What is identity? While this may seem like a simple question, the whole notion of identity can be quite complex and it has been the subject of considerable study by psychologists, philosophers, and social scientists. Identity encompasses not only an understanding of oneself but also a perception of one’s place in the world. How someone sees themselves is inextricably related to how they see their role in society.
In this lesson, you will be looking to answer the question: What is Identity?
While you may not recognize the painting here, you have most likely heard of the painter. As a teenager, Adolf Hitler dreamed not of dominating the continent of Europe, but of becoming a great artist. When he was unable to pass the entrance exam for the Vienna Academy of Fine Arts, Hitler’s interest eventually turned to politics.
How might the experience of being rejected by the art school have altered Hitler’s view of himself?
How might the world have been different if Hitler had continued to see himself primarily as an artist?
Social scientists and philosophers have described identity as a sense of personal continuity - being the same identifiable individual over the course of time - and an understanding of oneself as unique from others.
Two main types of identity are personal (yourself is unique from others) and collective (what you share with others, such as language, culture, faith, and ethnicity).
Values are the principles, ideals, or moral standards of a person or a social group that supports or leads to a person's beliefs. A belief is often expressed as a firm opinion or conviction.
Discovering your own beliefs and values is a journey. People often talk and write about:
In trying to answer these three questions, people create ideologies.
Do you have particular ideas about who you are, where you are going, and what you would like the world around you to be like? Some of your ideas may be uniquely yours, and some of your ideas may be shared with others. Those ideas about the world that you share with other people may be part of an ideology.
For example, a holistic Indigenous perspective might stress the importance of community and environment in the formation of identity.
An ideology is a system of thought based on beliefs and values. An ideology includes ideas about how the world works, how we should live together, how we should treat one another, why we should or should not care about other people and society, and what society could become in the future. Once we consciously embrace an ideology, it may cause us to re-examine and reinterpret our own life according to the principles of the ideology.
Beliefs: the ideas and understandings that a person holds to be true, often influenced by such things as culture, language, religion, gender, and worldview
Collective identity: aspects of an individual's identity that are held in common with a larger group.
Identity: the fact of being who or what a person or thing is.
Ideology: a system of thought based on beliefs and values that include ideas about how the world works, how we should live together as a society, and what society could become in the future
Personal identity: a set of characteristics that connect or set people apart from others.
Values: the ideas and understandings that people hold to be important or fundamental to who they are as individuals or as members of a group
Worldview: a collection of beliefs about life and the universe, the lens through which the world is viewed, or the overall perspective from which the world is held by an individual or group
Everyone has a distinct personal identity that has been shaped and continues to be shaped, by a wide variety of external factors. People share things in common with others in society and these similarities provide the foundation for a sense of collective identity.
In the next lesson, you will begin to examine beliefs and values. As you proceed through this section you will develop an understanding of the relationship between an individual’s identity and his or her system of beliefs and values.