurs in children between the ages of seven and eleven where the child can now deal with general core education problems such as math. Finally, there is the formal operational stage which occurs in children who are eleven years of age and older where these children are now becoming adolescents and adults and they now have the mental capacity to think absolutely and critically. We can clearly observe these steps in everyday life simply by observing children in their environment and noting how each and every child react to their