Psychological Approaches to the Self

Psychologists have shared the interest of Cooley, Mead, and other sociologists in the development of the self. Early work in psychology, such as that of Sigmund Freud (1856—1939), stressed the role of inborn drives—among them the drive for sex­ual gratification—in channeling human behav­ior. Other psychologists, such as Jean Piaget and Lawrence Kohlberg, emphasize the stages through which human beings progress as the self devel­ops.

Like Charles Horton Cooley and George Her­bert Mead, Freud believed that the self is a social product. But unlike Cooley and Mead, he sug­gested that the self has components that are al­ways fighting with each other. According to Freud, people are in constant conflict between their natural impulsive instincts and societal con­straints. Part of us seeks limitless pleasure, while another part seeks out rational behavior. By in­teracting with others, we learn the expectations of society and then select behavior most appropriate to our own culture. (Of course, as Freud was well-aware, we sometimes distort reality and behave irrationally.)

Research on newborn babies by the renowned child psychologist Jean Piaget (1896-1980) has underscored the importance of social interactions in developing a sense of self-identity. Piaget found that newborns have no self in the sense of a looking-glass image. Ironically, though, they are quite self-centered; they demand that all atten­tion be directed toward them. Newborns have not yet separated themselves from the universe of which they are a part. For these babies, the phrase "you and me" has no meaning; they un­derstand only "me."

Children are gradually socialized into social re­lationships even within their rather self-centered world. Young children begin to have a some­what better realization of the existence of others as well as of the positions that people have in society. Piaget (1954) observes that children slowly come to think in a more abstract fashion. Through so­cialization, they learn to distinguish between their own identities and those of others.

Piaget has also suggested that moral develop­ment becomes an important part of socialization as children become able to think more abstractly. When children learn the rules of a game such as checkers or jacks, they are learning to obey socie­tal norms. Those under 8 years old display a rather basic level of morality: rules are rules, and there is no concept of "extenuating circum­stances." However, as they mature, children be­come capable of greater autonomy and begin to experience moral dilemmas as to what constitutes proper behavior. According to both Piaget and Lawrence Kohlberg (see Box 4-1 on page 100), children give increasing attention to how people think and why they act in a particular way. As a result, children learn to evaluate the intentions behind norms and the consequences of norms in a much more sophisticated manner.

SOCIALIZATION AND THE LIFE CYCLE

Stages of Socialization

The socialization process continues throughout all stages of the human life cycle. In cultures less complex than our own, stages of development are marked by specific ceremonies. Many societies have definite rites of passage that dramatize and validate changes in a person's status. For exam­ple, a young Aborigine woman in Australia will be honored at a ceremony at the time of her first menstruation. During these festivities, her first unborn daughter is betrothed to a grown man. Hence the expression is heard that "there is no such thing as an unmarried woman" (Goodale, 1971). For the Aborigines, there is a sharp divid­ing line between childhood and the responsibili­ties of adult life.

This is not the case within American culture, but several psychologists and sociologists have assigned particular labels to various periods of socialization. In the socialization process in the United States, it is important to understand that we do not necessarily move from one stage to another in the clear-cut way that we are pro­moted from one school grade to another. Our social development varies with the individual and the social situations in which that person must function.

American society does bear some resemblance to simpler societies such as that of the Aborigines in that we have events marking the assumption of new roles and statuses. The wedding represents a rite for passage for Americans; yet, there is no one ceremony which clearly marks the shift from childhood to adulthood. Instead, we go through a prolonged period of transition known as adoles­cence.

This transition varies depending on certain social factors, especially social class. A person from a poor background may not have any alter­natives but to work full time at a rather early age. Because of the need to contribute to the family income or to become financially self-supporting, such a young person may not have the luxury of delaying entry into the labor force by continuing his or her education.

Even after the attainment of adulthood, a per­son will pass through a series of developmental stages. On the basis of research involving Ameri­can men, psychologist Daniel Levinson (1978), in his book The Seasons of a Man’s Life, identified three major transitional periods that occur pri­marily after adolescence (see Figure 4-2). The first transitional period begins at about age 17 and extends to age 22. It marks the time at which a male gradually enters the adult world, perhaps by moving out of the parental home, beginning a career, or entering a marriage. The second tran­sitional period, the midlife transition, typically begins at about age 40. American men often ex­perience a stressful period of self-evaluation, commonly known as the midlife crisis, in which they realize that they have not achieved basic goals and ambitions and have little time left to do so. Thus, Levinson (1978:199) found that 80 per­cent of men surveyed experienced tumultuous midlife conflicts within the self and with the ex­ternal world.

Levinson's formulation was developed to de­scribe the life cycle of men in the United States. While his conclusions are relevant for some women—especially those who follow the tradi­tional career patterns of men—they do not neces­sarily reflect the typical life cycle for women. A key aspect of Levinson's work is the notion that, as youths, men have a dream of what the adult world is like—a vision that creates excitement and a sense of possibility. Yet, until recently, most women were socialized into visions of the future centering on marriage and children rather than achievements in the paid labor force. Moreover, most women carry the role of "mother" through­out their lives; this role has traditionally been viewed as more time-consuming and more im­portant than the role of "father" is for men. While such patterns are changing, as we will see in Chapters 10 and 12, expectations at different stages of socialization are not yet the same for men and women (Baruch et al., 1983; see also P. Brown, 1987).

One stage of development identified by Levin­son, the midlife crisis, is clearly evident in both sexes. In her books Passages and Pathfinders, Gail Sheehy (1976, 1981:63) found that American women experience fear and confusion in their midlife years as they encounter gaps between their youthful illusions and their day-to-day lives. Sheehy's studies suggest that midlife turmoil may begin somewhat earlier for women than for men, often at about age 35. An important factor in the life crises of American women is the fact that typically outlive male contemporaries, in­cluding their husbands. Consequently, as she reaches midlife, a woman faces a future in which she may eventually live alone and may become dependent on her children (Baruch et al., 1983: 238-241; Rosenfeld and Stark, 1987:64, 66).

Is the phenomenon of the midlife crisis unique to the United States? In some cultures, people are given specific goals during childhood which they are able to achieve early in life. However, in our society people have unusual flexibility in selecting objectives and aspirations. This has an unin­tended consequence: it leaves a great deal of room for indecision or even failure.

Social scientists are only beginning to explore the nature and prevalence of the midlife crisis. In one study, psychiatrists Thomas H. Holmes and Richard H. Rahe (1967) developed a scale rank­ing 43 stressful life events that may require im­portant social adjustments and resocialization (see Table 4-1 page 104). In the study, 394 re­spondents were told that marriage was to be given a numerical value of 50. They were then asked to assign values to other experiences that would suggest a greater or lesser degree of ad­justment or stress. Only a few events, such as di­vorce and serving a jail term, were found to re­quire a more profound adjustment than mar­riage. Significantly, many of the events ranked as most stressful—including death of a spouse or close family member, and personal injury or illness—are particularly likely to occur in later years rather than in early adulthood or midlife.

The final period of transition identified by Levinson is the late-adult transition, which occurs between 60 and 65 years of age. At this time, many Americans begin restricting their occupa­tional duties and preparing for retirement. How­ever, it is important to note that the nation's atti­tudes toward aging have undergone a dramatic change in recent decades. No longer is it widely accepted that old people should simply sit around passively, waiting to die. Instead, there has been an increase in programs to socialize the elderly for meaningful pursuits and continued living (Havighurst, 1961:8; Havighurst and Albrecht, 1953; E. Smith, 1976). Chapter 11 will analyze in more detail socialization for later years and vari­ous theories about aging. Anticipatory Socialization and Resocialization

Creating a self does not occur in a week. The de­velopment of a social self is literally a lifelong transformation which begins in the crib and con­tinues as one prepares for death. Two types of socialization occur at many points throughout the life cycle: anticipatory socialization and resociali­zation.

Preparation for many aspects of adult life be­gins with anticipatory socialization during child­hood and adolescence and continues throughout our lives as we prepare for new responsibilities. Anticipatory socialization refers to the processes of socialization in which a person "rehearses" for future positions, occupations, and social relation­ships. A culture can function more efficiently and smoothly if members become acquainted with the norms, values, and behavior associated with a so­cial position before actually assuming that status. In Box 4-2 (page 105), we can see how a young "snaker" (handler of snakes) in India gradually moves into this occupational position.

Occasionally, as we assume new social and oc­cupational positions, we find it necessary to un­learn our previous orientation. Resocialization refers to the process of discarding former behav­ior patterns and accepting new ones as part of a transition in one's life. Such resocialization occurs throughout the human life cycle. It is required, for example, when a young American father be­comes absorbed in caring for his infant daughter or son. The father may have been socialized since his childhood to view tasks such as changing dia­pers, offering midnight feedings with a bottle, and taking the child to the pediatrician as "wom­en's work." Suddenly, he finds himself a parent within a culture that is expecting fathers to be­come more involved in day-to-day child-rearing duties. This man not only needs to learn new skills but also must set aside his previous attitudes and behavior patterns regarding child rearing (E. Campbell, 1969).