Explain Mead's theory of social development and the process by which we learn to "take the role of the other."
What will be an ideal response?
According to Mead, as we develop this ability, at first we can only take the role of significant others, such as parents or siblings. As the self develops, the ability to take the role of others extends to being able to take the role of "the group as a whole." A child goes through a three-stage process in learning to "take the role of the other." The first stage is the imitation stage (under the age of 3), in which the child can only mimic others but does not have a sense of self separate from others. During the second stage, or play stage, (from about 3 to 6), children pretend to take on the roles of specific people, though they can only pretend to be one role at a time. In the third stage, or team games stage, they gain the ability to take on multiple roles; this eventually extends to being able to take the role of an abstract entity, which Mead termed the "generalized other."
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