| As
primarily social animals, human beings naturally seek out
different groups to which they feel they have a certain
sense of belonging. But there are two different aspects
of this issue involved: identifying oneself with a social
group for its social implications and identifying oneself
with a social group for internal needs. A person can have
two different identities, one that involves an individual's
self-perception and the way that others see that particular
individual. There is a natural dichotomy between the two
sides of one's personality that is usually displayed between
the different types of social groups with which an individual
may identify oneself.
Self-definition
can either be honest or dishonest. A person may join a social
group because he or she thinks that the people that belong
to this type of group are the same as he or she, whether
it is true or not. The important detail to the individual
is that he or she would like to be the same as the people
that belong to this particular social group. As one example,
consider a person who grew up poor and poorly educated,
but became wealthy through the luck of the lottery or an
inheritance from an unknown but wealthy relative. This individual
then joins a wine-tasting club and buys season tickets to
the local Philharmonic Orchestra and opera house. Although
this individual knows nothing about wine, orchestras or
opera, he or she is seeking to identify him or herself as
a culturally literate person simply because the person is
now wealthy. Through joining these social groups, the individual
is seeking to define him or herself as socially elite, although
the only difference now is that the person has great wealth
and in reality probably does not fit in with the other members
of the groups. In this case, one's self-definition by identifying
with social groups does not match up with how society still
identifies the individual.
On
the other hand, there are individuals that very clearly
demonstrate who they are by their identification with certain
social groups. At a very basic level, younger people may
join gangs based on a sense of identification with certain
gang members or gang ideas. By displaying different identifying
tattoos or certain colors, these people clearly identify
who they are and what they stand for by the particular to
which they belong. Certain religious groups also give a
clear identity to their members. Joining an Islamic fundamentalist
group such as the Taliban or an Orthodox Jewish organization
indicates a certain identity that is common to all of its
members. Political organizations such as Greenpeace and
the National Organization for Women also make a certain
statement about the identity of an individual member. In
all of these cases, an individual's self-perception and
how others view that individual are probably very similar.
These types of organizations speak to a person's very fundamental
values and joining one is probably that person's way of
saying to the world "this is who I am".
Joining
other types of groups may or may not indicate a person's
self-identification. Being a Republican or a Democrat, for
example, may just be a matter of whichever party your parents
belong to. Spending time with a particular group of friends
may only mean that you like only one of the people in the
group or you have nothing better to do, it may have nothing
to do with your self-identification. People that belong
to these groups do not necessarily belong to any one social
group for identification purposes; it may be only a matter
of convenience.
It
depends on the individual and the particular social group
under discussion as to whether we primarily identify ourselves
through association with social groups. Once the individual
or the social group has been identified, a determination
must still be made as to whether the individual has joined
for self-identification purposes or to impress upon others
a certain image of that individual.
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words)
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