Identity Flashcards
What is self-identity?
The empirical self reflects all the different ways we think about ourselves
What are the different components of the empirical self?
Material self
Social self
Spiritual self
What is the social self?
The social self refers to how we feel that we regarded and recognised by others
What are the proposed 5 types of social identities?
- Personal relationships
- Ethnic religion
- Political affiliation
- Stigmatised group
- Vocation
It is believed that people will behave differently within each different context when their social identity changes
What is the spiritual self?
The spiritual self refers to our inner psychological self.
The spiritual self is everything that is ‘me’ or ‘mine’ that is not tangible
What characteristics are related to the spiritual self?
- Perceived abilities
- Attitudes
- Emotion
- Interests
- Traits
What is self concept defined as?
a dynamic collection of self representations that are formed through personal experience and interpretation of the environment
How does a person’s self-concept change?
It will change as they experience different relationships with their bodies, families and wider society (Ellis-Hill, 2010)
What is self-identity?
Identities are not just about individuals and reflexivity, they are also related to practice, or what we do.
e.g. roles, responsibilities, expectations
What does identity being relational mean?
They do not exist in isolation, they are about others and in relation to others:
Other people
Places and things
Wider social structures
What is our habitus?
A set of norms and expectations unconsciously acquired by individuals through experience and socialization as embodied dispositions, predisposing us to act improvisationally in certain ways within the constraints of particular social fields.
What shapes our habitus
Social class.
This is in part because what we see as normal and lies is developed on the basis of what is actually available to us, and what we can afford.
What does class position play a key role in shaping?
Physical capital (how we look, dress, present ourselves)
Social capital (who we know and socialise with)
What is the significance of our physical and social capital?
They become integral parts of how we feel about ourselves and how we distinguish ourselves from others
This is why it can be upsetting if it is challenged.
What are some examples of inequalities in relation to identity?
Class based inequalities
Gender inequalities
Ethnicity inequalities
What are some rights and obligations of the ‘sick role’?
Not obligated to fulfil normal social obligations.
Not held responsible for their illness
Should want to get well and seek medical help
How does illness and disability disrupt one’s life trajectory (biological disruption).
Taken for granted assumption and behaviours
Disruption to intimate relationships, career and personal development
Can lead to ‘loss of self’
What are some stigma’s surrounding illness?
After diagnosis, encouraged to conceal their condition
Feel ashamed and strategies to present themselves as ‘normal’
Need to justify oneself
Meeting social expectations
What did Smith and Anderson (2018) research discover about experience of inequalities and individua responsibility?
Found that people who are living with socioeconomic disadvantage already have a good understanding of the links between socioeconomic hardship and ill-health.
They are reluctant to explicitly acknowledge health inequalities which indicates an attempt to resist the stigma and shame of poverty and poor health and reassert control
What is the importance of understanding changes to a person’s self-identity?
Shown in areas of rehabilitation such as people who have severe head injuries or spinal cord injury and people who have had a stroke
