Topic 2: Identity

Activity 3: Reading – Identity

Please read the following text which introduces you to the concept of identity.

^{This activity contains text from Chapter 3: Self and Identity and Identity in Intercultural Communication for the Community College (2nd ed.) by Karen Krumrey licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0. Minor changes made for readability.}

Identity

Thinking about communication in terms of self and identity has some important implications.

First, identities are created through communication. As messages are negotiated, co-created, reinforced, and challenged through communication, identities emerge. Different identities are emphasized depending on the topic of the conversation and the people you are communicating with. Second, identities are created in spurts. There are long time periods where we don’t think much about ourselves or our identities. Whereas other times, events cause us to focus on our identity issues and the insights gained modify our identities.

Third, most individuals have developed multiple identities because of membership in various groups and life events. Societal forces such as history, economics, politics, and communities influence identities. Fourth, identities may be assigned by societies, or they may be voluntarily assumed, but the forces that gave rise to particular identities are always changing.

Lastly, it is important to remember that identities are developed in different ways in different cultures. Individualistic cultures encourage young people to be independent and self-reliant, whereas collectivistic cultures may emphasize interdependency and the family or group.

Personal, Social, and Cultural Identities

We must avoid the temptation to think of our identities as constant. Instead, our identities are formed through processes that started before we were born and will continue after we are gone; therefore, our identities aren’t something we achieve or complete. Three related, but distinct components of our identities are our personal, social, and cultural identities.

Personal identities include the components of self that are primarily intrapersonal and connected to our life experiences. You may consider yourself a manga lover and a fan of K-pop. Our social identities are the components of self that are derived from involvement in social groups with which we are interpersonally committed.

We may derive aspects of our social identity from our family or from a community of fans for a sports team. Social identities differ from personal identities because they are externally organized through membership. Our membership may be voluntary (such as in a fraternity or sorority on campus) or involuntary (such as in your family). Membership may also be explicit (we pay dues and taxes to our local government) or implicit (we listen to music when studying).

While our personal identity choices express who we are, through our social identities we make statements about who we are and who we are not. Personal identities may change often as we have new experiences and develop new interests. Social identities do not change as often because they take more time to develop as you become more invested.

Cultural identities are based on social constructed categories that teach us a way of being and include expectations for social behaviours or ways of acting. Given that we are often a part of them since birth, cultural identities are the least changeable of the three. The ways of being and the social expectations for behaviour within cultural identities do change over time, but what separates them from most social identities is their historical roots. To be accepted as a member of a cultural group, members must be acculturated, essentially learning, and using a code that other group members will be able to recognize (Collier, 1996). We are acculturated into our various cultural identities in obvious and less obvious ways. We may literally have a parent or friend tell us what it means to be a man or a woman. We may also unconsciously consume messages from popular culture that offer representations of gender.

Any of these identity types can be ascribed or avowed. Ascribed identities are personal, social, or cultural identities that are placed upon us by others, while avowed identities are those that we claim for ourselves. Sometimes people ascribe an identity to someone else based on stereotypes.

Throughout history, cultural and social influences have established dominant and nondominant groups. Dominant identities historically had, and currently have more resources and influence, while nondominant identities historically had, and currently have less resources and influence. It’s important to remember that these identity distinctions are being made at the societal level, not the individual level. Because of this uneven distribution of resources and power, members of dominant groups are granted privileges and power, while nondominant groups can be at a disadvantage.

Although the topic of identities is weighty and important in the study of communication, this is as far as we are going to cover in a lower-level communication course. Knowing the basics about the various types of identities and how they are formed prepares us to delve into more specifics about why identity differences matter.

Activity 4: Personal Reflection Journal – Reflection Question 2

Please answer the following reflection in any format you like (such as in writing, a video, note form, or a drawing). Save your reflection responses in one large file so you can refer to them later in the course if needed. Please continue to read the text after completing the reflection question.

^{This activity contains text from Chapter 2: Communication and the Self by Terri Johnson licensed under CC BY 4.0. Minor changes made for readability.}

Self-Presentation

How we perceive ourselves manifests in how we present ourselves to others. Self-presentation or impression management is the process of strategically concealing or revealing personal information in order to influence others’ perceptions. We engage in this process daily and for different reasons. Although people occasionally intentionally deceive others in the process of self-presentation, in general, we try to make a good impression while still remaining authentic. Since self-presentation helps meet our instrumental, relational, and identity needs, we stand to lose quite a bit if we are caught intentionally misrepresenting ourselves.

In May of 2012, Yahoo!’s CEO resigned after it became known that he stated on official documents that he had two college degrees when he actually only had one. In a similar incident, a woman who had long served as the dean of admissions for the prestigious Massachusetts Institute of Technology was dismissed from her position after it was learned that she had only attended one year of college and had falsely indicated she had a bachelor’s and master’s degree. Such incidents clearly show that although people can get away with such false self-presentation for a while, the eventual consequences of being found out are dire. As communicators, we sometimes engage in more subtle forms of inauthentic self-presentation. For example, a person may state or imply that they know more about a subject or situation than they actually do in order to seem smart or “in the loop.” During a speech, a speaker works on a polished and competent delivery to distract from a lack of substantive content. These cases of strategic self-presentation may not ever be found out, but communicators should still avoid them as they do not live up to the standards of ethical communication.

Consciously and competently engaging in self-presentation can have benefits because we can provide others with a more positive and accurate picture of who we are. People who are skilled at impression management are typically more engaging and confident, which allows others to pick up on more cues from which to form impressions. Being a skilled self-presenter draws on many of the practices used by competent communicators, including becoming a higher self-monitor. When self-presentation skills and self-monitoring skills combine, communicators can simultaneously monitor their own expressions, the reaction of others, and the situational and social context.

In general, we strive to present a public image that matches up with our self-concept, but we can also use self-presentation strategies to enhance our self-concept. When we present ourselves in order to evoke a positive evaluative response, we are engaging in self-enhancement. In the pursuit of self-enhancement, a person might try to be as appealing as possible in a particular area or with a particular person to gain feedback that will enhance one’s self-esteem. For example, a singer might train and practice for weeks before singing in front of a well respected vocal coach but not invest as much effort in preparing to sing in front of friends.

Although positive feedback from friends is beneficial, positive feedback from an experienced singer could enhance a person’s self-concept. Self-enhancement can be productive and achieved competently, or it can be used inappropriately. Using self-enhancement behaviours just to gain the approval of others or out of self-centeredness may lead people to communicate in ways that are perceived as phony or overbearing and end up making an unfavourable impression.

“Getting Plugged In” – Self-Presentation Online: Social Media, Digital Trails, and Your Reputation

Although social networking has long been a way to keep in touch with friends and colleagues, the advent of social media has made the process of making connections and those all important first impressions much more complex. Just looking at Facebook as an example, we can clearly see that the very acts of constructing a profile, posting status updates, “liking” certain things, and sharing various information via Facebook features and apps is self-presentation. People also form impressions based on the number of friends we have and the photos and posts that other people tag us in. All this information floating around can be difficult to manage. So how do we manage the impressions we make digitally given that there is a permanent record?

Research shows that people overall engage in positive and honest self-presentation on Facebook. Since people know how visible the information they post is, they may choose to only reveal things they think will form favourable impressions. But the mediated nature of Facebook also leads some people to disclose more personal information than they might otherwise in such public or semi-public forums. These hyperpersonal disclosures run the risk of forming negative impressions based on who sees them. In general, the ease of digital communication, not just on Facebook, has presented new challenges for our self-control and information management. Sending someone a sexually provocative image used to take some effort before the age of digital cameras, but now “sexting” an explicit photo only takes a few seconds. So people who would have likely not engaged in such behaviour before are more tempted to now, and it is the desire to present oneself as desirable or cool that leads people to send photos they may later regret.

In fact, new technology in the form of apps is trying to give people a little more control over the exchange of digital information. An iPhone app called “Snapchat” allows users to send photos that will only be visible for a few seconds. Although this isn’t a guaranteed safety net, the demand for such apps is increasing, which illustrates the point that we all now leave digital trails of information that can be useful in terms of our self-presentation but can also create new challenges in terms of managing the information floating around from which others may form impressions of us.

Activity 5: Personal Reflection Journal – Reflection Question 3

Please answer the following reflection in any format you like (such as in writing, a video, note form, or a drawing). Save your reflection responses in one large file so you can refer to them later in the course if needed. Please continue to read the course text after completing the reflection question.

^{This activity contains text from Chapter 2: Communication and the Self by Terri Johnson licensed under CC BY 4.0. Minor changes made for readability.}

Media Attributions

Bogulov, V. (2021, October 15). Photo of person from torso up [Photograph]. Unsplash. https://unsplash.com/photos/a-woman-in-a-blue-shirt-and-purple-tie-MjdMKvEEuqo

Pierce, T. (2006, March 28). In which it is determined that the urge to moblog can overpower the instinct for self-preservation [Photograph]. Flickr. https://www.flickr.com/photos/48439369@N00/131917533

References

Collier, M.J. (1996).  Communication Competence Problematics in Ethnic Friendships. Communication Monographs, 63(4), 318.

Johnson, T. (n.d.). Chapter 2: Communication and the self. In Introduction to human communications. OER Commons. https://oercommons.org/courseware/lesson/102255/overview