Understanding the Self | The Social Self

 

Hello hoomans!~

Previously, we talked about the Biological Self which includes the topics of Physical Self and Sexual Self. Physical self pertains to the tangible aspect of a person such as hair, skin color, and body structure, while the sexual self is the totality of oneself as a sexual being.

In this blog, we will discuss the three (3) aspect of Social Dimension which is the Social Self, the Socio-Digital Self, and the Economic Self.

The Social Self

Individuals often mentioned that our parents are our first teachers. When we are young, they teach us how to eat, walk, and be polite, in some, they teach their children the basics in education like reading the alphabet and count one to ten to prepare their child before enrolling in schools. Yet did you know that our siblings also have an important role in our socialization skills? Yes, that is right! Our siblings are also considered to be our first friends and playmates. They taught us to manage conflicts, especially when we have quarrels with them. And they also taught us how to control our emotions and handle our temper.

Furthermore, school and other academic environments also help us to improve our socialization skills because we tend to exchange new ideas with our peers, and we learn from their experiences as well as they learn from our experiences. We also learn to be careful in every word we say to them because we value their emotions. In addition, the community also contributes to our socialization skills because they taught us the values of persistence, resilience,  nationalism, and respect for the elderly.

On the other hand, according to Mead (1934), individuals tend to have different behaviors depends on the situations and social expectations, because of this he proposed that the self is divided into two parts which are the “I” and “Me.” “I” is the unsocialized self, and it is what the individual is. The concept of this is people tend to show their natural self when they are alone or when no other people are watching their acts and behavior, because they know that no one will judge them for what they are doing. While the concept of “Me” is the socialized self where people limit themselves from what they are because other people are watching and expect them to behave.

The Socio-Digital Self

In the modern world, technology brings opportunities and helps us to make our life easier, however, have you noticed that it can also affect our emotional and mental health? Some individuals view social media as a form of self-expression because they may share their thoughts and opinions without knowing their real identity.

People tend to act differently on the internet because it is not required to have face-to-face interaction, because of this, individuals create a “digital identity” which is their identity on the internet and often shown in their followers in social media like Instagram and Twitter.

Furthermore, it can affect our mental health because we tend to think about how can we maintain a “good image” for our followers, and we tend to express ourselves more on social media than in the real world. Also, sometimes in family and friends gatherings, most of us tend to hold our smartphones and post an update of what is happening on social media than talk to our relatives and share with them what we experience throughout the year.

In connection with this, some individuals use social media as a platform to bully, threaten, and bashed someone because they cannot do it face to face. They have a strong gut to do this because their real identity can be hidden.

Be a responsible netizen and respect other people in the online community.

The Economic Self

Most people considered online shopping as their “reward” for surviving the tiring and stressful work. From this, we can associate that those individuals are expressing themselves through buying objects that can make them happy. It signifies that a person’s materials are what he/she is, for example, individuals are not wearing clothes to impress others, they wore them to express their personal style and comfort.

As a responsible consumer, it is important that we distinguished our “needs” from “wants,” because it will help us to save the extra incomes that we may use in a time of emergencies.

Looking for more? Wait until we release our next topic: the Mental Self which includes the topics of Cognition, Memory and Learning, and Human Learning.

Thank you!~