I read a very interesting article for my Psychological Anthropology class today that pertains to our class. I could not find the link to the article anywhere on the internet, however the main point of the article was that our idea of the "self" comes from cultural norms and beliefs. A person's schemas about the world can be influenced by communication with peers and in turn influences our culture. Reeve talks about internalization and integrating self. He discusses this idea of society on page 283. Reeve talks about how the needs and interests of the self grow and develop throughout life. However, our need for relatedness keeps our "self" from straying too far from the beaten path. Behaviors, emotions, and ways of thinking originate in the self and also within the social context of society.
Therefore, people in society are forced to transform an external way of behaving or valuing into an internal one. This happens as a result of individuals wanting to have meaningful relationships with friends, family and even co-workers. Internalization also occurs from an individual's desire to interact effectively with the social world. Overall, "internalization is motivated by the need for competence" (p. 283).
What this makes me wonder is how much of our "self" is actually an innate part of who we are. How much more of it is based on societal pressures to conform? If we are highly motivated by a need for competence and relatedness, are these needs more important than our need for individualism? I think that overall, we as Americans feel that we are a very individualistic culture, but in reality this is not always true. We have many other human needs that override our need to be individualistic. In conclusion, I wonder what others have to say about the idea of "self". Also, do you think the society structures us to fit into the culture in which we live or do we as Americans follow this individualistic ideal that we think we do?
Culture and self-concept are interesting to me, so I was excited when I found your post.
I think people are more so a product of their culture than they realize. For example, in our culture, individualism is highly valued, so people believe they are unique from the masses. They believe they are unique because our culture tells us to believe it, which makes them not quite as unique and more a product of their culture.
In a discussion with someone, the point was brought up that the world is becoming more globalized, making cultural identity a bit more blended. There are certainly still unique aspects to each culture, but a lot of the knowledge and understanding that the global community agrees upon is because of the mixing of cultures. People see themselves as part of a larger whole, a d in this day and age, that whole is a larger chunk of the world instead of just one's own culture. The whole is larger today than it was in the past because of increased technology, communication, and travel.