People need to identify themselves. Having “a coherent sense of identity” gives us the feeling of security, sanity, stability. But is it really possible to preserve this feeling of identity during all your life, in all of its aspects and changes? If we fulfil so many functions in life, have so many feelings and attitudes, the constant flow of information coming to our heads, can we possibly have a coherent sense of identity and stay the same all the time? The answer is no. not according to Kenneth Gerden, a psychology Professor and an adherent of the experimental psychology.
Gerden claims that people tend to use different masks in different situations in life, depending on the motivation, attitude, emotional state etc. So, the psychologist advocates people wearing masks and claims that is not abnormal or sick. However, according to the traditional viewpoint of such noted
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scholars as a poet Alexander Pope, a sociologist Erving Goffman, a psychologist Erik Erikson, wearing masks leads to psychological alienation, depression, feeling of discomfort. The two main assumptions are: “it is normal to a person to develop a firm and coherent sense of identity, and that it is good and healthy to do so, and pathological not to.” Gerden’s idea here is that a person is not likely to find a single basic self, to which a person can be true. Actually, he claims that if people do develop a coherent sense of identity, they may suffer from a severe emotional distress. The idea is supported by many examples that show that people tend to act in different ways when they are appreciated and acknowledged, when they are demotivated or treated badly. In plain words, when people are encouraged, they tend to feel better than before, and in most cases they believe it, meaning that they do not realize that they are using a mask. Personally, I think that wearing a mask does not exclude having a coherent identity. Moreover, the mask is only one little aspect, a little detail that is still characteristic of our own personality. A mask is not something completely different from your identity; it is not another person, another aspect of your life. It is doubtless that we normally have different social roles depending on a situation: we are parents, children, bosses, employees, buyers etc. and every situation in life requires a different reaction, involves different emotions and feelings as mechanisms and instruments to enable a mask. I would rather call it a polifunctional identity, as a mask only reflects some of the aspects of our inner selves. Experiments conducted by Gerden show that people who were asked to evaluate themselves in different ways, tended to give themselves more positive characteristics when encouraged, and vice versa, they tended to evaluate themselves a bit lower than when encouraged.
According to Gerden, “The finding demonstrates that it is easy to modify the mask of an identity, but it says little about underlying feelings.” In fact, the mask itself can be a source of good or bad mood, high or low self-esteem etc. Thus, the assumption that that the “normal development equips a n individual with a coherent sense of identity” is false. As a matter of fact, it is normal for a person to play many social roles in our reach and varied life. So, using a mask according to an event is normal, it also constitutes the idea of who the person really is. And a set of masks is actually a set of instruments to show the whole variety of a human identity. Thus, my personal opinion is that masks are not multipole identities; each mask represents a separate aspect of one and the same identity that is to be used in a particular
situation. Life gives us a lot of opportunities to watch people use their masks every day, which comes naturally and easily for them. As an example of using masks, I’d like to mention my friend. This is a person who always wears masks and manipulates them so naturally that no one would ever believe that she is wearing a mask. Like any other normal person, she has to perform different social roles: she is a daughter, a wife, a teacher and a community member. And, of course, when she is at work, she is very decisive, confident, fearless and strict. When her husband calls her, she uses a mask of a gentle and tender wife, which sometimes sounds grotesquely, especially when the phone rings in the middle of giving instructions or orders. She is a caring and loving daughter; still the mask she wears in the family is slightly different from the one she wears when she is with her husband. My friend feels absolutely free and never asks herself which one of her masks represents her real self. But the fact is that all the masks represent a real person in all the variety and richness, being windows of a big house, constituting a single identity. As Professor Gerden puts it, “We may be justifiably concerned with tendencies that disrupt our modes of living and loving, but we should not be anxious, depressed or disgusted when we find a multitude of interests, potentials, and selves.” I couldn’t agree more.
In the essay “In Defense of Masks,” by Kenneth Gergen, he states how people do not “normally develop a coherent sense of identity” (Gergen 2). Gergen talks about how we as people may “experience severe emotional distress,” (Gergen 2) instead of having a set identity. The difference between the idea of multiple identities that are represented by masks and having a coherent sense of identity of one’s true self, is that having a coherent sense of identity means that a person stays the same in every situation and never changes. On the other hand, having multiple identities that are represented by masks means that one’s identity is ever changing and shifting depending on the situation that they are in and the people who surround them. However, even
In William Golding’s “Lord Of The Flies”, a group of boys is stranded on an island that completely changes them. The boys turn totally different from how they act from society as if they were putting on masks. It’s not just the boys that wear masks, but a lot of people try to hide from other people. What a mask does is that it hides a person’s trait and shows something completely different. I have made a mask like one of the boys, Ralph, that tries to show that he’s a leader, but hides a different personality. Here are some of the qualities of my mask.
“In Defense of Mask,” by Kenneth Gergen he states that it is not possible for humans to find a coherent self identity without having a solution. The idea of developing a “coherent sense of identity” makes us act a certain way to please the wish of others. Gergen wants to find intentions of an individual 's choice of mask and how outward appearances and inward feelings we all come across. The author proves his statement by experimenting on people who had a positive and negative reaction from an interviewer.Therefore, the “coherent identity” versus “multiple identities” is detrimental to many individuals when they are trying to perceive into someone that they wish to become. I agree with Gergen, because having a mask hides
Our lives are defined by our experiences of growing up and of who people are when people are developing. Both, in their respective regards, are something that can be difficult to alter to the individual. Gender, race, classes, and other building blocks of our identity are always shifting to who anyone is and while a person can’t affect themselves, society can, and often does change their perspective towards their own identity and how they interact with the stimulation outside of their psyche.
Though a mask may just be a paper cut out, a molded piece of plastic, or in the Lord of the Flies, a painted face, they all have the same ability to create a feeling of freedom from responsibility. They may make they wearer feel more important or powerful and too good for work, leading to a lack of fulfillment of their responsibility. This belief in freedom from responsibility is best exemplified by Jack, the first one on the island to begin wearing a mask. He used a mask because he felt it gave him power and skill, giving him reason to take up hunting as a prime responsibility, opposed to keeping the fire going. In their...
The mask is a form of deception or illusion. Sometimes, it can be worn as both. It hides the true emotions of slaves, keeping the slave master from knowing what is going on in their minds. The mask also allows the slave to have an identity without the master’s detection. The mask gives the illusion that the slave is exactly how the masters believe, ignorant, incapable of true emotion, and unable to think for themselves.
Furthermore, emotional masks typically covers how others really feels on the inside. Some people be having a rough time, and they do not want everyone to know what is happening with them. So, they place a mask on and continue to smile to cover their real feelings. Everyone can not relate to people situations, and they can say things that are hurtful to others. Wearing the mask only shows the outside of someone, not the inside. To bring to light, most children commits suicide because they keep their feelings balled up inside, which can cause them to eventually break down. Their mask be super strong in public, but they can be
If this is the case, then we can also bring to mind the idea that if having a body is not necessary for personal identity then perhaps multiple identities could produce effects from the same body, in a sense that is supported by functionalism. We will continue this train of though momentarily. It is also noted in the dualist point of view that in the absence of bodily and brain continuity, such as having no memory of an event the individual was a part of, personal identity is not held. This contributes to the explanation of multiple identities as it provides an argument as to why the different personalities can be considered distinct from the host and from each other. As reported, in many cases of dissociative identity disorder the host experiences lost time, when one of the alternates may be in control. Thus, without this continuity the host cannot be considered identical with the alternate and so they are two, or more, distinct
First, Griffin reveals that there is a hidden side to everyone that is only known within, and anything outside could be a false representation, or imposter. “I think of it now as a kind of mask, not an animated mask that expresses the essence of an inner truth, but a mask that falls like dead weight over the human face” (Griffin 349). This quote captures what she is trying to say about secrets being the barrier to others’ feelings. The mask Griffin talks about represents the barrier to the secrets. Having this mask shields what is on the inside.
Many philosophers and psychologist from Jean Piaget to William James have theorized what makes a person who they are, their identity. Jean Piaget believed that the identity is formed in the sensorimotor stage and the preoperational stage. This means that a child is forming his identity as late to the age of seven (Schellenberg, 29) However, identity is strongly impacted by society such as school, church, government,and other institutions. Through our interactions with different situations our personality develops (Schellenberg 34). "In most situations there is a more diversified opportunity for the development of social identities, reflecting what the individual wants to put forth to define the self as well as what others want to accept,"(Schellenberg 35). Therefore, humans, much like animals, adapt to different situations based on who they are with. Individuals are always changi...
What is personal identity? This question has been asked and debated by philosophers for centuries. The problem of personal identity is determining what conditions and qualities are necessary and sufficient for a person to exist as the same being at one time as another. Some think personal identity is physical, taking a materialistic perspective believing that bodily continuity or physicality is what makes a person a person with the view that even mental things are caused by some kind of physical occurrence. Others take a more idealist approach with the belief that mental continuity is the sole factor in establishing personal identity holding that physical things are just reflections of the mind. One more perspective on personal identity and the one I will attempt to explain and defend in this paper is that personal identity requires both physical and psychological continuity; my argument is as follows:
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
To continue, let's examine psychodynamic theories. For this mask, I colored it in a way I felt
The fifth stage, according to Erik Erikson psychoanalytic theory of development is the Identity Vs Identity confusion. The stage occurs during adolescence in the ages between 12 to 18 years. At this stage, the adolescents try to find a sense of personal and self-identity by intensely exploring their personal goals, beliefs, and values (McLeod, 2017). Notably, the adolescence is between childhood and adulthood. Thus, their mind is between the morality learned during childhood and the ethics they are trying to develop into adulthood. The transitioning from childhood to adulthood is the most important development for a person because the individual is becoming independent and is focusing on the future regarding career, relationships, families
A person can be physically identifiable based on the matter they are composed of, but their Personal Identity is far more than that. Despite any changes such as mentality and physical change, referred to as qualitative changes, a person remains who they are. The philosophical question is, what is it like to have a personal identity? There are different theories discussing what is necessary and sufficient to define an individual's personal identity. So is there any theory that truly captures the essence of what it is like to have a personal identity?