What are the stages of socialization? George Herbert Mead developed a theory about how we learn to see others’ points of view gradually as children as the internalized expectations of what he called...

What are the stages of socialization? George Herbert Mead developed a theory about how we learn to see others’ points of view gradually as children as the internalized expectations of what he called the “generalized other.” Mead said this happened in three stages, including imitation, play, and games, in which children learn to anticipate the thoughts of others. Jean Piaget theorized that reasoning ability develops in four stages. In the first stage, children experience the world through their senses; in the second, they learn to use symbols; in the third, they develop reasoning; and in the fourth, they become capable of abstract thinking. Lawrence Kohlberg built on that theory and added that we develop moral reasoning in three stages. In the first, we are motivated by reward and punishment. In the second, we see the larger social context. In the third stage, we see relative morality. Stage theories have problems: The stages are rigidly defined, it is not clear if one must complete each stage in order, and the stages are not necessarily universal.