In what way is the process of socialization helpful in the development of personality? Explain with suitable examples. (2002)
Personality is the organised and relatively enduring pattern of a person’s attitudes, habits, traits and self-conception. The human infant is born with plasticity but without a self. Socialisation is the process through which that potential becomes a person. Its contribution is best shown by what it builds, stage by stage, and by what happens in its absence.
The absence test
Kingsley Davis (1940, 1947) described Anna, an American child found at about six after years of near-total isolation, who could neither walk nor speak. Contrast this with Isabelle, similarly isolated but given intensive training, who reached near-normal development within about two years. Heredity supplies capacity; interaction realises it.
How socialisation builds personality
- A self-concept. Charles Horton Cooley (Human Nature and the Social Order, 1902): the looking-glass self. A child repeatedly called “slow” in class may come to see herself as incapable, while praise builds confidence.
- Role-taking and self-control. George Herbert Mead (Mind, Self and Society, 1934): in the play stage a child imitates significant others (“playing teacher”), and in the game stage learns the generalized other. A child in a gully cricket match learns to anticipate every player’s role and to accept rules.
- Conscience. Sigmund Freud: parental prohibitions become the superego. A child who feels guilt after lying to a parent has internalised a standard that no longer needs outside policing.
- Moral reasoning. Jean Piaget (The Moral Judgment of the Child, 1932): through peer play children move from obeying adult rules to understanding rules as agreements.
- Social identity. Gender, caste and class are learnt early. Melvin Kohn (Class and Conformity, 1969) found working-class parents valuing obedience and middle-class parents valuing self-direction, producing different personality orientations.
- Adult personality. Personality continues to form after childhood:
- Anticipatory socialisation (Robert K. Merton): a student preparing for the civil services adopts the demeanour of officers.
- Resocialisation: a newly married woman in a patrilocal household learns new modes of deference, and cadets in military academies acquire new identities (Erving Goffman‘s total institutions).
Agencies and their contribution
| Agency | What it adds to personality | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Family | Trust, language, emotional style | Joint-family deference to elders |
| Peers | Cooperation, independence | Neighbourhood play groups |
| School | Discipline, achievement orientation | NEP 2020’s foundational stage (ages 3–8) |
| Media | Aspirations, lifestyles, role models | Social media among teenagers |
The National Education Policy 2020 notes that over 85% of a child’s cumulative brain development occurs before age six, which is why it prioritises early childhood care. ASER 2023 found 90.5% of rural youth aged 14–18 had used social media in the reference week, making digital platforms a powerful new agency.
Limits
- Dennis Wrong (1961) warned against an oversocialised conception of the person. Temperament and heredity matter.
- Agencies may conflict, since peer values can contradict family values, producing strain or deviance rather than smooth development.
- Mead’s “I” ensures that individuals interpret and resist, not merely absorb.
Conclusion
Socialisation is the medium through which personality forms: it gives the self, conscience, roles and identity, and keeps reshaping them through adult life. It does not produce copies. The outcome depends on how biological endowment, plural agencies and individual agency combine.