My Cultural Identity

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The main culture that I identify with is centered around my religious affiliation which is Christianity. The cultivation of my spirituality involves many shared rituals which consists of attending church services, partaking in communion (sacrament), reading the bible, baptism, prayer, and much more. These regularly practiced behaviors serve significance in my culture because each activity is done with the intent of being reverent to God. My cultural identity affects my self-concept in that it pulls distinctive aspects such as my self-esteem, mental health, and meaning of life together to produce overall well-being. Through religious practices I have always been taught about having gifts and the power of positive thinking. Gifts are essentially talents that are given to an individual by God that can be used to help others in life. Though I may not be aware of all my talents I believe that I have the gift of service. I love to aid individuals in any way that I can whether it’s through community service, giving donations or simply just listening to someone vent. This ties into my self-concept because it serves some background on how I view myself in terms of my purpose in life. The ability to know what I have to offer, as well as believing that through God all things …show more content…

I try not to fall victim to dwelling on negative aspects of my life and through positive self-talk I’m able to the encounter uncomfortable or unknown situations. My cultural identity not only helps in forming my self -concept but it aids me when it comes to seeing my ideal self. As mentioned in lecture, identities are always changing therefore my self -concept can be dynamic. When constructing my perception, the visualization process mentioned in the text (Schwartzman, 2014, p.41) comes into play in transforming my ideal self into part of my self -

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