Effects Of Socialization

Starting from the day we are born, there are many factors that affect who we become. Though we are born with no knowledge about the world, we quickly become accustomed to the expectations and norms of society. We become socialized. Socialization, by definition, is “the process by which individuals internalize the values, beliefs, and norms of a given society and learn to function as a member of that society (Conley). There are many agents of socialization, or people or groups who affect our socialization. These agents are: families, peers, media, school, and sometimes religious institutions (Conley).
All of these agents play a role in our socialization, and affect different parts of our lives. Agents of socialization can change throughout …show more content…
She values individual identity, and allowed me to become who I wanted to be. She always allowed me to wear the type of clothes I wanted, and play with toys that I liked, regardless of what gender they were marketed for. She allowed me to become more accepting of different types of people by not forcing me to be what society would expect a young girl to be like. She allowed me to be myself. My father is very different. His values and beliefs are more traditional. He believes that each gender has a role on society, and that people should always follow social norms. Had I only had his input in my socialization, I probably would have very different values and beliefs, and be less accepting of …show more content…
I wanted to get good grades to be considered one of the smarter students. This led me to focusing more of my time on my school work. I wanted to do well in school to be able to take the harder classes like many of my friends. The friendly competition with classmates over grades encouraged me to study, and through this I learned what subjects were my strengths and what I needed to work on to make the grades I wanted. Peers also affected what books I wanted to read. I wanted to be able to talk about popular books with my peers, and feel included in conversations. These things led to me becoming a better student and helped me to really enjoy reading. My peers also affected my taste in music. I decided to join the band at my middle school, in part because many of my friends were joining. Because of this I started to enjoy many types of music and broadened my musical knowledge. Because of my peers I became interested in classical and jazz music, which led me to playing in both concert and jazz bands through middle and high school. Had my friends and peers not been interested in band, I may not have been exposed to some of what is now my favorite music, and found a lifelong