Self and identity

The assumption that the self and society have a reciprocal connection is at the heart of a sociological approach to self and identity. Individual activities impact society, resulting in the formation of groups, organisations, networks, and institutions. In turn, society impacts the self through common language and meanings that allow a person to assume the role of another, interact socially, and reflect on oneself as an object. The heart of selfhood is the latter phase of reflexivity.

The sociological way of understanding the self and its identities implies that we must also comprehend the society wherein the self is functioning, and consider the fact that the self is constantly acting in a social environment where other selves exist. The essence of the self and what people do are heavily influenced by the culture in which we live.

The Self

In social psychology, the symbolic interactionist approach sees the self coming from the mind, the mind arising and evolving out of social interaction, and structured social contact constituting the foundation of social structure. The mind is the component of the self that thinks. It is a hidden activity in which the organism draws attention to itself and others’ messages. Language, which embodies meanings in the form of symbols, allows people to point out meanings and indicate them to others and themselves.

The self emerges when one’s self is enclosed as a collection of symbols to which one may react as an object, just as one would to any other symbol. 

Reflexivity is a characteristic of this process of selfhood. Humans have the ability to see themselves as objects and reflect back on themselves. They have the ability to consider and assess themselves, to account for themselves and plan appropriately to bring on future states, to be self-aware, or acquire awareness in relation to their own existence. Humans are, in this sense, a processual entity. They formulate and reflect on a regular basis.

Self and identity

The formation of self and identity is, first and foremost, a diverse, complicated process including both conscious and unconscious aspects. It may be thought of as a chain of interconnected events that encompasses all the changes in how teenagers perceive themselves in relation to others and their socio-cultural setting. There has been a significant deal of variability in the definitions provided to the core ideas at stake since these shifts have been tackled by both psychological and sociological studies.

One of the most persistent distinctions is between the term ‘self’ and ‘identity.’ Although some may think it’s contrived, this distinction is widely accepted as legitimate and in need of more elucidation. In the current theoretical discussion, there are several points of convergence that assist to frame the formation of identity in adolescence, despite the continued lack of agreement.

Self idea with self and identity, self-image, and self-esteem

Self-concepts that include the self idea, self-identity, self-image, and self-esteem are mental constructs that comprise content, attitudes, and evaluative judgments and are used to interpret the world, keeping the focus on one’s goals, and safeguarding one’s basic feeling of worth. If the self is made up of an “I” who believes and a “me” is the content of those beliefs, one key aspect of this “me” content is mental notions or beliefs about who one was, is, and will be. The content of self-concept lies in these mental notions.

The Concept of Self and Self Identity

Self-identity is a term that refers to a person’s self-definition, self-referent cognitions, or self-concept, that they apply to themselves as a result of the structural role positions they have or a particular action they engage in on a regular basis. The “labels people employ to define themselves” are reflected in self-identities. A person’s self-identities may include being a blood donor, a social worker, a daughter, a wife, a father, a grandfather, for example.

Self-identities give significance to the self by distinguishing roles or activities from counter roles or opposing behaviours, not only because they relate to specific role specifications or behaviours, but also because they separate roles or actions from counter roles or competing behaviours. For example, the function of the mother is significant in relation to the role of the father, the role of a doctor in relation to the role of the nurse, and so on.

We all have a lot of different views about ourselves. Some of the concepts may be just tangentially connected, and others may be incompatible. These paradoxes, on the other hand, don’t bother us since we’re only aware of a portion of our self-knowledge at any given moment.

Multiple self-schemas–separate ideas about a particular feature of the self–make up the concept of self and self-identity. When it comes to self-concept, the concept of self-schema is important because it explains how we might have a definite, well-rounded self-schema about one element of ourselves while having no knowledge about another. One individual may consider himself as organised and diligent, while another may see himself as chaotic and scatter-brained, and the third may have no opinion on whether he is organised or disorganised.

Conclusion

Self is made up of multiple angles relating to various aspects of a person’s life. The academic self-concept, the professional self-concept, self-concept in social connections, and self-concept in sport are all examples of these “self-specific notions.” 

An individual may have varying levels of specificity in their self-concepts, which may be grouped hierarchically from the most detailed to the most generic. The collection and gradual prioritising of distinct self-specific notions, followed by the organising and integration of these disparate self-images, results in a comprehensive but complicated self-representation.