...Full Name Menglin Yuan Student NumberT00023230 Sociology 1110 – Winter 2014 Explanatory Paper – Assignment 4 Date Requested By: Saturday 12 April 2014 How is the self (the person) constructed: How does identity formation and personality development explain this process? To put this question in a simple manner one has to answer the question of “Who am I”. The famous author of the Fifth Agreement Don Miguel Ruiz states in his novel that all of us go through a process of domestication. He also mentions in his books that culture, society, individual wisdom, experiences, and understanding also play a vital role in the formation of self. The process of self makes us realize how we define ourselves because it is important part of our everyday life and our interactions. The way sociologist thinks about the role, self, statues, and identity is a good way at looking at the subject paper. In this paper I will elaborate the process of identity formation and personality development. First I would like to define some terms that play a vital role in the formation of such factors. Status is related to the social position that a person holds in a society or to put it another way all of the positions like social worker, human resources, hockey player, sex trader etc. are part of the status1. Roles are related to the responsibilities, behaviors, rights, that can be or should be associated with the social position that we as people assume in the society. A good example...
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...a male because of biological factors, but it doesn’t mean it is how they see themselves. An example of this is transsexual people. They feel comfortable being the opposite sex they are born with other than being what they really are. This can be interchangeable by changing their appearance. An example of this is a boy names Ryland. According to a documentary by CNN called Raising Ryland, Ryland was born a deaf girl, but she decided to be boy at a really young age. She dressed like a boy and acted like a boy, but she was born a girl. At school she was even identified as a boy. This is not the only case of people changing how others see them. People across the world are changing their genders. The looking glass self is a term coined by Charles Horton Cooley. He believes that the self is always changing because we want to please how others perceive ourselves. For example he explains this in three stages. First we imagine how we appear to those people around us. Next is to observe people reactions of how we see ourselves for example if we see ourselves as constantly being angry and others perceive it as a bad characteristic it is then finally modified to others liking. According to Cooley the self is constantly changing because people are always trying to please society whether it is at work or at school. The looking glass selfs concept is used to help understand the constant change people are in. It can either be in a negative way or a positive way. Making a negative perception of...
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...creating new possibilities comes from the magical effect that questions have on our lives. The kinds of questions we tend to ask ourselves consistently have an effect on the quality of our lives. If you ask yourself “Why is my life a mess?” you will get lots of information about why your life a mess. If you ask yourself “Why do I always cry because of love?” you will get lots of information about why you always cry because of love. By doing this again and again, you will see an adverse effect or the opposite of the results you desire, partially because you will start associating yourself with your mistakes and thus decreases your self-esteem. One of the major differences between people and their outlook on life is the questions that they consistently ask themselves. If this seems like a strange observation, it may be that you have been underestimating the power of questions to change your mindset. Questions have the ability to change our focus in an instant. Asking the right questions can be change our mindset from a limiting one to an empowering one. Our personal view of reality is connected on what we focus on and questions are of the fastest ways to shift to an empowering and resourceful mindset. We are all in habit of asking ourselves questions every day, most of the time were not even aware of their effect. Our minds love it when we ask ourselves questions. Questions...
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...others who are skeptical and believe that technology and the multimedia has a negative effect on society. In Neil Postman's book, "Amusing Ourselves to Death", he describes the consequences of living in a society that is dominated by television and the multimedia. Postman (1985) believes news on television is uninformative and only used for entertainment, however, Matt Quayle and Paul Grabowicz both believe the news on television is informative and is improving greatly. In chapter 6 of "Amusing Ourselves to Death" Postman (1985) takes us on a journey through the history of technology. First Postman (1985) makes the distinction between a technology and a medium. A technology is merely a machine. A medium is the social and intellectual environment a machine creates. Postman (1985) speaks about the different uses we have for the television, such as a lamp, bookshelf, or even a radio. But in other places or countries the television is not as nearly as important to the people as it is to Americans. Postman (1985) believes that television provides the explanation for a world obsessed with image to the detriment of content. He argues that television conveys its dialogue in images, not words. "Its form works against the content." So television for Postman (1985) is completely devoted to emotional gratification and entertainment. It depends on changing images, and the viewing eye never rests. According to Postman (1985) the problem is not that it is entertaining, "but that entertainment...
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...Memories are the foundation to who we are. As we go on about our day, we learn and remember things that are crucial to our personalities. Though, if we had the ability to erase any memories we could, something may trigger it back, changing your emotions drastically. Evidence from the article shows that memories aid in helping you learn from past experiences to grow as a person, as well as trigger cognitive reflexes that would help in unfortunate situations. If we could have the chance to forget anything with just a touch of a button, we’d place ourselves in incidents that would be inconvenient. Erasing memories would lead to many dangers in the future, as well as make us forget ourselves. Imagine this, you’re in the military in the middle...
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...lots of older people saying,” That internet isn't any good for you!”. Well, According to Nicholas Carr in “ The Shallows” they are correct. The Internet is the most powerful technological tool ever created. It is changing the way we perceive things, ability to understand, and disables our ability to think and reason. Our ability to think and reason is becoming extinct , we go to the internet for our answers and can not figure it out ourselves. We come across a problem and our first instinct is to look to the internet for our answers, we have lost the ability to reason. We don't try to think for ourselves, we try to think of what we can google to find the answer. Plato talked about how written work helped us learn and understand better. We have drifted away...
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...definitely leave a mark on our sense of well-being, sometimes a permanent scar. Words are a very powerful force that can have very powerful effects. Many people underestimate the power of their words as well as how they affect others or even themselves. Whether the words that are said come out negative or positive in meaning, each one has an effect that is equivalent to it. Sometimes words are meant to instill fear of a child and encourage an improvement. Some words are meant as a compliment and used to build confidence. It is important to be impeccable with the words we choose, albeit positive or negative, the effects can be profound. Words that are positive or negative remain with us in our sub-conscious and become pictures of what we hold ourselves to be. Words can be perceived differently than the original intent of the person speaking those words. If a boss says to an employee, let’s say his name is Jeff, that the new employee is doing a far better job than Jeff is and the new person is not making any of the mistakes Jeff ever made. The boss's intent is to motivate Jeff that he needs to work harder to keep up with the new employee and not look bad. As a result of the negative remarks from the boss, Jeff was not encouraged to improve, but ended up having hurt feelings and a lower self-esteem. The desired effect was not obtained. The boss could have conveyed the same message by using words that are more positive. A...
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...like God. Thus, changing our perspectives, we change our behavior, which in turn changes the world. Due the definition of narrative pedagogy, we may think it is the exchange of written stories, but as a didactic technique, narrative pedagogy includes all kinds of personal and collective creative human artistic activities. It also strengthens the idea exchange through the students-teacher relationship. Thus, making a teamwork we can get better results. Narrative pedagogy is an identity formative procedure. According to narrative identity theory, “identity is composed of the stories we remember and choose to tell about ourselves” (Byrd, 2011; McAdams, 1997; Polkinghorne, 1996). These stories form our worldview, values and reputation to society. Based on this concept of identity, we can inflict that identity can be reshaped by other narratives, this seeing new approaches of our past personal...
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...Theme Analysis Prompt Are you pleased or satisfied of where you are from? Or would you change it? In the story, “Dark They Were and Golden Eyed” by Ray Bradbury, a character named Harry Bittering adapted to the lifestyle of becoming a Martian, or in other words, he changed his culture. In the article, ‘I Am From” by Alicia Bareno, Alicia is possibly an immigrant who refuses to forget her culture. In each of these texts, the characters or authors themself either lose a culture or holds onto one. Changing or keeping a culture changes who you are, inside and out. Changing a culture affects you because it determines what you look like and what you act like. ”Mr. Bittering gazed at the Earth settlement far way in the low valley. ‘Such odd, such ridiculous houses the Earth people built.” This quote from the text indicates that Mr. Bittering (and his family) are no longer accepting their culture they had when they were on Earth, that he is not even referring to himself. Because Mr. Bittering and his family drew away from their original culture, it has changed what they act and look like. “The town’s empty, but we found native life in the hills, sir. Dark people. Yellow eyes. Very friendly. We talked a bit, not much. They learn English fast. I’m sure our relations will be most friendly with them, sir.” Because the Bittering family was willing to lose their culture they became Martians. The story acts as a metaphor, because people are willing to give up a culture, they will become...
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...Victor Gray Social Psychology Telk 3/22/15 Suit and Tie, why? Ever wanted something so bad that you could taste it, whether it was a date with the cute guy in the cubicle next yours or even the promotion? We all have been there at least once but how do we accomplish this? Simple we alter ourselves to make us seem more appealing for whatever we are after. (Aronson) The idea of changing our behavior to benefit or to harm us is called sell preservation. The act of changing ones behavior to get a desired result. We all have done this, even without knowing it. For instance, picture yourself in an interview. Look at what you’re in, is it what you wearing what you normally wear? Of course not, you are wearing some of your Sunday best. Next, look at your posture your sitting up straight, not like you’re at home watching TV. Or… you get the point you’re trying to put your best foot forward to make the best impression humanly possible. We even try to find or fabricate connections with our potential employer All this is an effort to get you your job. Normally, you wouldn’t go to such lengths to anything like this however you do. (Simmons) Now, we have all heard the people that say “Take me or leave me as is.” During a lecture by Kelly O’Dell it was mentioned that she had the personal experience that dispels that we all care. She referred to a friend that received many tattoos in what we would consider places that make you unemployable. This gentleman was trying to be genuine...
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...event? Why is a brief cry at the alter insufficient to bring about lasting change in a persons life? Repentance- changing the mind and heart with regard to sin and in doing so changing ones actions. Confess- to admit ones guilt as the result of an inward conviction. Confession of our sins is also required before Christians can be forgiven, for John said, "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness" (1 John 1:9). This is not a confession of faith in Christ, but confession of our sins. The word "confess" means "to confess by way of admitting oneself guilty of what one is accused of, the result of inward conviction" (Vine). Prayer is a natural extension of repentance and confession (Acts 8:22). As Christians we have "an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous" (1 John 2:1; Heb. 4:14-16). But sometimes we need to stop praying and start OBEYING. We must ask ourselves what are our true reasons for repenting: am i really sorry and if we are then what are we sorry for...that we got caught? Are we sometimes moved to repent our of persuasion or being told to.? What about when we do it out of selfishness ....bc we want to feel God in the service but we know we are not through doing what it is that we do that keeps us distant from him We must exam ourselves and out intentions....
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...rock." I love this. Getting that text was like getting a hug. And so there you have it. I embody the central paradox. I'm a woman who loves getting texts who's going to tell you that too many of them can be a problem. Actually that reminder of my daughter brings me to the beginning of my story. 1996, when I gave my first TEDTalk, Rebecca was five years old and she was sitting right there in the front row. I had just written a book that celebrated our life on the internet and I was about to be on the cover of Wired magazine. In those heady days, we were experimenting with chat rooms and online virtual communities. We were exploring different aspects of ourselves. And then we unplugged. I was excited. And, as a psychologist, what excited me most was the idea that we would use what we learned in the virtual world about ourselves, about our identity, to live better lives in the real world. Now fast-forward to 2012. I'm back here on the TED stage again. My daughter's 20. She's a college student. She sleeps with her cellphone, so do I. And I've just written a new book, but this time it's not one that will get me on the cover of Wired magazine. So what happened? I'm still excited by technology, but I believe, and I'm here to make the case, that we're letting it take us places that we don't want to go. Over the past 15 years, I've studied technologies of mobile communication and I've interviewed hundreds and hundreds of people, young and old, about their plugged in lives. And...
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...“Youth is the hope of thy Fatherland”. Rizal once said to his country men. He believed that the nation with a hollistic mind will surely be a great nation. Change comes from within. Replicate the change within you to other. It starts within ourselves, within our family, within our school, community, afterwards our country and the whole world as well. This was envisioned by the Philippine Education through the Implementation of the K to 12 Curriculum, to develop hollistic filipino citizen, globally competetive one and God-fearing individual responsible for the change and challenges the world offers him. We are in a fast pacing world where change is inevitable. We have to upgrade ourselves. Upgrading means-developing ones skills and potentials to the fullest, adopting ourselves to this ever changing world and accepting challenge and modernization this world offers. Achieving these things, an individual must take the courage to change himself or herself. These changes if could not be meet become a hindrance to develop himself and be a successful one but if these changes were realized, one is climbing the ladder towards success. Meeting the challenge of change to reach the peak of success is not quite easy. We must equipped ourselves with courage and determination but most of all faith in our God Almighty is the most powerful weapon that will enable us to achieve what we seek for. Let us bear in our minds that an individual who dared to accept the challenge of change is an...
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...concept. Next, we have self-esteem which is roughly the amount of pride one invests in oneself. Lastly we have self-disclosure which is both the conscious and subconscious act of revealing oneself to others. This may include but not limited to thoughts, feelings, aspirations, goals, fears and dreams as well as one’s personal preferences. I believe that self awareness, self concept, self-esteem and disclosure are easily defined concepts. All of these boil down to knowing, understanding and accepting oneself. And when we talk about these things, the questions “why” and “how” often comes to mind. First, why do we need to know ourselves? The answer is pretty obvious. As you develop self awareness, establish self-concept, grow self-esteem and begin self-disclosure you are able to make changes in the thoughts and interpretations you make in your mind. Changing the interpretations in your mind allows you to change your emotions. By accepting and understanding our thoughts and interpretation processes, we will have a clearer picture of what we want to achieve. And this will undoubtedly help in making wise and sound decisions in our relationships and career. All of these aspects of self are...
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...Nature or Nurture? Personality is the particular combination of emotional, attitudinal, and behavioral response patterns of an individual. It is the sound total o the multi-dimensionality of an individual. It is the sounding of one’s upbringing as a person. Personality is the reflection of how we are cared by our family, friends, government, society, etc. There are two factors that affect personality. These are nature and nurture. Many of us would try to look deep into ourselves and try to answer these following questions. Which is the most significant, nature or nurture? Which of the two most change my personality as a whole? What am I really? Nature is the genetic or biological component of an individual. This means that a person’s nature comes from its predecessors and the attitudes comes from its parents. Genes play a greater role in determining key personality traits like social skills and learning ability than the way we are brought up by our parents. Genetics were most influential on people's sense of self-control and also affected their social and learning abilities and their sense of purpose. Nurture is the social and environmental factors that affect the individual. This means that the environment affects how a person thinks and do. There are many people in this world wherein they where affected by the changes in society. Maybe it is because it is needed so that they can fit in or maybe they need it to be socially compatible with others. Behavior can be non-genetically...
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