Socializing Agents: What They Are, Types, Characteristics And Examples
People learn to live in society thanks to the values, belief systems and behaviors that different elements teach us throughout our lives.
People like our family members, institutions like school or simply a group of friends are powerful socializing agents, elements that shape our way of behaving with other individuals and with society as a whole.
Next We will see which are the main socializing agents what is their importance and how they are presented in primary, secondary and tertiary socialization.
The socializing agents are those elements that largely determine the socialization of people, that is, being part of a society These agents can be individuals, groups or institutions that influence individuals and their social behavior.
The interaction of elements such as friends, family, school or reference groups create mental schemas that will determine the person’s behaviors, in addition to molding their moral values and belief system.
The importance of these agents is varied, with family and school being two of the most influential throughout our lives, molding our personality and determining how adapted we are to society.
Main socializing agents
Any person or institution that influences us and influences how adapted we are to society can be considered a socializing agent. The main socializing agents are those that we will see below:
1. The family nucleus
The main socializing agent of practically all people in the world is the family Boys and girls have their first relationships with their parents and siblings, people who first-hand influence their personality and their way of understanding the world around them.
The family nucleus is one of the socialization agents whose influence lasts the longest This is not only noticeable during the early years of childhood, but also in adolescence and adulthood.
Interactions with the rest of the family and the quality of the relationships established with the family nucleus are determining factors for the cognitive, social and emotional development of the individual.
2. Formal education
Boys and girls begin their formal education still very small and, therefore, very moldable This is why we can say that school is one of the most important socializing agents in our lives.
In daycares, colleges and schools, infants meet other children of the same age who, like them, will acquire in those places knowledge and norms that society expects them to learn.
The task of schools goes beyond formal education since they also aim for students to be morally formed and develop their intellectual abilities to the maximum.
Going to school offers us the opportunity to interact with other individuals, making us know that there are other people in the world who may behave, have preferences or think differently. For this reason, schools are a socializing agent in which we are taught values such as tolerance.
We can also highlight the school the role of teachers, who act as a different authority figure than parents As a result of this, boys and girls begin to understand the existence of institutional hierarchies and how they should behave.
3. Religion
Although it is not an important socializing agent for all people, it is worth mentioning that religion can be a very important element in introducing an individual into their sociocultural environment, although this varies greatly from the type of family and society in which they live. one has been raised.
Religious communities organized as parishes, movements, associations or sects greatly influence the thinking and personality of their followers. Those who are part of these groups or attend their temples receive teachings that shape their worldview their belief system, their moral values and their behavior.
4. Reference groups
Any group of people that establishes lasting relationships based on common interests, beliefs or values greatly influences the psychology of its members. Reference groups are important socializing agents at any age, but especially during adolescence.
In many cases, these groups They become a refuge for young people who feel that they are not understood by their family the reference groups being the ideal environment to express their rebellion and disagreement towards the rules imposed by their parents.
Virtually any group of people can be considered a reference group, examples being sports clubs, political parties, religious communities, music bands or street gangs.
It should be said that You don’t have to be part of one of these groups to receive their influence Both adolescents and adults can adopt some of the values of their reference groups without having to belong to them, simply by documenting their activity, political stance or receiving information from them through the media.
5. Friendships
Friendships are one of the most influential socializing agents for practically anyone, especially during adolescence and the first years of adulthood.
During adolescence there comes a time when we begin to become emotionally independent from our parents, giving greater importance to our group of friends, people of our same age and with our same interests. Friendships play a crucial role in the development of our psychology, something that can work as a double-edged sword.
On the one hand, the group of friends has positive aspects such as giving us support, encouraging the loyalty of its members and showing affection and understanding in an environment in which there are no predetermined hierarchies.
But on the other hand, negative phenomena can occur such as peer pressure to consume drugs, take various risks or destroy urban furniture, in addition to the fact that the group of friends can evolve in a toxic way in which a hierarchy is formed where its members are not equal.
6. The media and new technologies
The media have always been important socializing agents. The first were newspapers, then came radio and television, being until relatively recently the main media that influenced collective thought.
Television has been a medium that has always been very powerful when it comes to creating customs and changing behavior which is why it has been subject to regulations to avoid showing inappropriate content, always recommending that minors watch television accompanied by an adult.
But technological advances have made the media more sophisticated, as well as democratized, allowing everyone to have access to endless information quickly and comfortably.
Today, the main means of communication that influences society’s thinking is, without a doubt, anyone who uses the Internet to transmit their information. Social networks, video and podcast viewing platforms and other Internet media shape the psychology of youth in real time with dizzying speed.
New technologies have brought about a great change in the way we socialize, causing a big difference between how young people communicate and how people who are not digital natives do so. The network allows for greater interaction, but at the cost of this not being in person, which means that the quality of relationships can be affected.
There are those who consider that the influence of new technologies and the associated media is so great today that it has caused the family and school to lose socializing force. It could be debated whether this fear is unfounded, since there is still no accurate information to confirm this as it is a relatively new phenomenon.
You may be interested: “The psychology behind social networks: the unwritten code of behavior”
Types of socialization
Now that we have seen what the main socializing agents are, we can understand how socialization occurs.
We can define socialization as the process by which people acquire the sociocultural elements of the place where they live, and it is in most cases an unconscious process. This process occurs through interacting with other people within a society, who influence us and model our personality, general culture and way of relating to others. With socialization, each individual acquires the values, norms, guidelines and perspectives of the culture in which he or she is located.
People We receive different influences throughout our lives, since depending on our age and degree of independence, some socializing agents exert greater weight than others. Taking this into account, we can mainly talk about primary, secondary and tertiary socialization.
1. Primary socialization
Primary socialization is what It occurs during the first years of an individual’s life, especially during childhood, by relating almost exclusively to his family. This process is fundamental for your personal, emotional, psychological and social development thanks to the fact that the family nucleus helps you incorporate the social guidelines that will define your identity. Once this stage is passed, secondary socialization begins.
2. Secondary socialization
In secondary socialization the individual receive a different view of reality, which is no longer monopolized by what its parents teach it but also receives the influence of other socializing agents beyond the family bond. It is considered that this secondary socialization begins during the first years of school, where the infant receives influence from his teachers and also forms his first friendships.
As the person gains more independence from their parents, they can establish contact with other reference groups with whom they can share even broader visions of society.
3. Tertiary socialization
There is a discussion about whether there is tertiary socialization, which would apply to people who are considered dangerous or who have engaged in antisocial behavior and who have to learn again how to behave in society, which is why We could also call this process “resocialization” or social reintegration
The objective of this process is to redirect the behavior of those who have violated the rules, with the help of professionals who will act as socializing agents. These professionals would be the entire body of specialists involved in social reintegration such as social educators, psychologists, doctors and psychiatrists, with it being common for tertiary socialization to take place in institutions such as reform schools and prisons.
