Mechanisms of Socialization

The concept of socialization does a lot of handwaving in my opinion, so I wanted to think through how we come to learn behaviors. To me, socialization is just learning, which means you can analyze it through any number of existing psychological lenses.

• This means that there is plenty of literature about these kinds of things, it just might not be labeled explicitly as socialization.
  • I have also not read any of it :P so read everything with that in mind, but I do not think that this is anything revolutionary at all
• However, as much as it is learning, it is also the interaction of nature and nurture.
  • How much of behavior is instilled versus developed/reinforced over time based on natural impulse?

Some mechanisms that I could think of:

• Being explicitly taught (Active-Explicit)
  • “My mom told me that stealing is bad”
• Reward and Punishment (Active-Implicit)
  • “People make fun of me if I eat bananas so I shouldn’t eat bananas as a man”
  • “People said I was a good person when I returned that person’s wallet so that must be a nice thing to do”
• Media (Active/Passive-Implicit)
  • Media sometimes actively communicates morals or otherwise perpetuates the current ideology
• Observation (Passive-Implicit)
  • “My dad says those words so it must be okay if I say those words too”

The learnings from Reward and Punishment:

• Rewarded = this behavior is okay, maybe good even
• Punished = this behavior is not okay, maybe bad even
• Nothing = this behavior is probably okay
• Some people are likely more attuned or susceptible to rewards versus punishments, or some other socialization mechanism may be more/less effective
• Socialization goes beyond just your family because reward and punishment can be given out by anyone.
  • Media, peers, role models, etc.

There is also enabling behavior that can occur, wherein you are kept from learning something.

• Example: emotional processing/caregiving is outsourced to a woman in a man’s life
• Other ideas of enabling probably goes into “reward” or “nothing”
  • You certainly aren’t being punished

Example: Not all men are assholes, but most assholes are men.

• They could have been raised to be assholes, but another likely reason was because entitlement and narcissism (key traits of being an asshole) is either rewarded or less harshly punished as a man.

Personally speaking: As a man, I haven’t really had to care about anyone because it was never thrust upon me.

• Do you have to be taught to care about people? Or taught not to care about people?
  • Can someone be generally predisposed to not caring about people?
• I don’t think about other people’s feelings when I talk because people let me get away with it or I am not made to feel as bad for doing so?
  • This could also be how my mind works in not always understanding how other people think, but the point is this behavior wasn’t beat out of me in the way that people might be more annoyed by a woman doing this which explains female autistic socialization
• when i speak like something is true it’s not some unearned male confidence like in some cases
  • i think im smart and haven’t really been made feel bad if i would like a know it all or punishment isn’t bad when im wrong
  • i just am more inclined to think i am right
  • i’m not thinking about how what i say comes across as a fact or opinion always