The process by which people develop a sense of self and learn the ways of the society in which they live.
Socialization depends on meaningful interaction experiences with others. And meaningful interactions depend on sharing significant symbols including gestures
Process in which people take as their own and accept as binding the norms, values, beliefs, and language that their socializers are attempting to pass on.
Mead and Cooley
theories suggest that self-awareness and self-identity derive from our relationships with others and an ability to think reflexively, that is to step outside oneself and view the self from another's perspective.
The process of stepping outside the self and imagining how others view its appearance and behavior imaginatively from an outsider's perspective.
Stepping outside the self and observing and evaluating it from another's viewpoint
--People act as mirrors of one another
--A process in which a sense of self develops such that people see themselves reflected in others' real or imagined reactions to their appearance and behaviors.
Mead's Theory of Role Taking
*Play*-spontaneous activity with few or no formal rules, no time constraints, or set location. If rules exist they are developed by the children. Play when the urge strikes.
*Game*-Structured, organized activities. Roles and established rules specified, activity aimed at an outcome. Children learn to follow established rules, take roles of all participants simultaneously-that is understand the different roles of participants; and see how their position fits in relation to all other positions.
The process of discarding values and behaviors unsuited to new circumstances and replacing them with new, more appropriate values and norms.
The experiences shared and recalled by significant numbers of people. Such memories are revived, preserved, shared, passed on, and recast in many forms, such as stories, holidays, rituals, and monuments.
**People or characters who are important in an individual's life, in that they greatly influence that person's self evaluation or motivate particular behaviors.
** In the case of noodling, usually a father, uncle, or grandfather ranked high in the male pecking order of the group.
Significant others, primary groups, ingroups and outgroups, and institutions
(1) shape our sense of self or social identity.
(2) teach us about the groups to which we do and do not belong.
(3) help us to realize our human capacities, and
(4)help us negotiate the social and physical environment we have inherited.
Two or more people who share a distinct identity, feel a sense of belonging, and interact directly or indirectly with one another.
A social group that has face-to-face contact and strong emotional ties among its members. (Share distinct identity, language, family descent, military unit, noodling group)
Group with which people identify and to which they feel closely attached, particularly when that attachment is founded on opposition toward an outgroup toward which there is a feeling of separatness, opposition or even hatred.
Factors to Consider in Defining Areas Sociologically
** Population size
** Proximity to a central place
** Population density
** Economic/Socioeconomic factors
** Cultural identity