Who I am? Who do I want to be in life? What guides me? What are my tastes? These are the typical questions that all of us in the world have unconsciously asked ourselves to define our personal identity.
Personal identity is the subjective and individual perception that a person has about himself; it is the consciousness of existing. They are those information that cause an impact and are acquired throughout life, they can reach such a point of transcendence that they are capable of completely altering the pattern of behavior and personality.
Its development begins from childhood; When the infant is already aware of the presence of others and also of his own in the world, step by step he begins to process the role he represents for society. The own Personal Identity becomes a necessity and right of the person.
What is personal identity?
In much of the world, it is considered that children should develop in an environment lacking in immoral acts, since it would prevent the development of a citizen capable of harming others and himself. From an intimate point of view, people are one of the most important elements in an individual's personality.
Childhood is essential for the formation of a personal identity so that in the process of growth until reaching adulthood the individual is able to have a correct decision-making, which is the process in which a choice is made between the alternatives or options to solve different life situations in different areas: family, personal, sentimental, work, etc.
Social interaction is a social integration skill very significant, since, without the existence of this, the common individual would not have the facility to identify with the different types of tastes and behaviors, which are ethereally small details that define a person if he manages to join a group. The ideologies that he views from childhood, in fusion with the environment, begins the formation of the vision with which the world will be appreciated.
Belonging to a community and agreeing with the ideas that it cultivates, can generate a notable influence on the identity of the person. Language, nationality, social tribe, traditions and even the family notably affect behavior, because they are agents that completely involve us and because of their constant transmission of information on how one belongs to them. On the other hand, name and age are one of the elements that make up the sense of individuality.
Each person is relatively autonomous, since their development depends on their social and cultural environment, that is why personal liberation is only achieved by altering the group of institutions that human beings have created and that can oppress or benefit their freedom. The activity of an individual It not only depends on instinctual behaviors, but also on its ability to multiply the symbolic register of possibilities of action, which implies opening up the thought towards the innovative and the unprecedented.
Characteristics of personal identity
According to the book "Social Psychology From Central America" by Martin-Baro, personal identity has four fundamental characteristics:
- It's arguably stable: "I'm still the same as yesterday, although perhaps for the better it has changed a bit."
- It refers to a world or social group: The individual is always willing to belong to groups of different nature, all of these have a peculiar sense and a singular meaning thanks to the social environment in which they carry out their activities.
- Personal Identity is consolidated in the interpersonal relationship.
- Personal Identity is a product of society as well as the action proper to the human person.
Elements that influence the construction of identity
The
This is the main agent that everyone thinks of when the elements are mentioned, it is the most direct, close and obvious. Everything begins at home, so the family is the institution that socially speaking is in charge of become a good person and in the member of a social group.
The school
It is another institution more open than the family one in which society gives it the charge of training people in social norms and customs. In this, the individual looks more vulnerable to being influenced by other people since each person and therefore each family has a different parenting method.
Groups of Friends
This is an agent that most of the time is ignored, but it really influences our way of being and acting the type of person with whom we meet, as a saying goes: "Tell me who you hang out with and I'll tell you who you are."
The society
Society is that group of people and institutions that coexist in a specific geographic location. The signatures that it carries, the style that it acquires will contribute to an individual the social position of the person, in relation to their profession.
Their complexes
There are times when an individual will always try to cover up the things they do not like about their person, transforming these negative points into a total obsession that has a damaging result since sometimes they can focus attention on what they are trying to hide , feeling totally negatively influenced and being completely sensitive to any comment or criticism that some aspect of their identity may generate.
The sense of protocol and correctness that the person possesses
This is related to whether it is subsequent to what is socially expected of her in her participation in different areas of social life of which at one time or another she has to be a part.
Identity construction process
- Recognition of your own body.
- Identification of the closest people, these are mainly the parents.
- Gradually he becomes related to the world that surrounds him in other institutions, this is usually the school.
- Learn to meet their needs through behaviors and tastes.
- He recognizes that he needs others to live and develop the idea of the Self.
- "I" image that reflects who I am.
There is not exactly a subject or a personal identity, without those who contribute decisively to their own development.
It is a result of relationships with the community, the person takes ways of being and ways of acting, develops some capacities and suppresses some others, all this together forms identity. We are beings that can innovate and create, For the same reason, the possibilities of rational action, of individuals and of the species, have been increasing, thanks to these great learning capacities.
Our actions also define us as human, which sometimes manifests as uncertainty or is even harmful. On many occasions, elections are held in contexts of pressure. Thus, the complexity of human actions or of the moral phenomenon has been accepted.
The typical differentiation between an ethics of convictions And a consequentialist ethic has given way to a kind of questioning between the two, which has supported the fact that an education has emerged based on the moral autonomy of the person and on the development of their critical sense, which is based on the ability to review old convictions, assimilate what has been observed and learned new, in breaking all cultural legacy and in looking for new rational arguments based on a logical discourse.