Identity

The cultural settings in which we are born and come to maturity influence our behaviour, but that does not mean that humans are robbed of individuality or free will. We might seem to be merely stamped into preset moulds which society has prepared for us. Some sociologists do tend to write about socialization as though this were the case; but such a view is fundamentally flawed. The fact that from birth to death we are involved in interaction with others certainly conditions our personalities, the values we hold and the behaviour we engage in. Yet socialization is also at the origin of our very individuality and freedom. In the course of socialization each of us develops a sense of identity and the capacity for independent thought and action.

The concept of identity in sociology is a multifaceted one, and may be approached in a number of ways. Broadly speaking, identity relates to the understandings people hold about who they are and what is meaningful to them. These understandings are formed in relation to certain attributes that hold priority over other resources of meaning. Some of the main sources of identity include gender, sexual orientation, nationality or ethnicity, caste, race, social class, etc.

There are two types of identity commonly used by sociologists:

1. Social identity
2. Self-identity (or personal identity)

These forms of identity are analytically distinct, but are closely related to one another. Social identity refers to the characteristics that are attributed to an individual by others. These can be seen as markers that indicate who, in a basic sense, that person is. At the same time, they place that person in relation to other individuals who share the same attributes. Examples of social identities might include student, mother, lawyer, Catholic, homeless, Asian, dyslexic, married, and so forth. Many individuals have social identities comprising more than one attribute. A person could simultaneously be a mother, an engineer, Muslim and a city councillor. Multiple social identities reflect the many dimensions of people’s lives. While this plurality of social identities can be a potential source of conflict for people, most individuals organize meaning and experience in their lives around a primary identity which is fairly continuous over time and across place.

Social identities therefore involve a collective dimension. They mark ways that individuals are ‘the same’ as others. Shared identities – predicated on a set of common goals, values or experiences – can form an important base for social movements. Feminists, environmentalists, labour unionists, supporters of nationalist movements, and so on are all examples of cases in which a shared social identity is drawn on as a powerful source of meaning.