In order to be accepted as a member of a cultural group, members must be acculturated, essentially learning and using a code that other group members will be able to recognize. Additionally, common ways of being and acting within a cultural identity group are expressed through communication. For example, think of how ways of being and acting have changed for African Americans since the civil rights movement.
The ways of being and the social expectations for behavior within cultural identities do change over time, but what separates them from most social identities is their historical roots (Collier, M. Since we are often a part of them since birth, cultural identities are the least changeable of the three. For example, if an interest in online video games leads someone to become a member of a MMORPG, or a massively multiplayer online role-playing game community, that personal identity has led to a social identity that is now interpersonal and more entrenched.Ĭultural identities is based on socially constructed categories that teach us a way of being and include expectations for social behavior or ways of acting (Yep, G. Social identities do not change as often because they take more time to develop, as you must become interpersonally invested. A current interest in online video games may give way to an interest in graphic design. Personal identities may change often as people have new experiences and develop new interests and hobbies. Table 6.1 Personal, Social, and Cultural Identities Personal Our social identities are the components of self that are derived from involvement in social groups with which we are interpersonally committed. For example, I consider myself a puzzle lover, and you may identify as a fan of hip-hop music.
Personal identities include the components of self that are primarily intrapersonal and connected to our life experiences. Two related but distinct components of our identities are our personal and social identities (Spreckels, J. Instead, our identities are formed through processes that started before we were born and will continue after we are gone therefore our identities aren’t something we achieve or complete. We must avoid the temptation to think of our identities as constant. Our identities make up an important part of our self-concept and can be broken down into three main categories: personal, social, and cultural identities (see Table 6.1 “Personal, Social, and Cultural Identities”). This begins a lifelong process of thinking about who we are now, who we were before, and who we will become (Tatum, B. While this happens from birth, most people in Western societies reach a stage in adolescence where maturing cognitive abilities and increased social awareness lead them to begin to reflect on who they are. Our parents, friends, teachers, and the media help shape our identities. Personal, Social, and Cultural IdentitiesĪsk yourself the question “Who am I?” We develop a sense of who we are based on what is reflected back on us from other people. It is from these cultural influences that our identities are formed. Last, the definition acknowledges that culture influences our beliefs about what is true and false, our attitudes including our likes and dislikes, our values regarding what is right and wrong, and our behaviors. There is also deviation from and resistance to those patterns by individuals and subgroups within a culture, which is why cultural patterns change over time. Culture is patterned in that there are recognizable widespread similarities among people within a cultural group. The definition also points out that culture is learned, which accounts for the importance of socializing institutions like family, school, peers, and the media. Culture is “negotiated,” and as we will learn later in this chapter, culture is dynamic, and cultural changes can be traced and analyzed to better understand why our society is the way it is. Unpacking the definition, we can see that culture shouldn’t be conceptualized as stable and unchanging. For the purposes of exploring the communicative aspects of culture, we will define culture as the ongoing negotiation of learned and patterned beliefs, attitudes, values, and behaviors. Culture is a complicated word to define, as there are at least six common ways that culture is used in the United States.