Anthropology and Sociology

• Concept of "traditional culture"


  When a group begins to think of its culture as "tradition," a conceptual shift occurs within that group
• Man


  Focal point of anthropological investigation and analysis regardless of color, affiliation, belief, or technology
• Components of the scientific study in anthropology

  • Physical aspects subject to time and space
  • Human evolution
  • Fossils of man
  • Geographical population processes of change
  • Archeological and prehistoric discoveries
• Anthropology studies how and why man have changed and how and why societies across culture and time have different customary ideas and practices
• Anthropology studies variations in physical features, ancient customs, and practices
• Interdependent selves focus more on establishing connections between people, events, and thoughts
• Etymological Definition of Anthropology

  • “anthropos” (Greek) = “man”
  • “logos” (Greek) = “study”
• Works and achievements of man studied in anthropology

  • Arts
  • Architecture
  • Technology
  • Sculpture
  • Literature
  • Music
• Anthropology discovers when, where, and why humans appeared on earth
• Anthropology


  Branch of knowledge which deals with the scientific study of man, his works, body, behavior and values within a specific time and space
• Racial categories were superimposed upon existing social differences
• Independent selves

  • Focus on abstraction and analyzing common features
• Interdependent selves


  Selves that focus on establishing connections between people, events, and thoughts
• Sociology studies phenomena such as population growth and migration, war and peace, and economic development
• Sociology examines and explains matters like crime and law, poverty and wealth, prejudice and discrimination, schools and education, business firms, urban community, and social movements
• The self is unique and has its own identity
• Consequences for Motivation


  • People with interdependent selves are motivated by seeking connectedness, social integration, and interpersonal harmony
  • Personal attachment to the leader and the ensuing obligation strongly motivates people to work
• Sociology's purpose is about understanding how human action and consciousness both shape and are shaped by surrounding cultural and social structures
• Personne is composed of the social concepts of what it means to be who he is
• Sociology analyzes and explains important matters in personal lives, communities, and the world
• The self as a subject includes the person’s experience of self as thinker, feeler, and actor
• The self as object is the other person’s view of the self
• Self is self-contained and independent because in itself
• Moi refers to a person’s sense of who he is, his body, his basic identity, his biological givenness
• Interpersonal knowledge


  Leads to maintenance of one’s relationships and harmonious social interactions
• Interdependent selves


  • Focus more on establishing connections between people, events, and thoughts
• People with independent selves tend to evaluate themselves higher on positive items on self-response surveys than their interdependent counterparts
• Sociology is the study of human social relationships and institutions
• Knowledge about other people in interdependent selves


  Is context-specific
• Consequences for Emotion

  • Independent selves tend to manifest ego-focused emotions
  • Interdependent selves are prone to expressing other-focused emotions
• Sociology investigates social causes and consequences of romantic love, racial and gender identity, family conflict, deviant behavior, aging, and religious faith
• French Anthropologist Marcel Mauss explains that every self has two faces: personne and moi
• Language is a salient part of culture and has a tremendous effect on crafting the self
• In psychological perspective, the self concept is a collection of diverse information
• Activities through which the self is developed according to Mead

  1. Language

  2. Play

  3. Game
• Mead's Theory of the Self


  • The self is made of two components: the “I” and “me”
  • The “me” represents the expectations and attitudes of others organized into a social self
  • The “I” is the response to the “me” and represents the individual's agency in human action
• Language is a salient part of culture and ultimately has a tremendous effect on our crafting of the self
• Recent studies indicate that men and women actively engage in shaping the self during growth and development
• Other definitions of self

  • The self is unique and has its own identity
  • The self is self-contained and independent because it can exist on its own
  • The self is unitary and the center of all experiences and thoughts
  • The self is private
• The self is capable of morphing and fitting itself into any circumstances it finds itself in