Socialization and Identity

According to Mead we essentially identify ourselves with how others see us. Mead goes on to say “For he enters his own experience as a self or individual, not directly or immediately, not by becoming a subject to himself, but only in so far as he first becomes an object to himself just as other

individuals are object to him or in his experience; and he becomes an object to himself only by taking the attitudes of other individuals toward himself within a social environment or context of experience and behavior in which both he and they are involved”. This is the idea, that we see ourselves in the eyes

of other people and ultimately view ourselves as objects. For instance if a peer saw me as a genuinely good person, I to should see myself that way or if I was seen a someone who is dishonest then I should identify myself as being a dishonest person. Our perspective of ourselves is reflective upon what others identify us being. Also, Mead stresses on the importance of communication because without language we do not have an identity, since identity is a key component of how we interact with one another. Moreover, he sees the self as something which develops over time and is not initially there at birth, but arises in the process of personal experiences, which agrees with Peter Berger and Thomas Luckmann's theory of “Socialization: The Internalization of Society”.

Furthermore, the earliest influence on ones identity is what or whom they are influenced by, in most cases their family. This is where primary socialization plays a role, primary socialization is the first socialization an individual undergoes in childhood through which he becomes a member of society and seen as the most important one for an individual. In the early stages of our lives our significant others are in charge of our socialization, therefore our identity is shaped to their liking. As infants we develop as social beings by imitating the actions of those around us and making them into our own. Similar to Meads idea that we see ourselves in the eyes of other people, Berger and Luckmann tells us “the self is a reflected entity, reflecting the attitudes first taken by significant others toward it; the individual becomes what he is addressed as by his significant others”. The main difference between the two is that Luckmann and Berger are saying our first world (primary socialization) is constructed by our very first significant others therefore having a bigger impact on our identity since they have been there from the start, which makes primary socialization that much more important since is it the basic structure or all secondary socialization. Again, Berger and Luckmann mention how the idea of language is a crucial part to understanding ones identity.

In addition positive and negative reactions of authoritative individuals and peers, along with social environment help act as guidelines for identity. There are many agents of socialization, groups or social contexts within which processes of socialization take place, such as family, friends, school, peer relationships, mass media, work. Family is usually the main agent during primary socialization. Later schools, peer groups, media, and work become socializing forces for individuals. Another perspective on identity is that it is strongly influenced by that particular environment. For example, in school an adolescent would be identified as a student, at practice as an athlete, and so on. We act to appeal to a certain situation. Through the process of socialization individuals learn about social roles. Children learn gender roles through reaction of parents and adults, gender learning, storybook and television. Throughout the five stages of life- childhood, teenager, young adulthood, midlife, and lastly old age our social perspective changes therefore molding us into different identities as we age. For this reason it is critical to recognize history as it changes.

Lastly, by understanding our time period, we can discover what our possibilities and opportunities are within our lifetime and experiences within that to find who we are. Mills emphasizes the importance of being able to grasp history and biography and the relations between the two within society, in order to fathom that “the individual can understand her own experience and gauge her own fate only by locating herself within her period, that she can know her own chances in life by becoming aware of those of all individuals in her circumstances”. As a result, one can not understand its life as an individual without understanding the history of society. It is within the intricate connection of world history and patterns of our lives that we find our identity.

In conclusion there it is not just one thing in general that forms our identity but a contribution of multitude ideas, them being identifying ourselves with how others see us, who are earliest influences are, positive and negative reactions of others, and ultimately understanding the time period which we are in.