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Importance of culture for identity
Importance of culture for identity
Cultural effects on personality
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Recommended: Importance of culture for identity
A person's identity is shaped by many different factors. Culture, traditions, family, and society help with shaping a person. For some people these factors may not have an impact at all, but for most people these factors are all put into one person. Culture and traditions have shaped my identity by the music I listen to, the way I talk, the languages I speak, the foods I eat, and the occasions I celebrate. Coming from a Hispanic heritage has influenced me greatly, my ethics and morals are partially based on my and my family's background. Because of my culture, I am able to speak and understand Spanish, cook and eat Hispanic dishes, and understand the meaning of Spanish holidays. Society and friends have had an impact on the way I dress by
What influences a person’s identity? Does one get an identity when they are able to differentiate right from wrong, or are they born with it? There is not one thing that gives a person their identity, there are however, many different factors that contribute to one’s identity. From Contemplation in a World of Action written by Thomas Merton, Merton advocates identity by stating that “A person does not simply “receive” his or her identity. Identity is much more than the name or features one is born with. True identity is something people must create for themselves by making choices that are significant and that require a courageous commitment in the face of challenges. Identity means having ideas and values that one lives by” (Merton). Concurring with Merton a person is not given their identity at birth or while developing as an embryo, rather it is something that you create for yourselves over the course of life through decisions and actions made by the individual. Although identity is something that one may not be fully aware of or discover until last breaths. Identity can
Identity how is it shaped? When I think of shaping identity the way someone acts towards another individual is a big factor of it. Another key component of shaping someone’s identity is the people they choice to put themselves around. Home and friends are a perfect example of what shapes Melinda’s identity, who is a character from the novel Speak written by Laurie Halse Anderson.
At birth, every person is given a name, a birth certificate and a social security number. However, labels and documents do not identify who one is or who he will be. Family, environment, and circumstances shape an individual. At any one point in time, an individual may have one identity but at another given point, they may have another. What causes one’s identity to change? At birth, identity begins to form, shaping an individual; and while personal choice slightly influences a person’s identity, environmental factors weigh most heavily in molding a person’s permanent identity.
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
I embraced various parts of the American culture such as its history and language. I enjoy learning about American history and about American holidays and traditions. My family had embraced various American traditions such as the fourth of July and Thanksgiving. These holidays have become part of our lives. As I made friends in school, I not only had Hispanic friends but also American friends with who I learned to socialize with and whom I embraced as no different than myself. I consider myself Mexican American because of these reasons. I am not just Mexican or just American. I identify with both cultures and consider the United States my
I was born into a home, to parents who fostered a deep appreciation for culture, not just my own but all cultures. They taught me that every people and ethnicity contributes something beautiful to the human experience through their music, wisdom, humor, food, architecture, knowledge, and humanity. Perhaps their love of all cultures made me appreciate my own so profoundly. I am of Mexican-American heritage, and I carry with me the values of a proud, gentle, hard-working, passionate people.
I definitely identify most with modern American culture. Although I am half Hispanic and half white, I was raised more “white” than Hispanic (e.g. food, language, holidays, music, etc.). On the surface you can see a white American, English speaking, femininely dressed young lady, but I am much more than what is on the outside. Like I stated earlier I was raised more “white”, but I still identify a little with my Hispanic culture. In this paper I will be addressing 10 surface and 10 deep aspects of my cultural identity.
When thinking about Identity, it might be easy to just say that is “who we are”, or it’s just me. An identity is much more than that though. I like to think of it as a living puzzle. There are hundreds or thousands of pieces that come together to form the complete identity, or the complete “you”. I say living because an identity grows throughout the years and even changes depending on the situation. There is a multitude of influences that goes into forming a person’s identity some of which a person chooses and others they don’t. Family members and guardians are a primary source of learning when a child is young. As a person grows, the sphere of influence broadens to include mentors, media, and school. This identity is then a lens through which
When are ideas of our parents, teachers, and friends shaped into our own values and beliefs? As we grow up we are constantly faced with challenges that we sometimes overcome and other times we do not. Each time we approach a new situation we develop a plan for the solution, and whether we succeed or fail shapes how we approach the topic the next time it comes around. In this way, not only how we act around others, but also when noone is watching defines our identity. These actions are formed by our experiences and interactions in our lives, and it can easily change over time to better fit our desires.
No human being is culture free. We are a product of the many different cultures which surround us. Our values, worldview and experiences are structured by the society and culture that exert influences on our lives each day.
L ike many significant things in our lives, our identity is fluid. It is always changing and growing in accordance with our experiences. Our identity is shaped by many factors, such as the media, the community we grow up in, events in our lives, the views of those around us; especially those of whom we look up to like our parents, and the knowledge we perceive. As we grow older and the range of our experiences widen, our identity often changes to reflect our attitudes and ideas. Our identity is important as it characterises our behaviour towards others.
To start off, the first thing you should know about me is that I come from a big Hispanic family. I would identify this as my culture because it includes a unity that not many other families have. My family is big because my father has nine brothers and sisters. Overtime, his brothers and sisters have had children
I have never really sat down and thought about my cultural identity, at least until I started this class. I never thought about how my identity was different than that of other members in my community. I also never put much mind to the communication challenges that I could face when speaking with members of my community. To be totally honest, there is more cultural differences that I have faced and actually paid attention to, and now I seem to understand the importance of how one culture differs from another.
A person’s identity is shaped by many different aspects. Family, culture, friends, personal interests and surrounding environments are all factors that tend to help shape a person’s identity. Some factors may have more of an influence than others and some may not have any influence at all. As a person grows up in a family, they are influenced by many aspects of their life. Family and culture may influence a person’s sense of responsibilities, ethics and morals, tastes in music, humor and sports, and many other aspects of life. Friends and surrounding environments may influence a person’s taste in clothing, music, speech, and social activities. Personal interests are what truly set individuals apart. An individual is not a puppet on the string of their puppet-master, nor a chess piece on their master’s game board, individuals choose their own paths in life. They accomplish, or strive to accomplish, goals that they have set for themselves throughout their lifetime. Individuals are different from any other individual in the world because they live their own life rather than following a crowd of puppets. A person’s identity is defined by what shaped it in the first place, why they chose to be who they are, and what makes them different from everybody else in the world. I feel that I have developed most of my identity from my own dreams, fantasies, friends, and idols.
Identities that are developed in different ways in different cultures are cultures learned through your culture (Martin & Nakayama, 2011.) My Mexican culture has taught me that family is the most important thing in my live. I depend on all my family and trust in each and every one of them. I am really close to all my family and even my extended family. Especially now that I am a mother, I hope to aspire that value in my daughter’s life.