28 Hr Deadline! 2 Cultural Psychology Assessments to be done!

Running Head: Personal vs. Social Identities

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CAR 2: Personal vs Social Identities

Yip Jang Yuan Joe 13635212

PY2108 James Cook University

Running Head: Personal vs. Social Identities

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Concepts

Religion has perennially been classified by society as contentious topic, but to some it

acts as a channel for individuals to identify themselves. Disciplines ranging from theology to

philosophy would present a different definition to religion, but fundamentally they reached a

consensus that it is kind of faith established from insecurities that threatens the personal

identity men in respect to their roles on our planet (Oppong, 2013).

The way humans identify themselves plays a significant role in shaping their

perception towards the planet which is a trait particularly salient from youth. To demonstrate

the correlation, a conceptual framework was introduced which demonstrated the presence of

religion to be a sacrosanct establishment for youths to recognize benevolent acts towards

society which renders their respective identities cathartically (Ebstyne King, 2003).

Actions

For the discussion on identity, I have chosen to focus on religion and this is through

the a story of how it manifested as a positive change to a troubled youth across a few years.

This young boy was a recalcitrant offender for theft and many were perplexed by his

reprobate behaviour. The story behind it spoke of negligence and condemnation which

encourage his rebellion as an outlet to seek attention. Although he was adamant from the

start, a Samaritan invited him to attend a sermon.

A song was titled “Replace it with Your Love” aired which spoke wonderfully about

the acts of magnanimity and compassion. He became very deterministic picked himself up.

The musical lyrics instilled the love he had yearned for and motivated him to build his

Running Head: Personal vs. Social Identities

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personal motto as a tenacious person. Without a sound social support, it was heartwarming

when he identified his religious faith as a benefactor. Coming from a broken family, he

shared the retardation of his emotional development because his childhood was shrouded by

pandemonium.

He sought an identity through spiritual affiliation and became an agent of change to

those enduring imperfections as that of his own family. Apparently, every action starts

intrinsically and the role of music was cardinal in establishing tenacity. There was an obstacle

of pain within him yet to be addressed, which rendered any personal beliefs or development

he had to be irrelevant. This demonstrated the impact of personalizing religion and how it

spurs an individual to do what is necessary in accordance to his identity. Establishing a

religious identity does not occur overnight, but it is humbling to see how they can start from

within and be manifested in areas such as reinforcing existing beliefs and cultivating

emotional resiliency to do better.

Having social affiliation with religion promotes introspection and deep thinking

which is essential in being receptive, responsible and cultivating kingdom friendships.

Identifying with religion would encourage the instillation of humility which shapes individual

attitudes positively to do greater things that would otherwise be tedious if he were obstinate.

It puts an individual at ease with knowledge that their lives are assured which distracts them

from perpetuating harmful behaviours.

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Reflections

Religion is imperative to shape identities vulnerable to violence, and in the absence of

it would deprive individuals of any reverence to make social changes which is analogous to

the nonchalant attitude displayed by secular nations in handling sensitive issues (Hayes,

1995). However, this happened to be coincidental to my experience and I identified that the

impact of religion as an identity is very much exclusive because of factors such as

personality. What I noticed was superficial and there could be other factors not known to me.

That said, I do identify with how religious affirmations helped to sooth a troubled individual

and whilst this continues to be studied, I found it refreshing to hear of testimonies which

helped strengthened my religious identity as a Christian.

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References

Ebstyne King, P. (2003). Religion and identity: The role of ideological, social, and spiritual

contexts. Applied Developmental Science, 7(3), 197-204.

Hayes, B. C. (1995). The impact of religious identification on political attitudes: An

international comparison. Sociology of religion, 56(2), 177-194.

Chicago

Oppong, S. H. (2013). Religion and identity. American International Journal of

Contemporary Research, 3(6), 10-16.