Introduction
Social identity is an essential element of any complex modern society, characterizing, shaping, and reflecting the processes taking place in it. Social identity as a concept is not new for the social sciences but nevertheless requires a clear definition before any discussion. As a rule, social identity is considered a complex persona-forming system with a multi-level structure. At the last social level, identity is defined as a construct that reflects a person’s internal solidarity with social ideals and standards and thereby helps the process of self-categorization of one’s personality. Several central components are distinguished in the structure of social identity. The main parts of social identity are gender, ethnicity, age, and professional identity. Obviously, to be categorized as one belonging to a particular group from mentioned components of identity, a person is assessed as to the parameters that represent these groups. Hence, it is rational to view social identity as determining the presence of a group’s parameters in an individual. Thus, social identity is vital for self-identification through associating oneself with a group; multiple phenomena that reflect and shape personalities are discussed in this essay.
Main body
Speaking about the main subjective factors that constitute one’s social identity, the ethnic component has become the most significant for me. Despite the fact that the attitudes towards the associations with national communities have changed in modern society, they still have weight. These changes mean that ethnic identity in different cultures either fades or, in contrast, is manifested vividly, making the concept somewhat polarized (Davis, Love, and Fares, 2019). Ethnic identity is most often formed not as a result of an inborn particular national quality but in the process of an individual’s self-determination. A surname with pronounced ethnic attributes, for example, does not always influence or determine the identity of the person. For the self-determination of a person on a national basis, this is not enough. However, if there are apparent ethnic contradictions in a society, even a surname can be significant. For me, a Caribbean Black person, certain cultural elements associated with my ethnic group are still essential. Combining many features of historically separated cultures but culturally related, Caribbean cultural characteristics are distinctive and allow me to articulate the factors that identify me more clearly.
Professional affiliation also directly affects the self-identification of an individual. Professional identity is not only a choice of an occupation done in young years but also a determining factor throughout a person’s life as to their focus of activity. The choice of specialization depends not only on a person but also on an assortment of other reasons. These include economic factors, such as crises, changes of residence, inability to perform professional duties for health reasons, and other variables. Professional identity is primarily influenced by external causes affecting the economic situation, its change, the emergence of new financial assets, changes in working conditions, and the content of professional activity (Shayo, 2020). This is especially important for me since I am involved in activities most closely related to the ongoing processes within the economy. Since I am a trader, my professional identity is closely linked to the market’s stability which relates to the bids that I make. Thus, my professional identity is involved in the interaction of economic, geographical, and many other factors that predetermine the success of my carrier and my financial status.
As for the definition of other groups to which I can attribute myself, I can quite specifically say that my personality is largely determined by the concept of a modern wealthy man. Unlike past generations of the middle class, mine has a more relaxed and independent existence, which includes modern methods of earning, leisure, and lifestyle connected to modern technologies and achievements in the IT field. Hence, I also relate myself to groups that identify by social, economic, and age factors. I can differentiate myself from the past era’s people who had a more intense life that depended on multiple interrelated factors of local communities. Moreover, their existence depended on both professional and educational success because higher education was considered decisive for a decent job and social growth. For today’s younger generation, this is not as relevant for a variety of reasons, mostly stemming from the benefits of the internet (Pan, Gruber, and Binder, 2019). Thus, my social and economic position also acts as a component of social identification, as well as age, which distinguishes modern generations from past ones.
Social identification has an interesting feature: through it, a social influence on a person occurs. Generally, people are motivated to feel positive about themselves and maintain self-esteem, and often this comes at the expense of favoritism within their social group. The material and emotional investment people make in group membership causes their self-esteem to be tied to their social position. Therefore, a positive assessment of one’s internal position within a group, compared with the corresponding factors that characterize this position, leads to a positive social identity (Reyes-Menendez, Saura, and Thomas, 2020). If a positive assessment of one member of the group is not possible, people tend to use different strategies, such as social mobility and competitiveness, which is also present in my behavior. For example, when I can use some resources that are available to me but can harm my college’s success, I prefer to use them; this, in turn, raises my self-esteem. Thus, social mobility, as well as a positive assessment of one’s internal position within professional and social groups, are connected.
Furthermore, it is worth discussing in greater detail how exactly the intra-group factors influenced me, as well as the positive influence that they have manifested. By joining a group with a higher social position, a person’s position within the social group can improve qualitatively. Indeed, this will not change the group’s status but the group status of its individual member. Social mobility within the groups and circles in which I find myself also strongly influences my social identity, allowing me to feel confident in different communities without limiting myself.
Summary
Summarizing all of the above, I can highlight that social identification is extremely important for both an individual and society as a whole. After conducting a socio-psychological analysis for the purpose of self-identification, I realized that I am strongly influenced by social, economic, ethnic, and many other factors. They define me as a person, differentiate me from others, and yet allow me to be a more active member of society, being in comfort and self-confidence. Social mobility, as well as competitive personality traits, reinforced by knowledge of my own social identity, characterize me and allow me to understand the further development of my personality better.
References List
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Drury, J. (2018). ‘The role of social identity processes in mass emergency behaviour: An integrative review’, European Review of Social Psychology, 29(1), pp. 38–81.
Pan, N. D., Gruber, M. and Binder, J. (2019). ‘Painting with all the colors: the value of social identity theory for understanding social entrepreneurship’. Academy of Management Review, 44(1), pp. 213–215.
Reyes-Menendez, A., Saura, J. R. and Thomas S. B. (2019) ‘Exploring key indicators of social identity in the #MeToo era: Using discourse analysis in UGC’, International Journal of Information Management, 54, pp. 1-11.
Shayo, M. (2020). ‘Social Identity and Economic Policy’, Annual Review of Economics, 12(1).