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Introduction
It is a given that when we travel to other countries, one of our primary goals is to immerse ourselves in a new culture. We long to escape to experience a new way of life.
How are identity and culture intertwined? Has culture shaped the way you see yourself and the way you live your life? The author of this sample essay reflects on her own life experiences as a way to answer these questions.
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Reflections on Personal Identity and Cultural Identity
Culture is a multi-layered concept. It’s not just about what you do on the outside, as your behavior is but a small window into deeper layers. Beneath your behaviors lie your values, then your beliefs. At the very core of culture is the worldview. It is basically your definition of reality. It is the lens from which you perceive the world around you.
For example, you will notice that most citizens from Western countries wear slippers inside the house, while those from Asian countries tend to go barefoot in the home. Western families also tend to eat at the dinner table, while more traditional Asian families are comfortable eating on the floor. Beneath all of these behaviors are opposite worldviews: Westerners see the floor as dirty, while Asians see the floor as clean. The worldview determines the beliefs, values, and behaviors of the individual.
All of these elements have a huge role in shaping the way we see ourselves as people. In a very big way, our personal identity is very much influenced by the culture we grew up in. As such, someone of another ethnicity may have a different perspective on an issue. Based on the example above, Westerners may balk at the idea of eating on the floor and think that dining at the table is superior.
This is why when during cross-cultural interactions, it is first important not to assume or impose your own culture on others, even if yours is the dominant identity. To connect with another ethnicity, it is important to learn about his or her cultural background before presuming that your personal experiences are superior to his or hers.
Gleaning Insights from My Cross-Cultural Experiences
I grew up in the Philippines, a predominantly Catholic nation that was under Spanish rule for centuries. As a collective result of being colonized by a European country in the past, many people from our nation tend to see themselves as inferior to white people. It is a trauma and a stigma that continues to be pervasive to this very day.
I see Filipinos hastily submitting to white employers and somehow looking at them reverently. It is a big thing in my country for a Filipino to be supervising a white worker. The most common scenario is an ex-pat supervising a team of perfectly-capable Filipinos.
I also lived in the United Kingdom for a few years as a volunteer outreach worker. I did not realize that I carried the same stigma up until I had my very first interactions with my British bosses. Somehow, the fact that I was smaller and had brown skin made me feel intimidated to speak with them, even though I know I was actually overqualified for the position. There is also a sense of white people talking down on me because of the color of my skin. Somehow, my own identity shifted when it came into contact with a race that I unconsciously deemed superior.
Conclusion
While a person’s identity is influenced by many factors, culture plays a part in determining some of the foundational narratives in a person’s life. Our social identity formation is also informed by the surrounding culture and determines whether or not people feel accepted in the place they live in.
A person’s understanding of self is seamlessly integrated into cultural norms, and this becomes all the more obvious when he or she lives in a foreign country. When culture shock is experienced, what a person knows as norms slowly disintegrate, leaving him or her to reassemble integral parts of the old and new cultures and blend them together, thus becoming bi-cultural.
Ultimately, I believe that all of us as humans grow and evolve through experiences of different cultures and changing notions of who we are as people. It is important that through these dynamic changes, we find a peaceful way to reconcile the differences in worldviews because, at the end of the day, these remain the basis of our decisions. Behavior, values, and beliefs may change, but a shaky perspective can negatively affect the outcome of our choices. We must focus on stabilizing our worldviews in the midst of various cultural patterns.
How Does Culture Influence Identity (Short Essay Sample)
The culture we are surrounded with has a strong influence on the way we see ourselves and the stories we operate on. Culture refers not just to historical roots, but also current customs that may include integration with other ethnicities, particularly if you live in an urban area.
If a culture withstood a long period of colonization, this may have had a gradual effect on the people’s view of themselves. If slavery was a part of that experience, slaves may come out of this turbulent period of life with lower self-esteem and collective trauma that affects their view of self. This is also carried over in future generations, which leads to the systemic issues of racial injustice and discrimination that we continue to experience today.
Culture also determines a person’s values, beliefs, and behaviors based on the narratives it dictates. The reality defined by our culture is what shapes how we do things, what we believe about life, and how we behave and respond to other people. A big part of altering one’s personal identity is changing the prevalent cultural narrative influencing him or her. Values, beliefs, and behavioral changes are temporary.
FAQs
Why Is Culture Important To Identity?
Culture is important to one’s identity formation because it adds context to a person’s DNA. The uniqueness of a person is the combination of his or her natural character and temperament and the kind of culture he or she grows up experiencing. People who have lived in various countries adopt the most convenient cultural identity for them. Those who have a dominant identity tend to bring these behaviors with them everywhere they go and are unlikely to undergo any major change. Culture is also important because it is the backbone of every person’s one-of-a-kind story.
Stories make up the fabric of society and community, and unique elements of the local culture are interwoven in these narratives. It also creates great opportunities to connect to other individuals who may be different from us. It encourages the idea of diversity and collaboration, as well as unity among different cultures. One of the reasons why we travel is to connect with people who see the world differently. Conversing with them and discovering their stories give us a fresh perspective of the world we live in. This, in turn, enriches our lives.
What Are Some Examples Of Cultural Identity?
There are four basic aspects cultural identity, which all come together and are integrated into a person’s sense of self. These are religion, nationality, ethnicity, and education. However, social identity can also fall under this category, particularly if someone lives in a nation with an established social hierarchy.