Anticipatory socialization

Anticipatory socialization can be defined as the process, facilitated by various social interactions, in which members of a group learn how to accept the basic values and principles of other groups so as to facilitate their entrance into the group and aid them socially interact actively once they are already accepted in it. This is a basic part of human development. In this process members of the group become acquainted with the norms and interests of other members of the group. These learn how to relate with one another and this basic interaction becomes the foundation of various types of relations between individuals in a social setting. Such an environment facilitates interdependence among members of the groups and it encourages group harmony and solidarity.

The definition of this concept was motivated by the concern expressed by psychiatrists as well as social scientists for the lack of interdependence among peoples in various societies. As a result they began to research and study how and why this socialization process took place. This became the basis of the major study conducted by David Norton during the 1950’s known as the United States military readiness test. This study gave birth to the term ‘anticipatory socialization’ and the discipline came into being.

Researches on resocialization are still continuing to find out more about this phenomenon. A variety of explanations have been proposed to account for the emergence of social interaction and adaptation in humans. These include biological, psychological and sociological factors. One of the major breakthroughs made in the area of psychology is the discovery that people tend to develop these attitudes and behaviors in anticipation of a change in their social situations and outlook.

However, when members of a social group interact with each other, the tendency for them to assume the attitudes and behaviors of their group members is not fully met. Instead, they tend to form different social relationships to those of other members of the group, which are in turn influenced by their own experiences in the past. This is what is called anticipatory socialization, which is facilitated by indirect social interactions.

Research in this field has also found out that people who change one aspect of their life, but not the other, tend to change back to their initial state of mind, more relaxed and receptive to change. This process of anticipatory socialization includes people who aspire to change one habit or trait (like being a member of the Peace Corps) while not being committed to change another (like being a member of a choir). The result is that these people are not really making any changes at all, but are only trying to prepare themselves for the changes they will make. In other words, these people are only preparing themselves to adapt to their new environment, rather than to live in that environment.

Anticipatory socialization refers to the process whereby people acquire new social behaviors or attitudes before making the actual change. The term ‘anticipatory socialization’ was first used by Adolph Wagner in his theory of re-socialization, which he used to describe the process by which people re-form their attitudes and behaviors in preparation for changes they hope to make. In sociology, however, anticipatory socialization refers to the process by which individuals, after making the decision to change, re-form their attitudes and behaviors in preparation for making changes they hope to make.

Anticipatory socialization has its roots in the Behavior Therapy research of the early 1950s, and was first defined in the Braidwood Report. Braidwood found that many patients in mental health facilities waited to consult with a psychiatrist before they made any changes; thus, many of these patients were in what he called the’re-socializing’ state, in reference to the behaviour of people waiting to re-establish their sociability with the people in their lives. The Behavior Therapy Association took this as an opportunity to define socialization in terms of the individual’s first defined set of criteria, the Braidwood Criteria. These are; competence, norm-based preferences, interdependence and interpersonal relationships. The association also made the list available to professional therapists, which included those who had experience in the clinical application of socialization.

It was also noted that this type of socialization should be as important to law school students preparing for their first day of law school as it is to first year new recruits in the military. For instance, in the military the recruiters often stress the importance of being able to talk to everyone, of not being afraid to ask new recruits to speak with others in their unit, of not being afraid to show new members of the unit your support for their beliefs, and of not being afraid to speak your mind and to challenge others. Such an approach would be very similar to what we might call anticipatory socialization. These steps can be applied equally well to new doctors, new tradespeople, new government officials, and any other human being seeking socialization. To the extent you are interested in this particular area of study, have some research done on the methods of socialization and the definition of socialization.