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Identify How We Construct Identity? What Elements Make Up Identity? How Do We Exhibit Identity?

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Assignment 3
Identify how we construct identity? What elements make up identity? How do we exhibit identity?
This essay is to discuss where a person’s identity is derived from and how they portray those identities. A person’s identity cannot be defined simply by a single aspect of their lives such as religious beliefs but by a mixture of aspects and interactions that the person has. There are two theories that delve into the construction of a person’s identity; Social Identity theory and Identity theory.
Hall defines identity as sets of social expectations related to ourselves and others that (a) are grounded in the interplay between similarities and differences and (b) pertain to the personal, relational, and communal aspects of lives. …show more content…

590) Identity is defined by the influence that other individuals and groups exert on the person and is therefore a product of their society and not predetermined by birth. (Lillie, 1998) Identities are both collective and personal aspects that are collected dynamically over a person’s lifetime. (Chaitin, 2004, p. 6)
Before a child is born foetuses are aware of movement and tone of voice of their mothers. Social identity is constructed through displays and ratifications of acts and stances that infants and small children pick up on. From birth, infants and children will regard their mother’s actions towards items, objects and other people before they decide on how to approach the object or person. The child will mimic their parent’s actions and as such start developing their own social identity. (Ochs, 1993, p. 292)
As person develops within their community, they pick up traits and aspects that become their identity. The child starts life as the offspring of their parents, the child will attend school and therefore become a student, will play sport and become an athlete, will interact with other people and will become a friend. As the child matures, they may start working and become employed, attend university and become an academic, excel in a sport and become an elite athlete. As the individual proceeds through life some of these aspects may become less important, they may no longer be a student or an athlete, but some small part of that aspect remains, it

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