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Essay on identity
an essay about identity
identity studies and identity construction
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Identities are like fingerprints, everyone has their own individual and unique characteristics. Where a person may leave their fingerprints in history is up to them. Identity is a person’s own sense of self, and who they are. Everyday a person carries around his/her identity and it effects how they act, the way they think, and how they interact with other people. Therefore, identity isn’t something that is tangible, you can’t carry it in your hands, but instead it is internal, what is inside of you, and your thoughts. Identity is essentially something that is central, but can be represented in other physical forms. Such as through art work or through diction. How a person may choose to reveal their identity will affect how the society around …show more content…
The humanistic view on personality and identity helps us define a person’s self-worth, self-image, and ideal self. Carl Rogers, a humanistic psychologist, helped define these terms by coming up with the idea of “Self-Actualization.” Self-actualization is when a person’s idea self matches their self-image. A person’s ideal self is who they would like to become, which consists of goals and dreams that the person would like to accomplish. While, a person’s self-image is how that person perceives themselves, which can shape how that person may act and feel. Also, from the Neo-Freudian perspective in psychology, Carl Jung presents his major archetypes of personality and identity, one of them being the idea of a “persona.” He states that a person’s persona is “how we present ourselves to the world” and goes on about saying how our personality is a mask, which may change depending on the different social groups you are with, which will contribute to your identity and how people perceive you. Through the sense of ideal self, self-image, and persona, identity is something that is situated on the inside but can be shown and communicated to other …show more content…
What makes up an identity is simply what makes a person unique, their personality, actions, and beliefs. Although identity is something that is mainly palpable, it can be shown and represented in physical mediums to help communicate a message. Self-portraits allow an artist to paint themselves on how they view themselves in the society, which may help communicate their state of mind. How you may choose to disseminate your identity may influence how people view you, and ultimately will change how you perceive yourself. Since identity effects how people view you, it is best for people to just reveal their true selves, and not form to social norms. Because your identity is unchanging, unique, and special, because it is who you are - not what people want you to
Identity can be described as the way we view ourselves; the way that we distinguish ourselves from others while also comparing our similarities. In other words identity is what makes someone unique and average at the same time. To start off with I was born and raised in Jamaica for 6 years with my parents, but due to the fact that my parents were offered an opportunity to attend school in America they dove for a chance of a better life. My first home was in Jefferson, Missouri where it seemed like it snowed every day. White sheets of snow would cover every inch of the city, no stone or rock was left without an inch of snow. The city was so beautiful to me because it would always light up in front of my eyes. The people there was so nice that
Identity is within all of us. Without it, we would be nothing. It determines just about any personality trait, habit or manner one can think of. That humans have such varied attitudes is intriguing, but where does identity come from? People identify themselves using not only qualities within them, but through culture and family as well.
Before beginning the explanation of how an identity is formed, one must understand what an identity is. So, what is identity? To answer this, one might think of what gives him individuality; what makes him unique; what makes up his personality. Identity is who one is. Identity is a factor that tells what one wants out of life and how he is set to get it. It tells what kind of a person one is by the attitude and persona he has. And it depends upon the mixture of all parts of one’s life including personal choices and cultural and societal influences, but personal choices affect the identity of one more than the others.
What is identity? Often, people confuse identity with personality. While personality describes your personal qualities such as being shy or outgoing, identity involves a combination of different aspects. Culture, language, family, friends, and society are a few of the aspects that helps shape a person's identity. For a person to feel identified, they must share similarities or differences with others. Sharing personality traits is effortless, but identity requires active engagement. Identity also involves a combination of how you see yourself and how others see you. How others see you can be influenced by economic, social, and physical constraints. These constraints cause a tension between how much control you have in constructing your own
A person’s identity is not something that can be removed, It can only change over time. Some people may feel as if they have lost their identity, but they have not lost it. It is only hidden. Many people have different definitions of identity, but there should only be one, universal definition. The definition of identity is the values someone has, and how said person treats others.
The New English Dictionary (1999) defines identity as "the distinguishing characteristics of a person." Our identity makes us who and what we are. It could be described as a sense of belonging and about having things in common with others (Weeks, 1990, cited in Austin, 2002, p.1).
For the purposes of this paper I will be defining personality and psychological continuity and personal identity. Personality is the combination of characteristics or qualities that form an individual's distinctive character. It means that personality is what we can use to help define a person as him or herself. Another term that will be vastly used is psychological continuity. Psychological continuity is when one person’s psychological states are continuous such as their memories, experience, and personality. Finally personal identity is how a person thinks or defines him or herself in this world.
What is meant by Identity? Identity is a universal characteristic of which one can be recognized. One can be recognized by their race, gender, sexuality, family or social class. Identities shape a person that help them get through the journey to their dream and life. Factors like gender and family play a vital role in shaping a person’s individual identity. Gender identity is one’s perception of the activities that is “masculine” and “feminine.” Family identity can be seen in one’s family values and culture. Family plays a vital part in one’s gender identity. In today’s world, Identity is a major part of life, it defines who we are, where we come from. A person’s
An identity is more than just a name. Sometimes an identity is the first thing and possible the only thing a person notices about one or the other. A person's identity can represent their culture, their race and sometimes, even possible their family background. My identity is what represents me. For those who does not know me personally but knows my name, knows my identity. This identity is what people will recognize me as for now and possible for ever.
Identity, an ambiguous idea, plays an important part in today’s world. To me identity can be defined as who a person is or what differentiates one person from another. Identity would be a person’s name, age, height, ethnicity, personality, and more. A quote by Anne Sexton states “It doesn't matter who my father was; it matters who I remember he was”(Anne Sexton). This quote helps me define identity because I believe it is saying that identity is what people are remembered by. When some people think of identity, words such as, uniqueness, distinctiveness, or individuality may come to mind. However, I disagree with this because when I think of identity I think of mimicry, self-consciousness, or opinions.
Webster's dictionary describes identity as sameness of essential character, individuality, or the fact of being the same person as one claims to be. So your identity can include your name, your age, your job title, or simply characteristics of your body. These things are facts, facts you don't care to share with the world. Just as the word suggests your identity is something by which you can be identified. These are things that describe a person in terms a stranger would understand. This area of identity is proof of who you are. However, your identity is also composed of what you are. They mark your role in society. Who you are and what you do make up your identity. This is essential in the human life span because people are always searching to find where they truly belong in the world.
Identity. What is identity? One will say that it is the distinct personality of an individual. Others will say that identity is the behavior of a person in response to their surrounding environment. At certain points of time, some people search for their identity in order to understand their existence in life. In regards, identity is shaped into an individual through the social trials of life that involve family and peers, the religious beliefs by the practice of certain faiths, and cultural awareness through family history and traditions. These are what shape the identity of an individual.
Identity is a person’s socially and historically constructed concept. We learn and determine our own identity through the interactions of family, peers, media and also other connections that we have encounter in our life. Gender, social class, age and experience of the world are the key concepts which plays a substantial role in shaping how we are by facing obstacles in our lives. According to Mead (1934) as cited in Thulin, Miller, Secher, and Colson (2009), identity theory determines
Zora Neal Hurston’s book, Their Eyes Were Watching God, reveals one of life’s most relevant purposes that stretches across cultures and relates to every aspect of enlightenment. The novel examines the life of the strong-willed Janie Crawford, as she goes down the path of self-discovery by way of her past relationships. Ideas regarding the path of liberation date all the way back to the teachings of Siddhartha. Yet, its concept is still recycled in the twenty-first century, as it inspires all humanity to look beyond the “horizon,” as Janie explains. Self-identification, or self-fulfillment, is a theme that persists throughout the book, remaining a quest for Janie Crawford to discover, from the time she begins to tell the story to her best friend, Pheoby Watson. Hurston makes a point at the beginning of the novel to separate the male and female identities from one another. This is important for the reader to note. The theme for identity, as it relates to Janie, carefully unfolds as the story goes on to expand the depths of the female interior.
Identity is popularly regarded as a combination of personality, feelings and beliefs. Basically, identity defines who a person is. It is used to describe and distinguish the personality of people. It is what makes people unique. Some may believe that identity and personality are similar or the same, but personality is simply an insincere impression and does not involve a person’s hidden feelings and beliefs. That is, the way we are brought up is what defines us; it is what we become or what we are and that cannot be changed in any way until we embrace a different culture or decide to change our way of doing things.