Psychology // The influence of culture on identity development
Abstract
Discussing about the influence of culture on identity development has been a relevant issue that impacts the essentials of sociology. Culture will be the center of discussion, detailing about its impact on developing identities of a certain individual, group, or organization. In addition, cultural influence is one of the most important issues that affects the behavior, transformation, and trends in the community, which will be included in the implication of the topic.
Introduction
Culture always plays an important role to our society. Every behaviors, actions, and influences are based on the interactions and decisions applied by the society. Core groups play a critical manifestation on how a culture is applied in our society, given that it has the chance, the ability, and the legacy of impacting the progressive actions of every civilian. This also applies with other individuals or groups from other cultures, which essentially promotes something valuable with other individual’s perspectives. As a result, culture enhances improvement that can generate a more valuable outcome for the influence of a certain practice to be remembered as well as to be adapted by the current society. Culture can also change over time due to several factors that allow individuals to engage in a valuable practice, which reflects the profile of a certain individual to become progressive as well as to influence other individuals.
Identity development is the process wherein the whole identity of a certain individual is transitioning over time. This is a gradual process wherein a person or a group will try to accept and appreciate their identity due to the influence of cultures. For this reason, the progressive action of identity is crucial for every individual for the reason that it reflects the behavior and practices that a person or any involved party will be aiming to value its identity. The influence of culture on identity development is just one of the main considerations why a person must have to continue their participation of tradition as a way to improve their essence with their practice or any belief. This is the reason why a community has a changing perception and value towards a certain phenomenon due to several factors wherein they are always being exposed as mentioned by Schindler (2014).
History of culture on identity development
Taking back during the ancient times, culture plays an important role for representing the identity of a certain individual. During the Stone Age era, there is already a distinct culture that can be observed to various parts of the world during that period. One is all about the way a certain group of ancient individuals use their tools to fulfill their lifestyle. This includes the tools that they use for hunting as well as for sustaining agricultural crops during their time. Geography also plays a considerable measure that enhances a certain culture to become more productive. People in the colder areas wear thick clothing while people living in the deserted areas wear almost nothing. In this reason alone, the influence of culture on identity development have progressed over time because people evolved so much that their cultural identity became productive and transformational during this period according to Sparrow (2014).
Speaking of identity development during the ancient times, people started developing their civilization by creating their distinctive identity. Ancient communities started to permanently identifying themselves to belong on a certain culture so that other communities and villages will recognize them for being who and what they are. As population developed, the influence of culture became a phenomenal transition because communities tried to penetrate other communities. During the Middle Ages, communities from all over the world started to integrate their culture, which aims for multicultural promotion. In this case, it became a routine for most societies that started to introduce their identity, practices, and tradition to other communities. The reason behind was to promote international understanding between two or more communities, sharing numerous insights and applications with regards to their cultural practices and belief. This practice generated until the present day when the influence of culture on identity development as multicultural according to James, et al., (2015).
Literature on the Factors affecting the influence of culture to identity development
As for the political factor, bilateral relations play an important role for allowing a certain country to be involved in cultural influence that takes place between two or more different nations. If a nation wants to collaborate with other culture, which aims to integrate new ideologies and applications that other communities practices. This is an important factor because it explains more about the essentials of participating with the rules and regulations of other societies, which opens doors for more opportunities that will appreciate their style of implementing their cultural behaviors and ideologies. As a political issue, there are laws and practices that differ in their laws and policies, which give a new insight for the existing community to expand their knowledge with regards to the cultural identities of a certain community. As a result, communities will be more involved in political related issues that can engage in a more explorative manner according to Wimmer (2015).
The other factor is all about the socio-economic issues affecting identity development. The economic factor is an influential way of enhancing a certain culture to become transformational. The identity of a certain individual, group, or organization translates their community’s economic-related activities and practices. Business groups and small-medium enterprise are the main drivers in this position because they play an important role for ensuring that the culture changes due to the existence of trade. In business, continuous transaction has been playing a critical role for circulating trade and investments within the community. Even outside the community, there is an existing trade that has been going on so that it will influence the culture that can transform the identity development of a certain individual. The economy shapes up with the business influence, which highlights the developmental issue of the identity of a community.
Cultural factor is the most suitable literature that impacts the identity of an individual that can develop as well as to become influential over time. One distinct culture is all about the religious identity of a certain individual. As a culture, a community may practice their religious belief and practice that represent their identity as a person. Affiliating their identity through the influence of their culture promotes their aspect of enhancing their behavioral issues, which could enhance the productivity of a business to become more productive. Faith is an important identity that a person represents because it helps to control their cultural identity by means of enhancing their practice and belief with other individuals. As a culture, the essential of being involved in a practice that represents their identity enhances the creativity of their cultural transformation to become more efficient while representing their brand or identity as a person.
Technology plays an important role for allowing the influence of culture on identity development. With respect to technology, this is one of the most suitable element that transform our society into a distinct society. This is because technological factor often represents the use of manmade inventions and facilities that changes the influence of culture on identity development. You will observe that every society has their own identity development for the reason that it is being manifested by the things that their people create and maintain. As a technology, there are variables of influence that enhances the credibility and productivity to consider as a way to promote the cultural wellness of a certain institution or individual. The influence on culture is something that a society must have to adhere so that their community because recognizable to other communities due to their unique way of enhancing their identity by means of production. This is manifested by the use of other factors that makes their community and identity to be a dynamic situation that enhances identity development.
Influences of culture on identity development
One major influence is the concept of liberation because each society has been transitioning from being conservative into a more liberal and a more accepting society. One example is when a conservative community is slowly becoming democratic and liberal. Laws and policies starts to become more accepting and more understanding to any modern practices that has already been applied by its own communities. There are new laws that protect the rights of minorities as an example to promote cultural influence on identity development and accepting new norms of practices. There are laws that seek to protect individuals who are belonging to minority groups, representing their culture, identity, and practices. Even though there are challenges with regards to permanently structuring identity development, there is a complacency that laws helps to prevent any illegal or unethical actions that affects other individuals because they are different from others.
The influence of culture can enhance the business identity of a certain society by means of generating a productive socio-economic development for anyone who wants to have a permanent job as well as a competitive lifestyle. Livelihood generating projects as well as enhancing new ideas that can regulate identity development in business is one of the key roles that promote understanding with regards to identity development. In our society today, the influence of business culture allow an individual to associate themselves as a working professional because they can engage in a position wherein they take part in a productive business activity. In this way, working professionals help businesses to grown their company, making them as a responsible and competitive businessman as part of their identity development. Businesses create their brand names so that the society will know the brand being advertised and then enticed by business groups to cater the needs of the consumers.
The influence of cultural brands also makes up with the development of identity. In terms of fashion, people can regard themselves according to the styles that they prefer with themselves. People can regard themselves as goth, classy, rugged, uniform, and as a flamboyant entertainer due to the influence of fashion. There are several fashionable designs that transform the identity of individual that can be also influenced by the weather. Fashionable items changes over time, depending on the climate or the weather of a certain community. In warmer areas, people often wear clothing that is more revealing. On the opposite side, people on the colder areas wear thicker clothing to protect their body from extreme weather conditions. People can also recognize your identity through your routine clothing routine, which is a product of cultural influence that makes our society distinct and dynamic that can always change from time to time.
In terms of technological influence, the use of electronic gadget represents a society wherein there is an active transformation in terms of identity development. One distinct example is the development of smart phones, which has been impacting our society’s regular routine that has been transforming our society to become a productive community. Technology represents our society’s status as a tool for representing the era of industrialization. Computer is the main driver for transforming our identity into a community where technological advancement is actively evolving our lifestyle and routine. The creation of cars, air transports, and sea transports represents the product of our societal productivity due to the assistance of technology. We can be able to communicate with other societies and cultures because there is a new platform that enhances the present society to become productive when using electronic gadgets. Cellular phones, computers, laptops, and other mobile devices help every individual to share information to others according to Greenberg (2013).
Benefits and challenges
The benefits on the influence of culture on identity development is all about the transformation that the society experiences. Laws and policies has been a key player for changing the perception of the society when it comes to engaging in legal and ethical virtues. Knowledge development makes a person become productive when the influence of culture is very rich in resources such as available online resources for the present generation to avail any information with just a push of a button. The culture of identity development is also becoming more diverse because there is a multicultural acceptance that our world has been enhancing in the present era. Technological exploration and development is also a key player for transforming the society into a productive community through the use of new inventions that promotes a productive advantage to improve our society’s interests as related by Kislev (2015).
As for the challenges, the influence of culture sometimes takes time and effort before identity development becomes efficient as well as accurate in every activity that it can apply. There are other parts of the world that are still suffering from atrocities due to extremism and illegitimate leaders who are running their respective county wrongly. This is the reason why there are some cultures that are fearful of other cultures due to the incidences of violence, intimidation, and coercion. The plight of phobias against other cultures is an example on how a perception is corrupted with misinformation. Individuals who provoke discriminatory acts against other cultures are a result of manipulation by other corrupt individuals who wants to initiate segregation from others. A culture becomes dangerous when it promotes censorship, violence, illegal activities, and teaching individuals to be involved in criminal activities, which is another challenge that our society must have to control before it affects the safety of others as mentioned by Chigbu (2015).
Implication
It has been learned that the influence of culture on identity development takes several factors before you will distinctively recognize a certain identity. This is because there are both internal and external developments that have been considered before confirming the identity of a certain individual. This means that culture is indeed dynamic because there are several factors and issues that should be considered. Each culture can be both influenced by two or more cultures, depending on their demographical identity. The lifestyle, routine, and affiliation are just an example on how a person can be associated with their cultural identity that can develop over time. As a culture, the development of a certain identity impacts other individuals and groups because there is a phenomenal trend that is attached to a certain practice that can benefit other individuals. However, one cannot deny that there are negative consequences that a culture can apply due to the instances of negativity in terms of the elements of the law.
It is important to learn more about the cultural influences in our society because it seeks to expand the knowledge and affiliation where a person will have to measure their productivity. Identity development comes with several factors, which should be always analyzed and then assessed depending on the situation of a person. Improving their identity comes with proper guidance because there should be an issue that can relate with the present activity and the daily routine of a person before they can engage in a certain practice and belief. The influence of culture is always instrumental because it can benefit the needs of the whole society. For example, if a person established their large-scale business, they can help other individuals by employment, which generate an economic-related cultural trend so that the community becomes productive and the economy of the community progresses over time according to Petrakis & Kostis (2013).
References
Chigbu, Uchendu Eugene (2015). “Repositioning culture for development: women and development in a Nigerian rural community”. Community, Work & Family. 18 (3): 334–50.
Greenberg, Jeff; Koole, Sander L.; Pyszczynski, Tom (2013-12-17). Handbook of Experimental Existential Psychology. Guilford Publications.
James, Paul; Magee, Liam; Scerri, Andy; Steger, Manfred B. (2015). Urban Sustainability in Theory and Practice: Circles of Sustainability. London: Routledge. p. 53.
Kislev, E. (2016). “The effect of education policies on higher-education attainment of immigrants in Western Europe: A cross-classified multilevel analysis”. Journal of European Social Policy. 26 (2): 183–99.
Petrakis, P.E. & Kostis, P.C. (2013). “Economic Growth and Cultural Change”. Journal of Socio-Economics. 47: 147–57.
Shindler, Michael (2014). “A Discussion On The Purpose of Cultural Identity”. The Apollonian Revolt.
Sparrow, Lise M. (2014). Beyond multicultural man: Complexities of identity. In Molefi Kete Asante, Yoshitaka Miike, & Jing Yin (Eds.), The global intercultural communication reader (2nd ed., pp. 393–414). New York, NY: Routledge.
Wimmer, Andreas (2015-07-28). “Is Diversity Detrimental? Ethnic Fractionalization, Public Goods Provision, and the Historical Legacies of Stateness”. Comparative Political Studies.
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