Identity Develops in three, and since Hall did his writing four distinct stages.
When you are a young child or infant you slowly become aware of your humanity, or personhood. You learn that you are different from the dog or cat.
This could be labeled the Personal Stage. In it you most often exercise pre-conventional morality to make decisions, (I, Me, Mine! kind of thinking).
Soon, children develop a Relational Identity. I'm the child/They're the parents. You play different roles and take on different identities based on the relationship you maintain with others. So, Doctor/Patient, Teacher/Student, Father/Son, Friend/Friend*.
Later in life, but not much later, we adopt what Hall refers to as the Communal Identity (in the Samovar text!). This identity is easily marked by the demographic classifications into which you may fall. Male, Asian, Christian, Thai, College student, Athlete are some examples. The degree to which you identify with this classifications is determined by your parents early in life, but, later on, by the degree to which they please you or feel right.
*Friendships are not as rigid as the other relational pairings. How you behave and what is expected of you is ever-changing and in constant flux. We may be closer to some friends this week and more distant from others next week. Some acquaintances may become friends, some friends may become partners. What is right is usually what is pleasing to the identity you maintain and the other's "fit" into your identity.
A fourth stage, unmentioned by Hall, is a Cyber Identity. Hall didn't have access to internet. This identity is completely based on who you want to be and may bear no resemblance to your 'real' self. This freedom, afforded by technology, is new. How often do cyber-identities vary from reality and to what degree? Why is this so?
*Much like friendships, cyber-ships can be modified based on the degree of disclosure you wish to maintain with the other. Think of the Manti Te'o situation or Catfishing in general. There is GREAT flexibility in who you become in cyberspaces.
Identity as a concept can become stressed, if not over-stressed, in a multi-cultural nation such as ours.
When you are a young child or infant you slowly become aware of your humanity, or personhood. You learn that you are different from the dog or cat.
This could be labeled the Personal Stage. In it you most often exercise pre-conventional morality to make decisions, (I, Me, Mine! kind of thinking).
Soon, children develop a Relational Identity. I'm the child/They're the parents. You play different roles and take on different identities based on the relationship you maintain with others. So, Doctor/Patient, Teacher/Student, Father/Son, Friend/Friend*.
Later in life, but not much later, we adopt what Hall refers to as the Communal Identity (in the Samovar text!). This identity is easily marked by the demographic classifications into which you may fall. Male, Asian, Christian, Thai, College student, Athlete are some examples. The degree to which you identify with this classifications is determined by your parents early in life, but, later on, by the degree to which they please you or feel right.
*Friendships are not as rigid as the other relational pairings. How you behave and what is expected of you is ever-changing and in constant flux. We may be closer to some friends this week and more distant from others next week. Some acquaintances may become friends, some friends may become partners. What is right is usually what is pleasing to the identity you maintain and the other's "fit" into your identity.
A fourth stage, unmentioned by Hall, is a Cyber Identity. Hall didn't have access to internet. This identity is completely based on who you want to be and may bear no resemblance to your 'real' self. This freedom, afforded by technology, is new. How often do cyber-identities vary from reality and to what degree? Why is this so?
*Much like friendships, cyber-ships can be modified based on the degree of disclosure you wish to maintain with the other. Think of the Manti Te'o situation or Catfishing in general. There is GREAT flexibility in who you become in cyberspaces.
Identity as a concept can become stressed, if not over-stressed, in a multi-cultural nation such as ours.
Identity is a highly abstract, dynamic, multifaceted concept that defines who you are. Turner places the development of an identity into three broad categories, much as Hall does, but with different labels.
Stereotyping occurs when persons categorize experiences about another group of people and let those categorizations guide their behavior. Stereotypes refer to the behavioral norm of the whole group of people, not individual persons.
A prejudice is a strong feeling or attitude toward a particular social group or thing.
Racist persons believe that their race is superior to another race of people.
Ethnocentrism occurs when persons believe their culture is superior to other cultures.
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