Constructing Identities Flashcards
Social Identity
The view that people have of their own and others’ positions in society (who we are and how we stand in relation to others)
Enculturation
The process through which individuals learn their identity
Sir Francis Galton
- Inspired by Darwinism
- Eugenics
Eugenics
The idea that to improve the human species only certain people should be allowed to reproduce
Biocultural Approach
Takes into consideration both cultural and biological aspects of identities, as they are a product of both culture and genetics
Personhood
- Names distinguish ourselves from others
- How we introduce ourselves helps to place us in relation to others
Shishalh Naming
- Shishalh people get a new name during their transition from childhood to adulthood
- Introduce themselves using name, where their family is from, + who their family is
Umbundu of Angola Naming system
- First child is named after a relative
- 2nd child is named after key event that happened around time of birth
- Each child has its own last name
Egocentric
A sense of self that defines each person as being capable of acting independently from others, with their motivations and drives being internal
Sociocentric
A context-dependant view of self, where the self exists within the concrete or roles occupied by that person
Ethnic Identity
A real or imagined common history in which they share a common language, religion, racial background, etc. and they try to maintain it in order to stay cohesive and unified
Rights of passage
- By Arnold van Gennep
- Separation, liminality, reincorporation
Showing our identity
- Objects
- Actions
- Language
- Association
Imagined Communities
A sense of community culturally constructed through forces like mass media, despite the absence of face-to-face interactions
Marcel Mauss
Wrote The Gift in 1925, which looked at the concept of reciprocity
