All these categories are artificial. However secure those may feel, everything is what we were brought up to believe important by society and media. So what is identity? Identity is a concept open for interpretation and therefore, depends on the individual. Many people may try to decipher ‘who you are’ by asking the question “where are you from?” This simple question has become the means for many to categorize and identify someone.
8 1. INTRODUCTION WHAT IS IDENTITY? According to the dictionary Identity means ‘The distinguishing character or personality of an individual’ used to recognise that person, or ‘close similarity or affinity’ or ‘it is the condition of being oneself’. It is synonymous with uniqueness, distinctiveness. Etymologically it is derived from the latin word ‘idem’ which means ‘The same’.
It has been theorized to be one of the major factors that influences the formation of an individual’s idea about themselves. In recent literature the term ‘Cultural Identity’ has been mentioned, which refers to the aspect of an individual’s definition of self that derives directly from his or her link with one of more cultural groups. Cultural Identity comprises of the “shared traits, values, norms, experiences and history that are associated with one’s group and are internalized by the individual to make up an essential component of his or her identity” (Ashmore, 2004 as cited in Usborne & Sablonniere,2014). The importance of cultural identity can be understood in terms of the fact that it is now seen as an essential part of the overall identity development of a person and has been shown to affect the levels of psychological well-being in
According to McCall and Simmons, identity is “the character and the role that an individual devises for himself as an occupant of a particular social position.” McCall, Simmons and Stryker state that “individuals have multiple identities due to actions in society and society structure.” The French philosopher Foucault proposed that individuals inhabit multiple identities. Identity, in relation to social practices, is linked to larger structures like class, ethnicity, race, gender and
Abrams and Hogg (1988) had exerted to spotlight the minimum conditions that make individuals discriminate in the favour of the in-group they belong to and against an out-group aiming to achieve self-esteem and self-confidence (ibid). In social identity theory and identity theory, the self is reflexive in that it can take itself as an object and can categorize, classify or name itself in particular ways in relation to other social categories or classifications. This process is called self-categorization in social identity theory (Stets & Burke, 2000: 224). Tjfel and Turner claim that social identity theory confirms that the in-group or (self-categorization) is built by the group membership in ways that the in-group is preferred at the expense of the out-group. They proposed the example of (minimal group paradigm) by which they argue that the mere individuals’ categorization is sufficient to lead them to the in-group favouritism.
Introduction The concept of identity has been a notion of significant interest not just to sociologists and psychologists, but also to individuals found in a social context of perpetually trying to define themselves. Often times, identities are given to individuals based on their social status within a certain community, after the assessment of predominant characteristics that said individual has. However, within the context of an ethnicity, the concept identity is most probably applied to all members of the ethnical group, and not just one individual. When there is one identity designated for the entire group, often times the factor of “individuality” loses its significance, especially when referring to the relationship between the ethnic
Practically, it has also not been proven whether there is positive correlation between in-group and out-group assessments. Managing numerous identities such as religion, race and politics in the multi-cultural society to come up with a harmonious social identity is still a challenge to Social Identity Theory. Finally he proposes that Social Identity Theory should try to explain tool, both theoretical and methodological, that may assist in understanding the operation of social identity processes in an automatic level, how it happens and the likely effect for attitudes and behavior in a controlled
Another theory that can be applied in this issue is the Social Identity Theory. Social identity is a person’s sense of who they are based on their group membership(s). Tajfel proposed that the groups which people belonged to were an important source of pride and self-esteem. Groups give us a sense of social identity: a sense of belonging to the social world. In order to increase our self-image we enhance the status of the group to which we belong and in the case of Black people, they tend to have a low self-esteem compared to white people due to the discrimination that happens between them.
Identity is a socially constructed concept. We learn about our own respective identity and the identity of others through interactions with family, peers, organisations, institutions, the media and through other connections we make in everyday life. Identity is the beliefs, qualities, personality, appearance and culture that make a person who they are. Identity relates to self image, self esteem and individuality. Personal identity evolves over the course of our lives and may involve aspects of our lives that we have no control over such as where you grew up, the colour of your skin, as well as the choices you make, like where you choose to spend your time and your beliefs.
Cultural Identity Everyone has the way they grew up. Some filled with sports and others with art. However everyone 's culture identity is just a bit different.Cultural identity is based on the people and things you surrounded yourself as you grew up. Everyone has things that are important to them that maybe aren 't so important to someone else. My cultural identity is formed by the things most important to me such as my family, goals, and values.