Monday, November 25, 2013

Lesson 5: Socialization, the Self, and Social Interaction

The status of being a student comes with a set of its own roles: studying, going to school daily, being responsible, etc. Sometimes those roles can clash with other roles from other statuses like being a teenager, a piano player, a soccer player, a dancer, etc.

Goffman came up with the idea of Dramaturgy, which essentially means that people act out their social lives to present a favorable impression. That would mean that social life is a game where we try to control the impressions others have of us. It's also called Impression Management, and almost everybody uses this tactic when being social.



As infants, humans are, for the most part, "blank slates". Socialization begins when we are infants and continues our whole lives. While we are young, we know very little about norms and values of society. Of course there are some instincts that humans are born with, but that leads into the nature vs. nurture debate.



Family is one of the most important agents of socialization. We grow up around them and internalize their beliefs and values. Our families shape us to be who we are the most, and we often grow up to be very similar to our parents, whether we wanted to or not.



Peers are another very important agent of socialization. They influence our beliefs and values and, often, our actions. We strive to be accepted by our peers in a way that we don't with our family, and that's what makes the power we have over our peers so strong.

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