Herbert Mead's Social Psychology

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Mead’s social psychology is based on the discipline that studies behaviors and activities in relation to sociology. Individual’s behavior has to be understood in connection to the society in which they live. No man is an island; every person belongs to a social group in which they were socialized. If a child is placed in a jungle with animals after birth to about five years, that child’s behavior would be like that of animals. Just so, if individuals grow up in society, belonging to a social group, where they interact and learn about their culture, then their behavior would be like that of the social group. Mead’s most significant contributions to the discipline of social psychology, was the way in which he distinguish between the “Self,” …show more content…

Cooley believed that everyone we came in contact with throughout our life time can influence our perception of self. However, Mead thought otherwise, he believed that only certain people can have an influence on us during certain stages of our life time. Mead argued that infants and children are not usually influenced by anyone at all. They live in a world of their own and focus on things within that world. Children do not have the ability to understand people’s perception of them, they do not care what others may think or say about them, to them, other person’s perception does not …show more content…

It has been defined as a set or system of linked social structures, institutions, relations, customs, values and practices, which conserve, maintain and enforce certain patterns of relating or behaving (Frank, 1944). The “Me” which is the social part of the self, is highly influenced by what society thinks. The “Me” is determined to please society by conforming to its norms and values. The “Me” believes that if it goes against society then it is going against the social order of society, that one is expected to uphold. It also predicts the behavior of others and helps to keep them in check. For example religion and the court have a system that promotes and upkeeps social order. It has been said that we are living in a democratic country where we are free to do as we wish but there are certain things that you can arrested for if you do, like speaking against the PM or walking naked in the streets. Even if they say that we are free, we are still somewhat in bondage by social order. In this case the court acts as the “Me” and the individual as the “I.” The “Me” is the one responsible to keep the “I” in

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