What Characteristics, Actions And Behaviors Comprise A Person’s Identity?

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Identity
What is ‘identity?’;
Identity is how I and others perceive me. It is a social construct that takes many forms. For example, an individual could be a doctor, a father, a Christian, a dancer, etc. All these definitions of the individual give the person some level of individuality and distinctiveness which determine his/her identity. Erickson defines identity as the enduring and continuous sense of who we are CITATION Kat15 \l 1033 (McLean & Syed, 2015). Our identities relate to our core values and dictate the choices we make. Ego identity harmonizes all the versions of oneself into one cohesive whole that becomes the stable self in the face of threats directed on one facet of identity.
Identity can be best summed us by Plato’s cave allegory. We construct our identities with the available information which is available around us. If a person with a more informed perception of us comes around, we tend to hold to our believes since the new information and perception does not align with out perception of our world. This happens especially if we do not agree with the information. For example, if a doctor who is a professional gives a patient just about three months to live after diagnosis, it is likely the individual will disregard the information and live in denial. Some turn to new belief systems to ‘overcome’ the perception given by the doctor. Thus, our identities sometimes are social constructs we form for ourselves using the available information and we cling to them even when there is sufficient information and evidence to dislodge what we know about ourselves.
What characteristics, actions and behaviors comprise a person’s identity?
Characteristics that identify a person are their occupation, ethnic tribe, race, religion, etc. These are hallmarks that give an individual their identity directly or indirectly. Behaviors are the activities that an individual is always inclined to do. Some behaviors are leisurely such as drinking, and they can construct a sense of identity if they persist. Actions are products of thoughts. Persistent actions birth behavior and ultimately lead to the formation of social constructs of identity around them. If the thoughts are unconscious, then they are likely to form behavior and habit which lead to the formation of another identity. For example, in the aforementioned behavior of drinking, it stemmed from a thought of taking a drink. Eventually, a person enjoys regularly taking alcohol, i.e., every day. Eventually, the person gets addicted, and the social construct stemming from the thought becomes ‘an addict and a drunkard.’
Some actions can create a new identity or uncover a previously hidden elements of an individual such that the person’s identity overshadows previous definitions and identities he/she had. In the play Antigone had a normal life and a social construct of her identity was not any different from that of her sister Ismene. Antigone redefined her identit...