The Agents Of Socialization

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Having a favorite artist, your own way of dressing, or having a strong belief in something, are few of the different parts of your personality. If you have ever wondered how your character came to be, the answer is all around you. To be less broad and narrow things down, im referring to the well known agents of socialization. This refers to the four primary groups which includes the family, peer groups, school, and the mass media. Although it may not be obvious, the agents of socialization play a major part is shaping an individual. Whether it’s your family, mass media, or any of the agents of socialization, your identity comes to be thanks to them. Without your individuality, what separates you from any other person? Throughout the years and …show more content…
A peer group, is also a primary group made up of people who share similarity in age and characteristics. One example is your set of close friends, all of you get along thanks to your shared interests. Although your friends might influence you, it’s not quite obvious for the individual but it is to their significant others, As we start to get older, peer groups start to become more important. Pre-teens and teenagers are the one who seemed to be most affected by this and no longer place great emphasis in meeting their parents expectations. During these years of an individual 's life, one just wants to feel accepted and feel like they fit in. Since acceptance is now their main goal, change starts to take place. Teenagers may adopt a completely distinct personality as a result of their countless new “interests”. One may not notice how little control we have over our “self” because we think we’re in control but, in reality socialization is in charge. An individual may try to behave a certain way and they’re completely unaware of the reasoning behind this. Social acceptance is key, so one may completely morph into this different person that they think will be successful in fitting in. Mead’s theory of role taking is very common among peer groups. Mead believed one acts and behaves how we feel others want us to. Peer groups and peer pressure come hand in hand. Peer pressure is feeling the need of …show more content…
Everything that we are exposed to in society we take back with us and it changes us in some ways. All of the individual parts of our “self”, once they come together is what makes us who we are. After all, we are exposed to society one hundred percent of the time, there is no way we cannot be influenced by it. Families will forever be a part of our lives and they are able to constantly lecture us. Peer groups are able to influence due to the fact that we want to be a part of their crowd and befriend them as we start to get older. School is a place where we spend so much time that we see it as a second family, you’ve grown along with your fellow classmates and the teachers have been witnesses of this, this is why you are affected so much by it. Whether it’s the music you listen or how you dress, you did not just evolve on your own because the agents of socialization were there all along helping you become the person you

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