NCERT Class 11 Home Science Influences on Identity How do we develop

You have read that we are not born with a sense of selfhood or identity. How does it develop then? How does it evolve and change over time? The self develops as a result of what you learn about yourself through the experiences you have and through what others tell you about yourself. Each person lives in a web of relationships – these relationships are in the family, school, workplace and community. The sense of self develops as a result of interaction with the people around you and through your actions. Thus multiple people shape the development of your self and the construction of the self is a continuous dynamic process. The word ‘construction’ implies that the self is not something that you are born with but which you create and develop as you grow. 

                                    

 

Recall any significant experience you have had. Did it influence the way you think about yourself? Note your observations in the space below. 

 

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Let us trace how the sense of self develops from the early years. From the earliest days, parents address the children by a particular name or  names in a variety of situations. The children begin to associate the name with themselves. Along with this they also point to the child in the mirror.

 

and in photographs with that name. They use the pronouns ‘you’ and ‘your’ and when they are able to speak, the use of the pronouns ‘me’ and ‘mine’ appears. The child understands that ‘you’ and ‘your’ refer to another person. Parents play various ‘body games’ pointing and labeling various parts of the child’s body and ask the child to point out body parts in turn. All this helps the child to gradually learn to see herself/himself as distinct and separate from others.

Second, as the child grows during infancy she begins to realise that her actions have an effect on the environment. For example, when she touches a toy it moves. All such experiences help her/him have a sense of being separate from other people and objects around her. If you recall the earlier discussion, this is also the time (around 18 months) when the child is able to identify that the spot of red is on her/his face and she/he does not treat the reflection in the mirror as another child.

Third, as the child grows older and can talk, the parents encourage the child to provide self–statements and ask her/him to give reasons. They ask the child, “Why did you do this?” or “How do you feel?” These questions help the child understand what she or he is experiencing or the reasons for certain actions; in this way they help the child in defining the self.

Fourth, during the course of the day the child has several encounters with people and objects around her/him which help to develop an idea about abilities. People also give the child a feedback about her or his behaviour and abilities. To a 6-year-old who helps in cleaning up the food area after the meal, the father may say, “That was a good thing to do. You are a good boy.” All this feeds into the child’s beliefs about herself/himself. The child thus constructs and re-constructs selfhood and sense of identity through the verbal-social interactions she/he has with caregivers and others. 

Developing a sense of self and identity 

The reasons why each one of us has a unique identity is because

• each one of us (except identical twins) has a unique combination of genes.

• each one of us has different experiences.

• even if we have similar experiences, we respond to these in different ways. In this section we will study the influences on the formation of identity. These can be classified as—

• Biological and physical changes

• Socio-cultural contexts including family and peer relationships

• Emotional changes

• Cognitive changes Understanding the Self