Major Theories Regarding the Nature of Personal and Social Identity Richard Jenkins said that ‘Without social identity, there is in fact, no Society’. Sociologists see identity as related to the society in which people live. They believe that our identity is formed against a social background, which tries to make social interaction meaningful, understandable and organised by categorising people in order of the group they belong to. Because we are categorised in such a way, we become recognisable as people such as mothers, daughters, students etc. The nature of identity is seen as a social phenomenon and a key factor of our social lives because our identities are also based on where we work, live and the community etc. The concept of identity relates an understanding of what and who we are and also what we and other people believe us to be. In order for us to develop this sense of identity we need to have a sense of self- awareness and this can be increased through socialisation where we can learn the morals of social interaction on the basis of various cultural identities. Our identity can also be seen as a social construct because once we have required a certain identity we acquire and display social characteristics. When looking as to how people obtain their identities the phenomenological perspective believes that we attach a meaning to reality and that we make sense of our experiences and by doing so we search for ‘the self’ and once we have found this we are able to construct our own meaningful identity. The structuralist perspective places great emphasis on socialisation as the key to social identity being ... ... middle of paper ... ... interaction we receive from these groups allows us to feel a sense of belonging and so through this we are able to identify our identities and a sense of purpose in life. Word count : 1,912. Bibliography Marsh, I. Et al (2000) Sociology: Making sense of society. Harlow: Prentice-Hall Ellis, C. & Flaherty, M.G. (eds) (1992) Investigating subjectivity: research on lived experience. Newbury Park: Sage Abercrombie, N. & Warde, A. (2000) Contemporary British Society. Cambridge: Polity press Taylor, P. (1997) Investigating Culture and Identity. London: Harper Collins Collins, R. (1994) Four Sociological Tradditions. New York: Oxford University press. Bilton, T. et al (1996) Introductory Sociology. London: Macmillan press Worsley, P. (1978) Modern Sociology (2nd ed). Bucks: Waton & Viney
People identify themselves using not only qualities within them, but through culture and family as well. Through these few examples, it is easy to see some of the foundations that can foster an entire, complex identity. It is understandable how interesting and varied humans can be, drawing from so many directions to build who they are. Identity is not very complex at all, it comes through living day to day.
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Personal identity, in the context of philosophy, does not attempt to address clichéd, qualitative questions of what makes us us. Instead, personal identity refers to numerical identity or sameness over time. For example, identical twins appear to be exactly alike, but their qualitative likeness in appearance does not make them the same person; each twin, instead, has one and only one identity – a numerical identity. As such, philosophers studying personal identity focus on questions of what has to persist for an individual to keep his or her numerical identity over time and of what the pronoun “I” refers to when an individual uses it. Over the years, theories of personal identity have been established to answer these very questions, but the
People go through many obstacles when they face their social identity. Some can overcome their differences, but others may not have they change to even face them due to the treatment that they get from society. Social identity is the one of many controversial and complex problems that many individuals deal with. Because, sometimes it used to be misunderstood making reference to racism and/or others complex matters. “On Being a Cripple” and “How It Feels to Be Colored” are two essays in which both characters suffer from some kind of discrimination. Indeed, in “How It Feels to Be Colored Me” by Zora Neale Hurston and “On Being a Cripple” by Nancy Mairs, each author shows different attitude, endures challenges, and change toward social identity.
Accordingly, all that is needed for an individual to possess and maintain his personal identity are certain mental capacitates for having conscious experiences, the examples of thoughts and sensation are given, and the ability to perform intentional actions. It this portion of the theory, a departure from the traditional Aristotelian view of substances is made. The original viewpoint of Aristotelian forms can apply only to inanimate objects, which have no personal identity, in this dualist theory, if the arguments illustrating that two people can be the same person, even if the is no continuity between the physical matter of each body are correct. Consequently, for two substances to be considered the same, in this reformed view, they
In the Social Identity Theory(SIT), TT, looked at inter groups relations from an identity perspective. They claimed, layered on top, beside and underneath inter group conflict is identity issues. Therefore, group identity becomes a psychological engine that allows us to understand how group conflict emerges. In this essay I will focus on 3 concepts SIT suggests. The first social comparison and distinctiveness are concepts which give insights about person’s psychology in his group’s affect on it. For gay people, it is obvious that they are not in a helathy place with these 2 concepts. After I talk about instability which is a cognitive alternative that shows gays that their relative position in the society can be changed. Later, I talk about 5 stage model which incorporates macro and micro to explain intergroup relations. I
Derek Parfit is a philosopher who, in Part 3 of his book Reasons and Persons, explores the question of personal identity. He asks what aspect of a person defines their identity. Parfit goes about with thought experiments to examine how he would define a person’s identity to be. Two theories he discusses are the theory of Physical Criterion and the theory of Wide Psychological Criterion. By using two theory desiderata (general traits that strong theories should possess), explanatory power and existing beliefs, it can be shown that the personal identity theory of Wide Psychological Criterion is the most plausible one.
Social identities and factors and/or experiences that have shaped your worldview. My Ethnic and cultural traditions and values have molded my social identities, in which both my Ethnic and cultural traditions and values and social identities have formed my worldview. According to my social identity wheel: My race is Asian/Pacific Islander and Filipino American. My ethnicity is Filipino. My sexual orientation is heterosexual. My religion is Roman Catholic. My age is of a young adult. I am a female. My national origin is the United States of America. My sense of who I am is based on my ethnic group that I have identified myself to belong in.
The concept of identity and social locations according to Kirk & Okazawa-Rey's Identities and Social Locations: Who Am I? Who are My People? is that Our identity is a specific marker of how we define ourselves at any particular moment in life. Identity formation is the result of a complex interplay among individual decisions and choices, particular life events, community recognition and expectations, and social categorization, classification, and socialization. (Kirk & Okazawa-Rey). The point where all the features embodied in a person overlap is called social location. Social location is a way of expressing the core of a person’s existence in the social and political world. (Kirk & Okazawa-Rey). With identity, it may seem tangible and fixed at any given
In all aspects of their lives we associate with various groups, for example demographic, cultural or peer groups. Social Identity theory developed by Henri Tajfel in 1979 explains how people develop a sense of belonging and membership in particular groups. This theory explains behaviors in terms of social groups, we form social groups and create perceptions of others and ourselves that are influenced by the various groups to which we belong. A social group is a set of individuals who hold a common social identification or view themselves as members of the same social category (Chen & Li, 2009). Individuals can have multiple, co-occurring identities which could vary. This paper aims to explain how the Social Identity theory is used to explain violence and prejudice behavior and it also looks at the advantages and disadvantages of this theory compared to other theories in explaining the same behavior.
Accordingly, this paper will provide a conceptual discussion using relevant theory that critically analyses tensions between self-identity and social identity.
Human identity, the idea that defines each and every one of us, could be facing an unprecedented crisis. It is a crisis that would threaten long-held notions of who we are, what we do and how we behave. It goes right to the heart - or the head - of us all. This crisis could reshape how we interact with each other, alter what makes us happy, and modify our capacity for reaching our full potential as individuals. And it 's caused by one simple fact: the human brain, that most sensitive of organs, is under threat from the modern world.
According to our text, Hall states that each one of us has three different levels of identity and these three levels are personal, relational, and communal. The first one is personal identity, which means our own perception of ourselves as an individual and different from all other people. The second one is relational identity. It is based on particular relationships we have with others. The last one is communal identities tend to be seen as even broader in nature and are more resilient. They are typically associated with large scaled communities such as nationality, ethnicity, gender, or religious or political affiliation (Hall, 2005, p.109). For personal identity, I see myself as a cheerful and sensitive person. If something bad happens in
Social identity theory proposed by Henri Tajfel and later developed by Tajfel and Turner in 1971. The theory is to understand intergroup relations and group processes. Social identity theory suggests that the self-concept is based on knowledge of our membership to one or more social groups; people enhance their self-esteem, which can also be boosted by personal achievement and affiliation with successful groups, in attempt to improve their self-image, which is based on personal identity or various social identities.
The piteous nature of sexism, abuse and how it can be overcome by the power of a voice and strong relationships, is exhibited in the inspiring novel, The Colour Purple by Alice walker. Set in rural Georgia in 1910, protagonist Celie narrates her unfortunate life through confessional and religious letters written for god. Being verbally, physically and sexually abused, Celie's confidence is at an all time low. She sees the world in a skeptical manner focusing her writing on her feelings. When she starts developing strong female relationships, her outlook on life changes, as well as her writing style. Walker expresses that your past does not dictate your future and by altering your mindset and establishing powerful relationships, you can become a stronger person.