Aspects of Identity - 1

 

Identity is a very important aspect of our personality or individuality. Our identity is something that we believe we are. It is built, shaped, developed, and nurtured through knowledge, intelligence, experiences, environment, behavior, and skills. Each one of us has a distinct identity of our own that is easily distinguishable from others. In a sense, every one of us is unique because we talk differently, we think differently; we observe differently, we learn differently, we view and react to the outer world differently; however an important thing to note is that our identity is influenced by various factors such as the environment we live in, the family we live with, culture we are born and brought up, the society we live in, friends and people we mingle with, interests and hobbies that we cultivate over time resulting from association, inheritance or our own preferences and so on.  

There are many people who have attained the peak of success in their respective fields regardless of their family background, their education, or social status. Identity according to me is built and shaped by a variety of factors as stated above however personal choices and preferences have a dominant role to play in our lives that form an integral part of our identity. A book you choose to read from the shelf, friends you choose, your favorite movies, songs, the games you like to play, your hobbies and interests etc are so many things that reveal your inner persona. These elements play an indispensable role in framing your identity and character.

It is a topic of research to know and understand what exactly is mainly responsible for creating an identity? According to some research scholars, our culture lays a crucial role in building our identities. This statement to a large extent is true as we are constantly exposed to our culture and society in our everyday lives and thus become a part of it. We tend to incorporate the values, customs, norms, and life styles in our lives that our culture allows us to follow. However, there still remains a good volume of room for making personal choices and preferences in life that makes us distinct from others. Our identity is not known by our culture or society we live in but by the distinct identity we carry, likes and dislikes we exhibit, attire we use, complexion, company, knowledge and attitude we show to the outer world. 

The first sense of our identity is known or felt when we are in our teens. A best example to understand the concept of identity is a high school cafeteria wherein teens/students gather for lunch or short leisure and one can easily spot a popular guy or a girl among the group. It is easy to identify who is popular, who has many friends, who is reserved and sober and other fine aspects of a student’s persona just on the basis of observations.

It is important to note that some identities require peculiar environment while some grow in any environment. As for example, an Asian student may not easily adjust to the American way of living and may take time in making friendship, get along with people, mingle with associates etc. Here, it can be found that cultural differences certainly impact on one’s identity and may act as a barrier. Therefore, it requires time for a new comer to adjust to the host culture in order to settle and get going the easy way.      

A culture can be described as a set of principles, beliefs and customs laid by religious and social beliefs. A culture exerts a strong influence on people’s life styles, way of thinking and their identities. A culture to a great extent shapes our way of living, habits, life style, diet, attire etc. However, despite of such a strong impact of our culture on an individual’s identity, individuals often tend to make a distinct individuality of themselves through their peculiarity of thought, actions and way of living. According to many authors, environmental influences namely the cultural forces to a great extent impact on one’s behavior, attitude, and way of thinking and habits that eventually shapes one’s identity. In my opinion, this is a generic statement as it is the inherent and inner self that dominates and plays a significant role in making and building a person’s identity. However, this statement is an exception to the popular belief that environmental influences are much stronger than the personal preferences.

Influence on Identity

A good example of culture versus the personal influence on one’s identity is a group of students in a particular grade or class who exhibit a peculiar behavioral pattern, attitude or qualities. For example, studying in a similar environment, students show different attributes of personality that can be easily observed from their obvious behavior in the class. A student with dominating attitude will tend to command others by his language, acts and behavior while on the contrary a student who is studious and sincere in studies show very peculiar behavioral trait that is desirable and suitable to the academic environment. The former may be popular, less liked and less favored by the class teacher while the latter is less known but liked and favored by the class teacher as a studious and obedient student. This is a very good example of a group that is exposed to same environment, culture and society but exhibiting difference in their attributes and personality thus creating a unique identity.

It is very important to keep in mind that our reactions to external influences vary from person to person and one cannot expect a similar reaction from two different individuals. Since we all are very different from one another, our individualities too vary. In order to understand what exactly causes such differences in identities, it is important to know what identities are made up of. We are a product of our culture, habits, preferences, inherited characteristics, social influences and free will. In majority of cases, people who have attained highest success and given their greatest contribution to society are those who have always created their identities by themselves. They are the masters of their preferences, habits and attitude and regard social and cultural forces as less important. On the other hand, people who are always bonded with cultural and social forces tend to adhere to the common beliefs and principles seizing the peculiarity of their identity.

Aspects of Identity

Things such as our names, social security number, our finger prints, driving license etc serve to identify us among others and by distinguishing us from other people. However, these are just social norms to identity one from the rest. Our true identity lies in our persona that includes features such as, culture, color, race, gender, religion, nationality etc. These characteristics help in narrowing our search to trace one unique individual yet there still remain room for dilemma. This is because there are many individuals with the above mentioned features living in a particular place or region. In such a situation, how can one trace a specific person on the basis of these above mentioned features? For example, there may be two or three individuals who have a common name, color, nationality, gender and living in a particular place and culture. How can one trace the one who is actually required for the purpose? In a situation like this one, one would certainly require some more information about the subject that can differentiate one from the others. Even if these individuals have every above mentioned characteristic in common, they still greatly differ from one another in habits, interests, preferences, voice, attitudes, and other finer characteristics that do not match or resemble from the rest. Therefore, in order to trace the wanted, we would have to narrow down our search further focusing on the attributes that are uncommon, distinct part of their individuality and easily separate them from others. Identity identifiers such as their date of birth, social security numbers, finger prints etc is one easy yet effective way to separate one from millions. Thus, this example proves that identity is a very special phenomenon that requires special consideration when dealing with it.