The Influence Of Personal Identity

No matter how much a person desires to live according to their personal autonomy, he or she will never escape the influence of societal forces. Explicitly or subtlety, these forces shape our individuality. One intriguing manner that these societal forces manifests itself in is our name. As Ruth Graham writes, “It’s becoming increasingly clear today that names carry a wealth of information about the world around us, the family we arrived in, the moment we were born—and that they mark us as part of cultural currents bigger than we realize.” Names alone provide evidence that individuals are made by interactions with social institutions and groups. Ultimately, the inescapable nature of society’s influence demands individuals to ponder how much personal autonomy is actually autonomous and to what extent does the pursuit of personal autonomy lead to a life of emptiness and vanity.

Stereotypes have been around since the beginning and continue to hurt the lives of certain people in society. Due to stereotypes and prejudice made by certain people, the author, Evan Hunter, successfully demonstrated through the story “On the Sidewalk Bleeding” the consequences of stereotyping. The story focuses on a sixteen year old boy named Andy, and his last moments being alive after being stabbed by a rival gang known as the Guardians. Andy was stereotyped because of his purple jacket that identified him as a member of the Royals. While he is reflecting on his life, four people come by but do not take the time to help. The drunk man

Lately my mornings are spent getting up between 5:30am and 6am. I get myself ready, I never look fantastic just passable, and I go to work. Part of my morning routine is getting my dog, Donovan, ready for the early part of his day as well. We go to the yard for his bathroom routine, we go inside where I feed him his diet dog food and inject him with insulin, we go upstairs where I place a new diaper wrap around his mid-section (dogs with diabetes leak, who knew?), and he goes back to bed to sleep beside my husband. After we say our goodbyes I head to work, or school, or whatever adventure life has for me that particular day. Rinse, wash, repeat. I had no idea when I was in my teenage years that my life at 32 years old would be a tattooed, married, full time working, full time schooling, boring, Puerto Rican, animal lover. Well, the animal loving part I knew since I was maybe 2.

Personal identity is essential in the human experience. Identity is complex and can be broken down into two main groups: introspective identity, and bodily identity. Introspective identity is based off of the groups, mentalities, or beliefs that you align yourself with, and bodily identity is based off of the physical side of yourself. Whether physical or introspective, your identity impacts every action you take. Whether choices ranging from what colors you prefer to which college you want to attend are primarily based off of your introspective identity, which is a combination of both memory and consciousness, physical identity impacts how others perceive you. Consciousness is mainly the awareness of bodily identity as well as continuous introspective identify, while memory is awareness of introspective identity. These two different facets of identity are imperative in the distinction between bodily identity and introspective identity. In means of personal identity introspective identity (which is evident in memory), is essential, while bodily identity (based partially in consciousness) has less credit.

1. Any theory of personal identity should be able to solve two problems: first, the problem of individuation; second, the problem of continuity or persistence. How would you in your own words characterize these problems? Also, do these problems matter at all? Are they actually important? Why or why not?

The issue of personal identity is one of the most broadly treated problems in the philosophical community. “Who are we?” “Where do we come from?” “What makes us human?” are some of the inquiries that most people face during their lives. Consequently, because for the majority of people it is almost natural to ask themselves about the meaning of their own identity, it is understandable that most major philosophical figures have presented their own theories regarding this question (Olson). In the same manner, it is reasonable that there exist certain conflict between these ideas. One of the most negatively received theories of personal identity came from the mind of John Locke. Essentially, his theory equaled identity with a person’s

During adolescence I began to develop my identity. Prior to this period I identified as the chunky, overweight child who depended on approval from her parents to succeed. During this time I was able to explore through trying new activities such as volunteering in the community as a third grade Sunday school catechist and playing on the field hockey team. I also was in accelerated courses, so maintaining high educational standards also became part of my identity. According to Erickson, what I was experiencing, “Identity verses Role Confusion” was typical of teens. During this time my values and interest in the special needs community began to develop into something that I have now turned into a career. This allowed

One can be influenced by various factors such as culture, media, interest, friends, experiences, and beliefs. Although the most significant impact on my identity is my family, as it has affected my morals, personality, and occupational identity.

I interviewed my nephew, Jeremy, for this assignment. Jeremy and I are members of the same family; but, have different racial, ethnic, and cultural backgrounds. My family is very large, consisting of; six brothers, sister in-laws, my parents, and fifteen nieces and nephews. My brother, Joe, married an African-American women (Sandra) and had two sons; but, they look nothing alike. Surprisingly, Jeremy’s appearance is African-American and Anthony looks Caucasian.

The way we define and perceive ourselves, shapes our actions, beliefs, and ultimately our identity. However, identity is not just about the self, it also comprehends the social, and that is when labels are created. Labels to point out distinctive characteristics that people show regularly, which oftens leaves people feeling trapped and defined by their given status. Master status has such a strong importance that it could potentially dominate the entire life and idea of personal identity. We can see that happening when a person has a disability and gets identified by it from other people. Saying that a person has autism versus that person is autistic, can make a big difference to a person’s life. Labels are barriers that inhibit and entrap,

One’s identity does not influence one’s future goals and expectations. Every individual disregarding their ethnic background, has the opportunity for a bright and successful future and one’s skin color nor race affect the chances of this happening. In this controversial image, three new born babies are portrayed lying next to each other, possibly in a hospital. Two of these babies lay on the side and one baby is in the middle. The two are very paled skinned and have a bot of light brown hair. The child lying on the right has a blue and yellow toy car and a white raddle placed next to him. These two babies seem to be excited to see the world with their tiny innocent eyes. They entered the world having no burdens nor problems weighing heavy on their shoulders. However, the opposite could be said for the baby lying in the center. All three are wearing white diapers but only the middle child’s diaper is hidden beneath his cloth. He is wearing a grey housekeeper’s uniform, black shoes and a

Identity? Identity is the fact of being who or what a person or thing is. Some people think they know someone’s identity by the external factors but, external factor does not make up an identity because there are also internal factors. My identity is made up of multiple factors.

Only have lived twenty years so far, I’ve learned that personal identity is one of the most important parts of a person. Personal identity is the basic outline of who we are and what society views us as. Sometimes society or even others around us may not like who we are or what we stand for and may try to change us. This is not our fault as the individual; society tends to dislike and fear what it doesn’t understand or what it views as different. Reading short stories such as “The Birthmark”, “A Rose for Emily”, as well as “Hills Like White Elephants” reminds me that it is essential that I not let society tell me who I am or identify me incorrectly. Even if society doesn’t accept you, you have to uphold your views of confidence and

Social identity theory is a theory which is intended to explain how people develop a sense of belonging and membership in particular groups, and how the workings of intergroup discrimination work. Social identity theory plays an important role in the study of social psychology. To some degree, everyone is influenced by social identity theory. Social Identity Theory tries to explain such intergroup discrimination in the 'real world' as well as in the circumstance of the minimal groups. The theory claims a process of social identification and positive self-esteem, “People can boost their self-esteem through their own personal achievements or through affiliation with successful groups” (Kassin, Fein, & Markus, 2008, 150). When a person is

most likely see me as innocent and precious where as if I am a teacher