leading lives that matter

Sources of my Identity

Introduction

My personal identity deals with the philosophical questions that arise about humans by the virtue of being individuals or people. However, this argument contrasts with any questions that entail the virtues of human beings as conscious beings or material objects. Many people will seek to understand their identity by asking the questions of what am I? When did I come to being? What will happen when I die? It is such questions that probe possible other questions that seek to have several answers regarding the indemnity of an individual. The sources of identity will mostly differ differently from one person to another, as they are influenced by a wide range of external factors throughout one’s period of growth(Payne 17).

Human beings have an unchanging need for uniqueness, and quite often, the search for this happens through the use of meaning and symbolism with the help of products and brands such as surroundings, time, and exposure to other variables. The mentioned meanings and symbolisms are at times not necessary as the brands of products, and wares may be inherent making one person to be completely different from the other in terms of behavior, thinking, or reasoning. This augment concedes with that of McCrae and Costa, which suggests that one’s cultural meanings take part in making up for one’s identity, which is the personality (Payne 17). Culture anticipates for use of symbols for identity working outwardly to construct the social world and inwardly to construct self-identity. In this way, personal identity plays a vital role when it comes to dictating one’s inner and outer circumstances. Every human is different from the others as anticipated his or her personality. This can be justified by the way people communicate socially.

The study of the psychology of personal identity has existed as organized entity since 1940s. There have been two major theories of human personality; one was dispositional or trait theory and the other one is person-situational theory. The trait theory did account for the centralist approach and internal constructs with governed behavior in a given or a particular situation derived mainly from internal characteristics of personality. In the west that is the western world, a layman’s understanding of personality is related tothe trait approach, and this laid its basis or roots from the 19th-century liberalism

The trait theory posted broad stable factors, traits, or behavioral dispositions as its fundamental units. Its primary goal was to characterize individuals in terms of a comprehensive nevertheless, preferably and finite small set of stable dispositions that have always remained invariant across situations and that were distinctive for a person determining a wide range of important behavior. In the recent years, the trait theory has been personified in the big five-model of human personality. This model reduced the large numbers of adjectives that described personal identity to only five dormant dimensions, which provided a consensual framework for organizing and classifying descriptors of human personality. These descriptors explainpersonal identityin its broadest sense since it captures abundantly as opposed to the case of trait theory(Payne 17). It is for the same reason that this study finds it necessary to discuss personal identity in relation to one’s surrounding conditions, societies, educational environment, media, and financial situations among other variables.

Several concepts pertaining to the development of personal identity perceptions have been used nearly interchangeably in the literature to illustrate one’s behavior, preference, and lifestyle. Personal identity has typically been viewed from a promotions perspective, with an emphasis on developing an overall image that appeals to one’s conduct. In this research study, it was necessary to use trait theory as well as the five model of personal identity to account and substantiate the crucial factors that go along with human personality. It was clear that one's surroundings and the environment that he or she was brought up in affect his or her personality growth as desired. From this point of view, it is possible to develop one's personality from experiences of his or her childhood (Owens,et al. 21).

In conclusion, human beings are ever unique from each other because of personality, which is as a result of the environment under which one is brought up. Exposure to rich factors can develop personal identity: the environment that an individual spends as a child, and the general upbringing among other factors. One personality affects an individual outwardly or internally implying that his or her inner circumstance is modified as per its interests. This explains why some people despite being in the same environment can still portray difference in behaviors patterns. It is necessary to note that the caretakers, mothers, and parents should try to understand these variables and factors in order to develop their child in the way they would like them to be. It is significant to mention that the hypothesis of this study was achieved owing to the outcome of the review conducted.

Works Cited

Owens, Timothy J, Sheldon Stryker, and Robert W. White. Self, Identity, and Social Movements. Minneapolis [u.a.: Univ. of Minnesota Press, 2000. Print.

Payne, Kenneth L. Telling Stories: Sources of Identity in the Church of Christ. , 2000. Print.

Teacher comment :

I'm confused.    You are quoting Owens and Payne, but they are not part of the assigned readings for this course.  Can you rewrite this essay to explore and discuss the essays for week 3 (Sayers, Piercy, Harding, Dillard, Heschel, Waldau, and Brown video).  Let me konw if you have any questions.