Identity formation Notes

What makes Up Identity Formation?

1. Identity formation is shaped by social groups, media, family, culture, and the institutions that organize society.
2. Archaeological evidence suggests that Homo sapiens has been a "social animal" for hundreds of thousands of years.
3. Living in groups supported survival, but it also meant people learned shared ways of thinking and behaving.

How Do Human Needs Help Explain Why We Seek Belonging?

1. A useful starting point for understanding identity formation is human motivation.
2. Touching again on Maslow's proposed a hierarchy of needs, belonging to a social group can help meet needs at every level:
   1. Practically, groups can help with food, work, and protection.
   2. Emotionally, groups provide friendship, care, and acceptance.
   3. Socially, groups provide status and roles that can build confidence.
3. As these needs are met, people often develop a more stable sense of who they are and where they fit.

How Do Social Groups Shape Identity Through Roles, Norms, and Participation?

1. A social group is a set of people who interact and share some sense of belonging.
2. Groups shape identity because they provide a "social mirror": we learn who we are partly through how others respond to us.
3. Its three key mechanisms are:
   1. Roles
      1. Expected patterns of behavior (for example, team captain, class representative, older sibling).
      2. Roles give identity structure, they answer "What is my place here?"
   2. Norms
      1. Informal rules about what is "normal" or acceptable.
      2. Norms shape identity by rewarding some behaviors and discouraging others.
   3. Recognition
      1. Praise, inclusion, criticism, teasing, or exclusion.
      2. These experiences can strengthen or challenge self-image.
4. Groups also promote participation because the group's survival and success depend on members contributing.
5. However, groups may limit individual behaviour to keep the group stable and functional.

How Does Culture Provide The Shared Meanings That Make Identity Possible?

1. It is also commonly described as a "complex whole" that includes knowledge, belief, art, law, morals, custom, and other capabilities and habits acquired as a member of society.
2. Culture shapes identity by providing:
   1. Symbols and meanings (language, clothing, celebrations)
   2. Values (what is considered important, admirable, or shameful)
   3. Belonging (a sense of "us", and sometimes "them")
3. Because culture influences what people consider normal and valuable, it influences the identities people can easily "live" without conflict.

Cultural diffusion changes identity over time

1. In a globalized world, culture is often fluid, diffusing through migration, trade, tourism, education, and especially digital media.
2. Diffusion can lead to:
   1. Homogenization, when the same trends, products, and practices become common in many places.
   2. Diversification, when people gain more options and build hybrid identities (mixing influences).

Example

• St Patrick's Day is celebrated far beyond Ireland.
• For some, joining in expresses connection to heritage. For others, it becomes part of a local city's culture.
• The same tradition can support different identities depending on context.

How Do Institutions Shape Identity by Setting Formal Rules and Values?

1. While culture and peer groups shape identity informally, institutions shape identity through formal structures.
2. Schools, governments, legal systems, and religious organizations create rules and expectations about behavior and belonging.
3. For centuries, religion has shaped societies and has often been linked to governance.
4. Some countries still have state religions where religious law influences national law.
5. Other countries have secular legal systems that evolved from religious values but are not controlled by religious organizations.
6. In either case, laws are used by social groups to set standards for behavior.
7. They make clear what conduct will and will not be tolerated, and they influence shared values.
8. The philosophical study of values and what people "ought" to do is normative ethics.

How Does Media and Technology Create New Spaces for Identity "Work"?

1. Technology changes communication, which can increase Durkheim's moral density.
2. Social media, messaging apps, and online communities can intensify interactions and broaden social networks far beyond local geography.
3. Digital spaces influence identity formation by:
   1. Encouraging curated self-presentation (choosing what to show and hide)
   2. Providing rapid feedback (likes, comments) that can affect self-esteem
   3. Creating communities based on interests or beliefs (even if members never meet)
   4. Speeding up cultural diffusion through constant exposure to global trends
4. However, these spaces can also increase pressure to perform, reward conformity, or amplify stereotypes.

In What Ways Is Identity A Negotiation Between Agency and Structure?

1. Identity formation isn't something society simply "does" to individuals, nor is it purely personal choice.
2. It's a negotiation between:
   1. Agency, our ability to make choices, interpret experiences, and pursue goals.
   2. Structure, the social forces that guide or limit choices (laws, traditions, economic resources, discrimination, school rules).
3. You may choose hobbies and friend groups (agency), but opportunities are shaped by family resources, institutional policies, and cultural expectations (structure).
4. So, understanding identity formation means explaining both.

What's A Useful Framework For Analyzing Identity Formation?

1. Identify key identity markers (language, nationality, gender, beliefs, interests).
2. Identify the most influential social groups (family, peers, teams, online communities).
3. Describe relevant cultural influences (values, traditions, expectations).
4. Identify key institutions shaping behaviour (school, law, religion, media organisations).
5. Explain change over time (migration, cultural diffusion, new technology, changing moral density).
6. Evaluate likely tensions (belonging vs individuality, norms vs rights).