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Individuality and group conformity
How does society influence identity
Importance of concept of self
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Recommended: Individuality and group conformity
Identity is one of the most important aspects of life, as it differentiates oneself from the rest of the society by portraying a unique personality. It is important for an individual to have their own personal identity; however it is difficult to preserve it due to the social factors that influence everyday behaviour.
Occasionally, society can be involved in a series of conflicts making each individual feels inhibited because of the apprehension of being tried by others. This fear can be the result of all social conventions that impose on the society a ‘barrier’ towards a total freedom. All this leads one to think if each person has his own identity or if this identity is created by society.
According to Larkin, members of society are not
Identity is like a lock. The only way to find out what is on the other side is to find the keys. There are many ways identity can be created, and many people try to describe identity such as the following authors: Guy de Maupassant’s, “The Necklace”, Sherman Alexie’s, “Superman and Me”, ABC News’, “More Facebook Friends, Less Real Ones” , and “Mirror Stage”, by CommonLit Staff. There are two keys that are absolutely necessary to unlocking identity: one’s surroundings and one’s outer appearance.
Although the concept of identity is recurrent in our daily lives, it has interpreted in various ways.
Identity is a group of characteristics, data or information that belongs exactly to one person or a group of people and that make it possible to establish differences between them. The consciousness that people have about themselves is part of their identity as well as what makes them unique. According to psychologists, identity is a consistent definition of one’s self as a unique individual, in terms of role, attitudes, beliefs and aspirations. Identity tries to define who people are, what they are, where they go or what they want to be or to do. Identity could depend on self-knowledge, self-esteem, or the ability of individuals to achieve their goals. Through self-analysis people can define who they are and who the people around them are. The most interesting point about identity is that some people know what they want and who they are, while it takes forever for others to figure out the factors mentioned before. Many of the individuals analyzed in this essay are confused about the different possible roles or positions they can adopt, and that’s exactly the reason they look for some professional help.
Identities are defined as a product of one’s natural individuation. All aspects about one’s life such as their job, hobbies, nationality, religious beliefs, and group associations, can shape one’s identity. Identities are significant because they allow us to demonstrate our uniqueness as an individual and allow us to fit into certain groups. Identities are like fingerprints; everyone has their own unique identity labeled to themselves. Although identities are unique, they can also become susceptible to conformity based on certain external factors. In Malcolm Gladwell’s “The Power of Context,” he discusses how the external environment molds individual’s identities and casts an influence on those, which can be used to prevent crimes. In Cathy
Identity, in general, is the way people are molded through the experiences of one’s life. The text Rule of the Bone by Russell Banks portrays the validity of the quote by Bernice Johnson Region “Life’s challenges are not supposed to paralyze you, they’re supposed to help you discover who you are”. Aspects of one’s life is determined by multiple influential factors, that may result in positive or even negative effects such as family, cultural/social expectations, class structure and social inequality, and race.
In his 1971 paper “Personal Identity”, Derek Parfit posits that it is possible and indeed desirable to free important questions from presuppositions about personal identity without losing all that matters. In working out how to do so, Parfit comes to the conclusion that “the question about identity has no importance” (Parfit, 1971, p. 4.2:3). In this essay, I will attempt to show that Parfit’s thesis is a valid one, with positive implications for human behaviour. The first section of the essay will examine the thesis in further detail and the second will assess how Parfit’s claims fare in the face of criticism.
A person’s identity is made from various characteristics that make the person who he is. It is partly constructed from physical characteristics like skin tones, hair color, and body shape. But it is also formed by more abstract ideas like religion, education, family, gender identity, political beliefs, sexual orientation, and personality traits. All of these things amount to an identity. Scholars and philosophers have debated for many years over how much humans have control over their identities and, if they do have any control, how much should they control? Philosophers like Albert Camus and Thomas Nagel would argue that humans have and should control their identities in order to escape philosophical suicide and to accept the absurdity of everyday life. However, it seems that writers like Chantay Leonard and Alice Walker are more in touch with the relationship between environment and identity. Although humans have free will to make their own choices, they are not in control of the environment and other people around them, and therefore, a great deal of their identity is formed without their consent.
Identity. It is an integral part of defining the person who we are, and is shaped by your experiences and the people you meet along the way, beginning at birth, ending at death. Identity is something that cannot be taken away, nor can it be bought; however it can be influenced or changed by others in a person’s life. That change can have either a positive or negative effect on the individual. Despite the fact in life that some experiences originally seem rather negative, they may benefit your character; identity, in a way you may have not seen during your experience. People are faced with difficult situations every day, and in some scenarios; tribulations and temptations. We all possess the power on how to react
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.
In society, people react to adversity differently. They may choose to overcome those difficulties or they are unable to adapt to those adversity can cause them to suffer from loss of identity.
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...
The quest to find one’s identity and have a sense of individuality is rampant in Kazuo Ishiguro’s Never Let Me Go. The humanistic urge to have purpose is embodied in the characters of Kathy, Tommy and Ruth very differently. They each know that their life’s purpose is to donate until “completion,” yet on the way there they explore themselves and find out there is more to each of them than their vital organs, even if that is how society has labeled them.
Current research suggests some theorists believe identity as something essential, substantial, fixed and essentially invariable. Yet other modern theorists consider the creation of identity as existential for each individual, using the personal responsibilities for ones own actions which create ones own moral values. Identity in modernity is associated to individuality to developing a uniquely individual self.
Many times people manage their identity differently based on where they are and who they are with. We often play one role at work or in public and a completely different role when we are at home with our family. It’s all a matter of how we wish to be perceived by others and the personal experiences that have influenced us over our lifetime. Our past experiences help us to gain knowledge about ourselves, such as our abilities, skills, and our weaknesses. We use this knowledge or perception to present ourselves to others in order to get the response or attention we are looking for.
Remember when you did something in public and what you felt after, would you repeat it if you would be alone? What makes us decide, needs and desires, or something else? Do we always choose what to do? Is that a decision everywhere and every time takes on its own? As the world developing day by day, quite a few people attempt to find out new beneficial approaches to people's actions' matters.