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Identity is shaped by culture
Identity is shaped by culture
Identity is shaped by culture
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Identity is a fundamental part of all humans. Whether one’s identity consumes their personality or lays in the shadow of their persona, all humans share this personality trait. Identity is defined as the distinctive characteristic belonging to any given individual or shared by all members of a particular social category or group .In sum an identity is the essence of a person or group that shines through as a dominant characteristic. The formation of identity takes place at various stages of one’s life each have equally opportunity to be profoundly impactful of shaping self image/ concept or identity. Notable familial, mentor or cultural figures can all be influential in constructing one’s identity. When one is growing up, identity formation …show more content…
Erik Erikson, a psychoanalyst, coined the phrase identity crisis when he observed a point in one's life where a period of change or debilitating uncertainty occurs. a turning point rather than a period of profound or debilitating uncertainty. Erikson acknowledged that identify issues could appear at any point in one's life, but the formation of identity itself would foreshadow the hardships to come. The shifts of life are often grouped into years, the transition between school grades, but a profound life changes such as parent’s divorce or abuse, accelerate the identity formation process. In a research paper published 2002 by Act for youth, the idea of identity across context was investigated. For example, teenagers often behavior differently when they are around their peers than they would with their parents. A …show more content…
What role does the media play in affecting teenagers concept of self identity and esteem? Growing up in the modern world without the media impinging on daily life is nearly impossible. The present day has developed a new identity which is that of social media. Being conditioned to show only the most flattering and best sense of ourselves, social media projects itself as another form of modern identity. Children as young as 7 or 8 are already absorbed into various social media platforms as well as the authoritative music industry. The message being broadcasted far and wide is clear. Thin, but with ample derriere, strong but not threatening, and visibly ebullient, but not insincere. Women are constantly bombarded with this cookie-cutter mold that only fits a fraction of the actual population. So what does this message, this constant reminder of you significant until you’re perfect do to young girl’s self
Identity is truly a creation of one’s life experiences, accomplishments, and actions. Event that occur in life can have an enormous effect in one’s identity they can cause the person to change entirely weather the event is positive or negative it will affect their identity equally. In a way identity is like a blank canvas you can paint it however you like with the choices you make. If you make the right choices the canvas will be painted bright and happy, but if you make the wrong choices the canvas will be black and
Identity often refers to a sort of desperate quest or a deliberately confused search through both a mental and moral experience. However, Erikson approaches this idea as an experience that will almost be a surprise that sneaks up on one, rather than something that can be found. The process of identity formation is located in the core of an individual, and also in the core of ones communal culture. This process is ever changing and developing, but reaches a crisis during the stage of adolescence. At the earliest stage of the identity crisis there is an important need for trust in oneself and others. Adolescents, at this stage, look passionately for ideas to place faith in, and additionally, ideas, which seem worthwhile to prove trustworthy. Erikson explains, “at the same time the adolescent fears a foolish, all too trusting commitment, and will, paradoxically, express his need for faith in loud and cynical mistrust” (Erikson, p. 252). This stage of identity formation is very confusing to youth because of the pull between childhood and adulthood. The adolescent undergoes and inner struggle of whether they wish to follow certain morals and beliefs, and the fear of committing to a specific identity. The second stage establishes the necessity of being defined by what one can will freely. The adolescent is now looking for an opportunity to decide freely on one of the available or unavoidable duty and service, and is at the same time terrified of being forced to engage in activities, which may expose one to ridicule. This further adds to the confusion of adolescents and identity formation. An adolescent is torn between acting shamelessly in the eyes of his or her elders, out of free choice, than to be forced into activities t...
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.
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.
As an individual progresses through from childhood to adolescence, discovery of self is a central in personal development. For this reason, the concept of identity is explored and analysed (Syed & Seiffge-krenke, 2013). Identity refers to sense of self (Steensma, Kreukels, De Vries
What is identity? Identity is an unbound formation which is created by racial construction and gender construction within an individual’s society even though it is often seen as a controlled piece of oneself. In Dr. Beverly Daniel Tatum’s piece, “The Complexity of Identity: ‘Who Am I?’, Tatum asserts that identity is formed by “individual characteristics, family dynamics, historical factors, and social and political contexts” (Tatum 105). Tatum’s piece, “The Complexity of Identity: ‘Who Am I?’” creates a better understanding of how major obstacles such as racism and sexism shape our self identity.
This assignment’s main focus will be centred on Erikson’s theory of psychosocial development, which consists of eight stages however only the fifth stage ‘identity versus role confusion’ will be discussed. Aspects such as identity crises, exploration of autonomy whilst developing a sense of self, factors that may contribute to identity formation as well as the successful/unsuccessful resolution of this particular stage will be discussed thoroughly. Erikson’s theory was also expanded by James Marcia, who identified certain identity statuses. The discussion will then progress to the psychosocial development of a case study based on Anna Monroe in connection to the difficulties she faced, such as gender, sexuality, peer pressure,
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 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.
One particular area of study in this regard is that of self-identity. Psychologist Erik Erikson was a great contributor to the study of identity in the 1960’s, explaining the struggle in adolescence for one to create his or her own identity. Self-identity is how one defines herself, and it forms the basis for self-esteem. The development of a strong and stable sense of self is widely considered to be one of the central tasks during adolescence. Although identity development has the ability to change throughout one's lifetime, adolescence is the first time that individuals begin to think about how their identity may affect their lives (Steinberg, 2008). Considering adolescents and young females have been facing the issue of self-identity and self-esteem for a very long time, when you add the pressures of today’s society, it is very clear that these budding females are overloaded emotionally. It makes sense that a positive self-identity will relate to a positive self-esteem, but when teenagers have yet to grasp their self-identity, they are looking for ways in which they can identify. They turn to peers and the media. In our society today, they will turn to social media and media such as television. The majority of programming geared toward these adolescents today is reality television, so here is where these young females are finding their role models: the people influencing who these teenagers will become and how they will identify themselves. Many of these reality shows are appearance-based, such as “Keeping Up With the Kardasians” or “Jersey Shore.” When we think about these types of reality shows and the portrayal of ideal beauty, it is evident that the depiction is anything but ‘real;’ however, it is difficult for young girls trying to find themselves to see the ‘reality show’ as anything but
In conclusion, the formation of one’s identity has many components. Beginning at the onset of adolescence and continuing to expand, grow and form and reform as we live through the struggles or success of life. Many theorists have endeavored to clarify the development of identity formation. However, Erik Erickson offered one significant theory involving the formation of one’s identity. Expounding on Erickson theory, Marcia developed his Identity Status Model according to the existence or absence of crisis and commitments. These four statuses, diffusion, foreclosure, moratorium and achievement can combine in various ways to produce a self. One’s sense of identity is determined largely by the choices and commitments made, therefore, having a well-developed sense of self can provide an individual with insight to their strengths, weaknesses, and individual uniqueness. An individual that finds themselves
The first crisis into adolescence is the construction of one’s self-identity and the awareness of their personal qualities, and the adolescents’ struggle to determine the appropriate boundary between fully expressing one’s self and the notion of wanting to be accepted with their peer group. Erickson claimed that this identity versus identity confusion crisis allows the adolescent to make the decisions as to their social group, the characteristics they deem important to share to others, and the ability to determine how they would like to be perceived from their peers. The overcoming of the personal struggles dealt with in this period of crisis allows the adolescent to truly reflect upon the differences in how they identify themselves in relation to others, and so, this growth period provides them the opportunity to solidify those qualities in order to secure their self-identity in the long-term. The second crisis relates to the adolescent being able to form positive and healthy relationships with others. The adolescent must progress through this crisis in order to establish a fundamental respectfulness and communication level with others, so that the adolescent can construct and reinforce a reciprocal bond and sense of well-being when interacting with close peers, friends, and loved ones. Erickson suggested that
Authors have diverse views of the term identity, but often these converge to include a focus on cultural back ground through group opinions or self-view. Michener and Myers (2004) defined self-concept as the organized system of thoughts or cognitions that individuals possess. It constitutes the view of personal qualities and social identities, together with generalizations concerning the self in regards to experience. The self is spontaneous, which means an individual can see himself as both the acting individual and the object of the action. With identity,...
Identity is the qualities, beliefs, etc., that make a particular person or group different from others[1]. Social Identity theory states that people identify themselves based on the groups that they associate with. “Tajfel
Identity is the essence of a person which makes him stand out as an individual. There are various factors which help form and evolve a person's persona, and that is what I write about in the follwing essay.