Personality develops through the process of socialization and is influenced by biological, environmental, cultural, and social factors. It is shaped from childhood through interactions with family, peers, school, work, religion, and media. Socialization involves learning social norms and developing a self-concept through roles and role performance within social groups. The family is the primary socializing agent, though socialization is a lifelong process as individuals take on new roles and statuses over their lifespan.

1. Personality and
Socialization

2. Sometimes we hear remarks like a person has a lot of
personality while another has no personality (walang
personalidad). What is meant perhaps when one says
that a person has a lot of personality is that he or she
is outgoing, aggressive, friendly and with much verve.
On the other hand, one who is described as not
having a personality may be reticent, uncharismatic,
sloppy, or shy.
Personality is a product of socialization and arises as
a result of the interplay of various factors, which
include biological inheritance or heredity, the
geographical environment, cultural environment,
social groups and social structure, and past
experiences.

3. As mentioned in the chapter on culture, some
sociologists held that many social traits are
genetically determined, although they have
not identified which of the genetic
personalities would be developed as a result
of the impingement of a given physical,
social, and cultural environment.
The determinants in personality formation are
biological inheritance, geographic
environment, social environment, and cultural
environment.

4. 1. The biological inheritance transferred from
parents to offspring through the mechanics of the
genes found in the chromosomes of the sex cells is
composed of the biological structures, psychological
process reflexes, urges, capacity, intelligence, and
traits such as pigmentation and stature.
2. Geographic environment refers to location,
climate, topography, and natural resources. The
question of whether people living in tropical regions
and those in temperature regions differ in
personality because of the climate; or whether living
on the sea coast and living in the mountains result
in a difference in personality and life style are often
raised.

5. 3. The cultural and social environment are
intertwined. However, we shall explain
them separately for the purpose of
definition. The cultural environment refers
to the learned ways of living, the norms of
behaviors – folkways, mores, laws, values,
ideas, and patterned ways of the group.
While the culture of any society
determines the deeper levels of its
member’ personality through techniques
of child-rearing, its influence does not
end there. Culture goes on to shape the
personality from child rearing and
throughout life.

6. 4. The social environment refers to the various
groups and social interactions going on in the
groups of which one is a member. Membership
in a group implies exposure to a social
environment.
From birth onwards, a child normally joins
various groups, and each group imposes
certain norms and a set of expectation on each
member.
An only child will have experiences different
from those one who comes from a large family.
The oldest child will have different experiences
from those of the middle child or the youngest
child in the same family.

7. Various theories have been formulated
explaining the development of personality.
However, we shall just limit our discussion of
three theories: Freudian Theory, cultural
determinism held by the cultural
anthropologists, and symbolic inter-
actionism held by some sociologists and
social psychologists.

8. Sigmund Freud, foremost Viennese
psychologist, formulated the first
comprehensive theory of personality which had
a great impact not only in the social sciences
but also in art, literature, philosophy, theory is
a form of biological determinism which holds
that socialization is process characterized by
the internal struggle between the biological
components and the social cultural
environment.
1. Oral stage (birth to 1 year) In this stage,
eating is the major source of satisfaction.
Frustration or overindulgence at this stage can
lead to over eating or alcoholism in adulthood

9. 2. Anal stage (1 – 3 years) The influencing factor
at this stage in personality development is toilet
training.
3. Phallic stage (3 – 6 years) At this time, the
greatest source of pleasure comes from the sex
organs.
4. Latency period (6 years- Adolescence) In this
stage, children their attention to people outside
their families like teachers and friends and the
erotic impulses are dormant.
5. Genital stage (Adolescence and beyond) The
sexual impulses become active again and the
individual focuses on the opposite sex, looks
around for a potential marriage partner, and
prepares for marriage and adult responsibilities.

10. Cultural determinism, the personality development theory held by
anthropologists, views the cultural environment as the main factor that
determines human behavior. Franz Boas, American anthropologists,
together with other anthropologists, Margaret Mead, Ruth Benedict,
Ralph Linton, Cora Du Bois, and Edward Sapir, was the proponent of this
theory. Boas’ view is that personality development is learning what is
found in the culture and that significant differences in personality are
learned. Ruth maintained that individual personalities of members of a
society are tiny replicas of their overall culture, with the culture as a
summing up of their personalities.
Anthropologists believe that culture makes its deep and permanent
effects on the individual during early childhood. Practices revolving
around feeding whether baby is breast-fed or bottle-fed, toilet training
whether the child is trained or not, and weaning whether the child is
weaned early or later in infancy affect the formation of the basic
personality.

11. The theory of symbolic interactionism is
based primarily on the works and ideas of
George Herbert Mead and Charles Horton
Cooley and later on expounded by the other
psychologists.
The distinctive attributes of human behavior
grow from people’s participation in varying
types of social structure which depend, in
turn, on the existence of language behavior.

12. This starts at birth, when parents hold their
baby and attend his or her needs. In the
interaction between parent or yaya (nurse or
caretaker of the baby) and the child, the
baby begins to realize that he or she
depends on the other people for comfort.

13. In childhood, the family, friends, teachers,
classmates, and peer group exert a great
influence in forming a child’s self-concept. They
constitute his or her primary group or form a
part of what is called” significant others.” These
significant others become models for the child
who usually identifies with them and patterns his
or her behavior after them.
According to Cooley, the looking glass has three
elements: the imagination of how we appear to
other persons; the imagination of the judgement
of that appearance; and some sort of self-
feeling, such as pride or mortification.

14. In the process, the individual assumes the
organized social attitudes and moral ideas of the
social groups or communities to which he or she
belongs. These exert an influence on his or her
attitudes toward different projects and
cooperative activities as well as social problems
which the group faces and can direct his or her
own behavior ( Mead 1934:208). This becomes
the individuals’ orientation toward the world and
his or her frame of reference as new situations
arise. The individual thinks, feels, and sees
things from a perspective characteristic of the
group of which he or she a member.

15. How an infant develops into a functioning social
being and emerges with a personality is called
socialization. Human beings are born without any
concept of self. They do not know the parts of
their body, what to eat, what to do, what to believe in
and how to communicate. But they are born into a
social world with its ready made culture.
Medina gives the function of socialization as follows:
1. Through the process of socialization, the group
transmits its values, customs, and beliefs from one
generation to another.

16. 2. Socialization enables the individual to grow
and develop into a socially functioning
person.
3. Socialization is a means of a social control
by which members are encouraged to
conform to the ways of the group by
internalizing the groups’ norms and values.

17. Various groups or institutions play a significant role
in the socialization of an individual in shaping that
person’s personality. Foremost among them is the
family. But as the child grows older, he or she is
influenced by other socializing agencies like friends,
school, friends, and church.
 The Family
The family plays a unique role in personality
development and is the main link between the child
and society. For the first few years of life, the family
is responsible for initiating the child into the culture
of the group. Here, the child gains his or her first
experiences in love affection, kindness, sympathy,
courtesy, and other traits.
 The Peer Group
The socialization of children continues in the peer
group when they associate with other children of
more or less the same age coming from the kin
group, neighbourhood, or school.

18. •The Church
The children are brought to church by their parents as
early as infancy. This is true if the God-fearing
members of the community. Thus, children are initiated
early into saying their prayers and forming a notion of
God. What is the right and what is wrong are delineated
are prescriptions of rewards and punishments
established.
•The School
The school is a formal agency for weaning children
from home and introducing them into the society. In
school, children get their formal instruction in the 5 Rs-
reading, ‘riting, ‘rithmetic, rational thinking, and right
conduct and also in citizenship.

19. •Mass Media
In modern societies, mass media is another and
socializing agency. Its functions are primarily
to inform, entertain, and educate. Radio and
television programs bring music and other
forms of entertainment to the viewers.
•The Workplace
In the rural communities, farmers, fisherfolks,
and craftsmen live close to their place of work
so that their work is usually tied up with their
other activities in the home or community. In
the urban areas, the work activity of people is
usually distinct from their other activities.

20.  Socialization is a lifelong process where
individuals develop a self concept and
prepare for roles which turn in shape
personality. Associated with the status is a
social role which involves the pattern of
expected behavior in a social relationship
with one or more persons occupying other
statuses. Implied in the role is the execution
of the rights and duties.

21. Further elaboration of the idea of role and role
performance was done by Erving Goffman. He
made distinction between role and role
performance. To him, role refers to acting in
accordance with the expected norms attached to a
particular position while role performance is the
actual conduct of the role in accordance with the
position.
To Goffman, everyone is consciously playing a role.
When persons present themselves to others in
everyday interaction, they organize their overt
behavior in such a way as to guide and control the
impressions others form of them to elicit the
desired role-taking response. Like the actor on
stage, they endeavour to give a good performance.

22. From infancy onward, a person is socialized
according to age-sex role scripts related to
the institutionalized statues of males and
females. At this point, we have to make
distinction between sex and gender. Sex
refers to the biological or anatomical
differences between males and females,
while gender connotes the psychological,
social, and cultural differences between
males and females (Giddens 1989:158)