Self Identity Essay

Everybody have many things that shape their identities, such as family, friends, religion, culture and race. For example, in the book the girl who fell from the sky by Durrow, Rachel is bi-racial, so she was influenced by her mother who was Danish and her father who was African-American. Rachel started to become aware of her identity when she moved with her grandmother, then when she first started going to school. Understanding her identity impacted her personality as she said, “I learn that black people don’t have blue eyes. I learn that I am black. I have blue eyes” (Durrow

In this world we live in, people are easily influenced by others. What or whoever influences you, that becomes a part of your identity. Having an identity is what makes you who you are. A person’s choice in music, clothes, cars, their environment, social life all influence your personality.

The formation of our own personal identities often begins at birth. As you grow up, your parents are a major influence on you. They teach you many things and help to shape your personal identity. They teach you the basics, from knowing right from wrong with your basic moral values. Your moral values are often built upon the basic morals your parents have and what they have taught you in return.

Self-identity is like a puzzle that gets constructed with answer Pieces as we grow older and truly understand ourselves. Things such as race, education, class, religion, culture are some of the pieces that fill the blank spaces in the puzzle and influences us as a person. But the main factor that has the biggest influence on who we are as a person is society and the people around us simply because of the society we which we are nurtured in inserts the culture, ideals, beliefs, certain way of thinking onto us, which makes us act differently, form different opinions.

“’Identity has been increasingly used to refer to the social and historical make-up of a person, personality as a construct. Sometimes such identities are conceived narrowly psychological, individualist terms, as the cumulative result of personal experience and family history”

Outside influences have a strong capability to influence and alter our personal identity. Both directly and indirectly, the social contexts in which we live can change the way we think and feel, and by extension how we interact with other people and places. Immediate family, friendship groups and the physical environment are all factors which contribute to our ever changing perceptions of ourselves. Sometimes personal identity can be subtly reshaped over a gradual time frame, as our sense of who we are is modified without personal recognition that we are changing. At other times we may be able to notice our personal identity changing, through important life decisions.

The complex reality of identity is a factor that is influenced by the culture a person was raised in and handed down to by their families. This causes society to take that factor and turn it into a way of establishing an identity upon people. Due to a resemblance to an ethnic background, people are compared according to their social, financial, and behavioral status. Society will always attempt to identify a person to their best knowledge to feel a sense of belonging and being at a minimal level of thinking with ethnic groups to be comfortable with racial differences.

A person’s identity may be determined by him/her family background and this is proven evident in the essay “Private and Public Language” by Rodriguez. We live in a world in which identities are determined prematurely without hesitation. This means that even without getting to know an individuals personality the first thing that is done instead is determining identities based on your physical state, family, or family background. As a culture we live in a diverse environment in which the majority of people come from a different place, and as a result many are identified differently depending on where he/she and their family are from. Today’s culture is more diverse than ever, and more and more people are migrating to different countries and settling so I feel like it

Nature vs. nurture is a well known argument that is often discussed by many psychologists, philosophers, and even everyday people. It raises the question on whether individual identity is shaped through biological factors, social factors, or if it is affected by both factors. Moreover, this argument delves into the territories of vertical and horizontal identities as well. A vertical identity includes the biological and social factors inherited from parents, while a horizontal identity consists of biological and social forces that are not inherited from the parents and therefore make the individual different. These two forms of identities are primarily constricted within a family point of view. A child exhibits either vertical or horizontal identities based on the identities expressed by his or her parents. These vertical identities that a child exhibits, are supported and nurtured by the parents, while the horizontal identities that the child has are constantly being “corrected” and “fixed”. Society also plays a major role in the nurturing of both vertical and horizontal identities. Based on the environment that the individual will be raised in, an individual’s identity will either flourish and grow, or dwindle and be hidden behind a persona that the individual puts on to please the public. This dance performed between nature and nurture is examined by Karen Ho in her essay “Biographies of Hegemony”, in Susan Faludi’s essay “The Naked Citadel”, and Andrew Solomon’s essay

Identities are built through our society, social situations, and through communication. The building foundation for humans as social beings is through our identities that comes from where relationships, communities and communication are built. Throughout life we will have shifting and multiple identities that varies to social situations. Stewart et al. define “identity or self as a constellation of features or labels that establish social expectations that we have of ourselves and others” (Stewart, et al. 2012, p. 73). Our interaction with the environments we are surrounded by allows us to learn our personality traits. We inherit personality traits from

recipes that we learn which even as used as “comfort foods” to cure homesickness. There are

Our identity can sometimes be shaped by the way others see us. As we have seen, the way in which others view us can have some sort of impact on how we see ourselves. There are also other contributing factors such as our years of adolescence, the basic human need of wanting to belong and maturing; all play an equally important part in the forming of our character and who we are. On balance it appears that there is not only one influence in the shaping of our identity, but there are many.

From the very first lecture we were asked, “How do others, as well as ourselves think and experience identity”. Before delving into how identity is developed, it's important to understand what identity is; according to Professor Weisband, “Our identities,[are] the ways we project ourselves into the world” (Weisband 3). Everyone has multiple identities, which are constructed publically through jobs and commissive choices. Identities, “speak to how a person fits into a social location” and “how we present ourselves to others” (Weisband 19). For example, my identity varies based on who is identifying me, my identity could be a student, a daughter, a friend or a tour guide (my summer job). This isn’t necessarily how I think of myself, but it is

Identity in a sociological sense is more than individual genetics or individuality. Self identity is made up by many characteristics including; our personal experiences, beliefs, socio-economic status and other factors. Society plays a huge role in determining identity, although true identity generally isn’t a true reflection of an individual’s self identity. Over the generations there have been

The idea of identity is something a lot of races have struggled with since the start of time. Psychologists are the specialist when it comes to understanding evolution and the make up of human identities (Baron, p 204). Some psychologists believe the social context that a person lives in effects their sense of identity. Regardless of whether a man is socially favored or socially hindered influences the psyche and his behavior too. This comprehension is an essential piece of the procedure of the behavioral change that is regularly found in minors as they develop, while confronting battles in life. In the