Sociology is the study of society. In this assignment, you will explore how the sociological imagination has allowed you to understand your own life. Choose 2 theories covered in the course and describe how those theories apply to your life today.
Create a 1-2 minute video or narrated PowerPoint presentation based on “sociological theories” introduced in the course. Describe how this class helped you to understand Your own personal Seif better, Your life and to better contribute to society.
If using narrated PowerPoint, use the presentation template provided by your instructor (IVC_PPT Template. pptx) Preview the document; create (5-8) slides, the presentation should include the following:
An appropriate title for the presentation…” How does knowing myself allow me to better contribute to society?”
What two (2) psychological theories did you lea from the course?
What new information did you leam about yourself in this class?
What are the outcomes of this new knowledge about yourself?
How will you better contribute to society with this new self-knowledge?
Conclusion
Sociological Imagination
Slide 1:
Slide 2: The psychoanalytic theory
- The psychoanalytic theory of Freud holds that the libido is the wellspring of all psychological energy.
- The mental connection to a topic, notion, or thing is known as cathexis. If you’re hungry, for instance, you could picture the tantalizing feast you’ve been craving.
- In other instances, the ego may make use of some of the energy of the primitive mind to look for activities that satisfy the need to release the excess energy.
- Similarly to this, if you are unable to find something to satisfy your appetite, consider looking through a cookbook or visiting your preferred culinary website.
Speaker’s note: Freud claimed that a wide range of factors might affect a person’s personality. They have cathexis and anticathexis, as well as instincts for life and death. Freud claimed that the conflicting forces of cathexis and anticathexis affected our mental states. We can visualize the things we desire in our minds. Additionally, through anticathexis, the ego controls the inappropriate desires of the socially desirable. Anticathexis typically entails repressing drives and wants, despite the effort required.
Slide 3: Charles Horton Cooley’s view on personal development
- Social interaction is more frequent than most of us realize is important to knowing who we are.
- Sociologist Charles Horton Cooley asserts that individuals develop their concept of self by seeing how others perceive them.
- The “looking-glass self” is the term for this concept.
- This method, especially when applied in the context of the digital era, raises questions about the nature of identity, socialization, and the developing self.
Speaker’s note: Sociologist Charles Horton Cooley came up with the life-changing concept of the “looking-glass self”- the milestone in the world of sociology in the year 1902. Later he introduced the theory in “Human Nature and the Social Order” for a better reflection on the study of human nature. There are quite a few assumptions on which this theory works. However, the main assumption is that we always try to think of society’s perception of us, and that is the main driving force that affects our actions and our thinking process.
Slide 4: The “looking-glass self” theory
- The idea explains how people base their sense of self on how they believe others see them.
- People compare their behaviors, views, and sense of self-worth with what other people think of them through social contact, acting as a type of “mirror” for themselves.
- Cooley’s theory is notable since it contends that social circumstances, not solitary confinement, are where self-concept is generated, according to Symbols, self, & Society.
Speaker’s note: Society and humans are complementary aspects of one reality rather than two separate realities. The actions and perceptions of the people depend much on the pre-established ideas of society. We often compare our actions and we try to align them with societal concepts. The “looking-glass self” theory explains how we often define our individualism and our identity concerning societal definitions, and how this creates an interlink and relation between an individual and society.
Slide 5: New information about myself
- Throughout the class, I have learned many valuable lessons that have helped me to gain more insights into how society works.
- The way we behave or our psychology works is based on certain libido.
- Our actions and the way we perceive or interpret things depend much on the society that we are living in and the people or the peer group that we are associated with.
- One’s individualism or one’s personality is often shaped by the environment that he grows up or lives in. The community of that person shapes his personality in a major way.
Speaker’s note: Due to the emphasis on how the human organism is always, albeit slowly, changing as a result of continuing encounters, psychoanalytic philosophy suggests that the human personality might be seen as a site of change with fragile and ill-defined limits. Another lesson that I learned from the class is that of the “looking-glass self” theory by Charles Harton Cooley. That made me look into myself, and I realized how I also behave along with societal conventions. The way I think or process or view things is often shaped by societal influences.
Slide 6: Outcomes of this new knowledge about yourself
- Work on the influence that my psychology and society have on my personal development.
- To let society have definite and limited control over my individualism.
- I have decided that I will always include my judgment before taking any final decision that is related to me.
Speaker’s note: After gaining valuable insights into how one’s personality works, I have decided to work on how culture and my psyche both affect how I develop personally. I have decided that I will let society have control over my thinking pattern, but only to a certain extent. To be more rational, and to have a better personality, I will judge by myself on which trait is good, and which is detrimental, and accordingly, I will harness that same in myself.
Slide 7: Lessons learned
- If people are aware of these concepts, they might be able to feel their emotions deliberately and minimize harmful psychological symptoms.
- The goal of The psychoanalytic theory was to help patients uncover suppressed emotions and thoughts so they could start addressing them.
- People’s words and actions, as well as how they think others view and assess them, all have an impact on how they think of themselves.
Speaker’s note: Both the theories- “the Psychoanalytic theory” and “The Looking glass self-theory” has given valuable insights into how one’s personality evolves. They show how people may be able to feel their emotions consciously and reduce negative psychological symptoms if they are aware of these ideas. Psychoanalysis aimed to assist patients in identifying repressed feelings and ideas so they might begin to confront them. People’s perceptions of themselves are influenced by the words they use, the things they do, and how other people perceive and evaluate them.
Slide 8: Reference
Weir, C. (2022). Through the Narrative Looking Glass: Commentary on “Impact of Electronic Health Records on Information Practices in Mental Health Contexts: Scoping Review”. Journal of Medical Internet Research, e38513.
Nagel, E. (2020). Methodological issues in psychoanalytic theory. In Psychoanalysis Scientific Method and Philosophy (pp. 38-56). Routledge.
Slide 9: Thank You
