Personality
A person's fairly consistent patterns of acting, thinking, and feeling.
Eros
The life drive; pleasure seeking.
Thanatos
The death drive; violence.
George Herbert Mead's Theory of the Social Self
The self is the part of an individual's personality composed of self-awareness and self image. The self develops only with social experience. Without interaction, as we see with isolated children, the body grows, but no self emerges.
Looking-Glass Self *
A self image based on how we think others see us.
The "I" of the Self *
The self that experiences the world on its own terms, being active and spontaneous.
The "Me" of the self *
How we imagine others see us. Or how we evaluate ourselves based on general societal expectations.
Significant Others
People, such as parents, who have special importance for socialization. These people are the first means by which children learn to behave and evaluate their behavior.
Generalized Other
Widespread cultural norms and values we use as references in evaluating ourselves.
Primary Socialization
The process by which children learn the cultural norms of the society into which they are born. Family is responsible for teaching this.
Family as an Agent of Socialization
People and groups that influence our orientation to life, our self-concept, emotions, attitudes, and behaviors. Family is also responsible for teaching children class identity, gender identity, racial identity, and transitioning into adulthood.
School as an Agent of Scoialization
Enlarges children's social world. Teaches students to be functional members of society (Structural Functionalism). Teaches students rules for relationship of domination and subordination (Social Conflict).
Anticipatory Socialization *
Learning that helps a person achieve a desired position in the social order.
Peers as an Agent of Socialization
Children learn how to form relationships outside direct adult supervision. Importance of peer group influence peaks at adolescence.
Resocialization *
Process in which the individuals previous self is dismantled and replaced with a new social identity. In the case of a prisoner, radically changing their personality by carefully controlling the environment.
Total Institution *
A setting in which people are isolated from the rest of society and controlled by an administrative staff.
Degradation Ceremony *
Socialization agents assail and devalue the subjects existing identity in an effort to break it down and build an entirely new one.
Media as an Agent of Socialization
Mass media introduce people to ideas and images that reflect the larger society and the entire world.