Reconstructing social identity; Kay Deaux

Pg 4 – “…Identity lends itself to a variety of interpretations. In the present analysis, identity refers to social categories in which an individual claims membership as well as the personal meaning associated with those categories.”

~ Identity is social; the self is not social. Identity relates to personal meaning and personal ownership of cultures.

Pg 4 – “Thus identity is a way that we, as cultural observers or social scientists, can describe certain aspects of individual definition and behavior.”

~ Identity helps us to self-define our own self-knowledge and actions.

Pg 4 – “The term reconstruction intentionally evokes associations with the current discourse on construction and deconstruction.”

~ I guess I’m not the first person to think of identity in terms of construction and reconstruction.

Pg 4 – “Deconstruction, as literary critics have introduced the term, argues that one must question the text – that categories must be taken apart, examined for their underlying assumptions, and considered in terms of multiple meanings.”

~ This relates to talking about all the parts of identity and not just the basic word identity. Like how I’m going back and describing the self and culture and personal history.

Pg 4 – “Ascribed categories such as gender, race, and ethnicity are forms of identity that provide a basis for self-definition. So, too, are groups that evolve to provide support or political clout to those who identify with them, such as Gray Panthers or associations of family members of people with Alzheimer’s disease.”

~ Self-definition comes from self-knowledge and cultural affiliations.

Pg 5 – Speaking of Turner (1987) His analysis refers to three levels of abstraction in self-categorization, which constitute human identity, social identity, and personal identity.”

~ Hmm, interesting the three forms of identity. Personal identity = self; social identity = identity; human identity = combo of the two?

Pg 5 – “Erikson describes the resolution of identity crises as a major stage of development (though one that can be revisited), and Marcia and his followers measure identity integration as a stable personality disposition.”

~ I agree, being about to get through an identity crisis leads to a maturation and development.

Pg 5 – “Although I agree with Hogg and Abrams in viewing identities in terms of stable and definable entities, I see the distinction between personal and social as somewhat arbitrary and misleading. Rather than being cleanly separable, social and personal identity are fundamentally interrelated. Personal identity is defined, at least in part, by group memberships, and social categories are infused with personal meaning.”

~ I like the concept of personal and social identities being interrelated and unable to be completely separated. We are social beings, therefore, even things that are entirely personal and internal are still effected by external things.

Pg 6 – “…Identity is represented by clusters of identities and related clusters of traits” (citing other source)

~ I like this, I think it might work well while trying to draw out my idea on paper.

Pg 6 – “The identities at the lower level…are more specific and distinct from one another. Identities at higher levels share attributes with one or more of the lower categories while including other attributes, as well.”

~ The more you break down attributes the more they will be shared with other identities, another good thing for drawing out idea on paper.

Pg 6 – “Social identities are those roles or membership categories that a person claims as representative.”

~ So really, social identities are the ones someone claims membership to. Would personal identities be the one the person does not claim but is in anyways?

Pg 6 – “Personal identity refers to those traits and behaviors that the person finds self-descriptive, characteristics that are typically linked to one or more of the identity categories.”

~ Apparently, not. But good definition anyways.

Pg 6 – “The general framework for identity that I propose considers identity in terms of reasonably stable categories of membership to which a person claims to belong, together with sets of personal meanings and experiences linked to the identities.”

~ Amen to that! Great definition of identity and how it relates to other things.

Pg 6 – “The position of an identity within the overall structure is more than mere description. Particular positions may have important affective and behavioral correlates, as a recent study of women with lupus suggests…”

~ So identity can influence behavior, too.

Pg 8 – “A major function of group identification, according to Tajfel, is the enhancement of self-esteem. In social identity theory, self-esteem is enhanced through favorable comparisons between one’s own group and an outgroup.”

~ Why we need culture and group identification.

Pg 8 – “Social identity theory has tended to treat various categories of membership as theoretically equivalent, in keeping with the inclination of social psychology to deal with variables at a generic, rather than a specific, level of analysis.”

~ I disagree, as think various categories of membership are not equivalent. They are ranked differently than one another.

Pg 9 – “In social psychology, an interesting case for this debate is the discipline’s relative emphasis on internal versus external validity.”

~ Hmm, validity of an identity, this is important. It doesn’t matter if an identity is challenged, what really matters is how much validity you put towards that identity. If you think it is very valid then it can withstand more challenges/threats than those identities with lesser validity (both internal and external).

Pg 9 – “Role theory, of course, embedded self-categorizations in terms of relationships with others and a structural setting in which those relationships were carried out.”

~ Semi-definition of role theory.

Pg 11 – “Social identities, as conceptualized here, have stability, duration, and permanence. Although their expression may fluctuate with situation, the basic structure is relatively stable. Against the background of stability, however, important changes occur, precipitated either by a reshuffling of internal priorities or by alterations in the external environment. Longitudinal analysis enables us to look at these changing patterns and consequences.”

~ So the general social identity is stable, just various smaller bits change (like the self). Even with the stability, though, changes happen due to internal ranking changes or the external environment changing drastically.

Pg 11 – “There are many forms that change can take (Deaux, 1991). Identities can change in their evaluative aspect, as this study showed. Identity categories themselves can be added or deleted. Or, more simply, the characteristics associated with an identity can shift.”

~ Love this, describes identity changing.