1. Socialization and the Self
(Chapter 4)
John Bradford, Ph.D.

2. PART I. NATURE VS. NURTURE

3. Nature or Nurture?
• Why do you do what you do?
• How much of what we do is a
result of biology, such as our
genetic makeup?
• And how much of what we do is
a result of free will, or our
environment?

4. Nature or Nurture?
• Sociobiology: the systematic study of how
biology affects social behavior.
• Sociologists are usually skeptical of biological
or genetic explanations of social behavior!

5. Nature or Nurture?
• To say of some behavior X that it is
“biological”, “natural,” or “genetic” implies
that it is INEVITABLE and UNCHANGEABLE.
– ‘An explanation of the way things are that does
not threaten the way things are” – Levinas.

6. Nature or Nurture?
• How much of our behavior is
genetically programmed? Here
are three rules to keep in mind:
1. Predisposition ≠
Predetermination
2. Genetic ≠ Fixed
3. Inherited ≠ Genetic

7. Rule #1: Predisposition ≠
Predetermination
• Genes do not pre-determine or program
our behavior. Instead, Genes may give us a
predisposition to certain behaviors and
traits.
• What effects genes have (i.e. how they will
be expressed) depends on environmental
and developmental factors!

8. Rule #1: Predisposition ≠
Predetermination
• Most diseases are not
genetically pre-determined!
– "In fact, only 5% of cancer and
cardiovascular patients can
attribute their disease to heredity.
[Willett 2002]
– Only 7% of breast cancer patients
have the ‘breast cancer gene’ and
the not all women with this gene
contract breast cancer.

9. Rule #2: Genetic ≠ Fixed
• Even when something is genetically pre-
determined, this does not mean that this
condition is fixed or unchangeable!
• Examples:
i. a rare genetic defect that prevents people from
metabolizing copper can lead normal lives by taking
medication that helps them get rid of the copper.
ii. Eye glasses can correct for poor eyesight.

10. Rule #3: Inherited ≠ Genetic
• The two social traits that have the highest
resemblance between parents and children are:
1. religious sect, and
2. political party.
• There is no gene for Episcopalianism, and we
are not born Republican or Democrat.

11. Nature via Nurture
• Epigenetic Effects:
– The Environment influences which
genes get expressed and what they
express!
– Environmental factors (e.g. radiation)
can even cause genes themselves to
change.
• Humans exhibit a great degree of
phenotypical plasticity: humans
have an *instinct to learn*

12. Nature via Nurture
Who we are depends on:
1. our biological
makeup, our
2. environment (esp. in
early infancy and
childhood!), and
3. our own decisions.

13. Nature via Nurture
• Genes, organisms, and their
environments (‘niches’)
constantly interact and co-
create each other.
Triple Helix Model

14. Inheritance of IQ?
• In studies of identical twins who are adopted,
the IQ scores of children are about 20x higher
than their biological parents! And about the
same as their adopted parents, who perform
better on IQ tests.

15. PART II. SOCIALIZATION AND THE
SELF

16. Feral (‘Wild’) Children

17. Socialization
• Socialization = the lifelong process of social
interaction through which individuals acquire
a self-identity and the skills necessary to
achieve cultural competency.
– Agents of Socialization include the Family,
Schools, Mass Media, Peer Groups, and the
Workplace
• Social self = the relatively organized complex
of attitudes, beliefs, values, and behaviors
associated with an individual

18. Charles H. Cooley
“The looking-glass self”
• The individual internalizes the attitudes
of others toward him/her (“Me”) and
responds or reacts to those attitudes
(“I”)
• The self emerges out of social
interaction: selves can only exist in
definite relationships to others selves
• ‘Generalized Other’: we internalize or
anticipate how others we don’t know
will expect us to behave;
– “the community and society in which we
live” (p.261)
– The collectively shared consensual
meanings in society

19. Charles H. Cooley
“The looking-glass self”
1. We imagine how we look to the
other person
2. We imagine the other person’s
reaction to our appearance
3. In response, we have some
feeling, such as pride or shame

20. George Herbert Mead
• Influenced by Pragmatism, school of
American philosophy
• Focus on practical conditions and
consequences of action
 The Self
• Self = Dynamic interaction between the
“I” (subject) and the “Me” (object).
• The ‘ME’ sees myself as an object, as
others see me; the ‘I’ is my response to
my perception of how I think others see
me in this situation.
• Children are not born with an I and a
ME!

21. George Herbert Mead
• Play: in play, there are no rules; the child makes
it up as he or she goes along.
– Play is the first step toward constructing a “Me”
• Games: games have rules and specific roles (e.g.
batter, pitcher, catcher, outfielder); the rules
specify how the person in each role participates
– In Mead’s view, the roles and the rules of games are
‘impersonal’.
– Participating in games enhances the ability of
children for role-taking, to see other people’s points
of view, and to acquire a generalized other (pg. 161)

22. Our 4 ‘selves’
1. Open
2. Blind
3. Hidden
4. Unknown

23. PART III. TYPES OF INFLUENCE
(POWER)

24. Types of Influence
INFLUENCE
UNINTENDED
(unconscious)
EMERGENCE
1.FORCE 2.MANIPULATION 3.PERSUASION 4.AUTHORITY
Coercive
Personal
Induced
Competent
Legitimate

25. Definitions of Power
1. Dennis Wrong: power is the
capacity to intentionally influence
others.
2. Bertrand Russell: “power is the
actual production of intended
effects” Russell
(1872-1970)
3. Max Weber: ‘the chance of a man
or a number of men to realize their
own will even against the resistance
of others...’
Weber
(1864-1920)

26. Forms of Power (intended influence)
I. Force
II. Manipulation
III. Persuasion
IV. Authority:
– Coercion, Induced, Legitimate, Competent, and
Personal
• * Note: all forms of power except ‘force’
must be communicated.

27. 1. Force
• Force = treating a human as an object. Note: this only refers
to the application of force, not to the threat of force.
• Violence is the ultimate form of force: assaulting the body to
inflict pain, injury, suffering, or even death.
Medieval torture Depiction of slave whipping

28. 2. Manipulation
(aka ‘Fraud’)
• Definition: any deliberate
attempt to influence or elicit a
desired response from another
person, *where the desired
response is not explicitly
communicated to the other
person* Shamwow!
– Spontaneous, informal interaction
depends on the shared belief that
manipulation isn’t taking place.

29. 3. Persuasion
• Persuasion occurs whenever
someone agrees with someone
else’s arguments or appeals after
evaluating them independently in
light of his/her own interests.
• Persuasion implies a context of
open and free communication,
with no anticipation of
punishments or rewards, i.e.
without any felt need to do what
the other wants.

30. 4. Authority
• Authority is successful ordering or forbidding
– A relationship of command and obedience.
– Persuasion = tested acceptance; Authority = untested
acceptance.
• 5 types (based on motivations for obeying):
1. Coercion (punishments, threat of force)
2. Induced (rewards such as money)
3. Legitimate (rights to command, obligations to obey)
4. Competent (based on perceived expertise)
5. Personal (based on desire to please)

31. Personal authority
• Personal authority is usually
low in extensiveness (# of people
it influences): e.g. a lover who
declares ‘your wish is my
command!’
• But charismatic leaders use
personal authority to
generate mass followings
that challenge the traditional Mussolini and Hitler are
order. (negative) examples
of charismatic leaders