Identity
Intercultural Communication
Representation
Othering
Mediation
Sense of differentiation
Cultural Identity
What makes you who you are
How has you are culture helped to make you who you are
Who are you
Culture
Provides people with different ways of thinking, seeing, hearing and interpreting the world
Involves a number of man made, collective artifacts and is shared by the members of social group
linked to communication and a wide range of human experience including feelings, identity and sense making
is something that shapes ones behavior or structures ones perception of the world
Culture and communication
Culture is often defined in interrelation to communication
Culture is communication and communication is culture
It means that culture is passed on via communication and communication reflects ones culture
Thinking Dialectically
It is through communication with our family, friends, and others that we come to understand ourselves and form our identity
Identity (the concept of who we are) is a bout who we are and who others think we are
Issues of identity are particularly important in intercultural interactions
Three communication approaches (perspectives)
Critical
Social science
Emphasizes that identity is created in part by the self in part in relation to group membership
Interpretive
Emphasizes that identities are negotiated, co-created, reinforces, and challenged through communication with others
The self is composed of multiple identities and these notions of identity are culture bound
Cross-Cultural Perspectives
Some cultures encourage young people to develop a strong sense of identity
Other cultures
reflects an emphasis on the cultural value of individualism
Emphasis on the collectivist notion of self
Three universal aspects of identity
Familial identity
Spiritual identity
Individualized identity
The sense of self as independent and self-reliant and sharp distinction between the self and others
The sense of self as always connected to family and others
Identification with feelings of connectedness to others and higher meanings in life
Ascription
Avowal
Core Symbol
The process by which others attribute identities to them
The process by which others attribute identities to them
Tell us about the fundamental beliefs and the central concepts that define a particular identity
The driving force behind a critical approach is the attempt to understand identity formation within the contexts of history, economics, politics, and discourse
The identities that others may ascribe to us are socially and politically determined. They are not constructed by the self alone
Pays particular attention to the societal structures and institutions that constrain identities and are often the root of in justice and oppression
Interpellation
The process by which one is pulled into the social forces that place people into a specific identity
Importance of Identity
Identity is the reflective self-conception or self-image that we each derive from our family, gender, cultural, ethnic, and individual socialization process
Identity is our self-concept, who we think we are as a person
Identity is a persons self definition as a separate and distinct individual, including behaviors, beliefs, and attitudes
Identity is how the self conceive of itself, and labels itself
Types of cultural identity
National
Personal
Ethnic
Regional
Racial
Organizational
Gender
Cyber and Fantasy
Associated with external physical traits
skin color, hair texture, eye shape
Derived from a sense of shared heritage, history,traditions, behavior....
The meanings and interpretations we hold concerning our self-images and expected on other images of femaleness and maleness
Skin color, language, weight, clothes, career
How a particular culture differentiates masculine and feminine social roles
Social class
World view
Age
young, old
income, occupation...
sense of self, relation of nature, universe...
Characteristics of cultural identity
Dynamic
Comples
Central
multifaceted
basic, more influential
not static, fixed, and enduring subject to change
Globalization, intercultural marriage and immigration
a student, friend, a man...
Development of cultural identity
People can identify with a multitude of groups; gender, age..
Our identities develop over a period of time and always through interaction with others
identities are shaped by our family life and upbringing, by gender, by the social groups to which we belong
How an individuals identity develops depends partly hon the relative position or location of the identity within the social hierarchy
Three stages
stage 2
stage 3
stage 1
unexamined cultural identity stage
No awareness of cultural differences and the distinguish characteristics that differentiate different cultures
Cultural identity search
Exploration and questioning about one`s culture
Cultural identity achievement
A clear, confident acceptance of oneself and an internalization of one`s cultural identuty
Two types of identity
Minority
Majority
Four stages
Conformity
Resistance and separation
Unexamined identity
Integration
lack of exploration of identity
internalization of values and norms of dominant group to assimilate into the dominant culture
characterized by a blanket endorsement of one`s group and all the values attributed to the group
the ideal outcome of the identity development process is the final stage- an achieved identity
Five stages
Resistance
redefinition
acceptance
Integration
Unexamined identity
same as minority identities
conscious or unconscious of a racist ideology
they avoid contact somewhat with minority groups
they adopt a patronizing stance toward them
both position are possible at the same time
move from blaming minority members for their condition to naming and blaming their own dominant group as a source of problem
characterized by embarrassment by one`s own privileged position
people begin to refocus their energy toward redefining their identity in a way that recognizes their privilege
individuals able to internalize their increased conciousness and integrate their majority identities into all other facets of their identity
Cultural identity in ICC
interaction only within one`s own culture
Interaction with other than one`s culture
appropriate
accurate
predictable
familiar
weird
ambiguous
unpredictable
unfamiliar
the dark side of identity
stereotyping
prejuidce
ethnocentrism
discrimination
generalization
negative attitude
behavioral manifestation of prejudice
beliefs, values, norms