Class notes
Lecture notes for Social Selves & Identity
- Course
- Institution
Lectures notes for the lecture Social Selves & Identity from the first year module Introduction to Psychology
[Show more]
Seller
Follow
lilyhickling0
Content preview
Intro to psychology01/11/19 Social selves and identities
What do we mean by identity?
Personal identity or ‘self’
Makes us who we are
- Social identity
- Gender identity
- Cultural identity
- Physical identity
The word identity appears in 1570 as ‘identitie’.
“The quality or condition of being the same in substance, composition, nature, properties, or
in particular qualities under consideration; absolute or essential sameness; oneness’.
(Oxford English Dictionary)
Psychological definition:
The phenomenological sense that one has of one’s own intrinsic self, independent of
all others
Sameness of essential or generic character in different instances.
Do we have a ‘core self’ that is accessible?
A debate that goes back a few years:
- Plato 430-355 BC: ‘know thy self’
“[The] organ of knowledge must be turned around from the world becoming,
until the soul is able to endure the contemplation of essence and the brightest
region of being.”
- Heraclitus c. 500BC: The ‘transient self’
“Everything flows and nothing abides; everything gives way and nothing is fixed.”
Big theories of identity: Essentialists VS Non-essentialists
Essentialists
- All objects, our ‘selves’ included have a core essence
- Continuous core of sameness (call it a self, soul, DNA, ego, etc.) that is resistant
to change
- In the extreme: the person is the same today as they were yesterday as they
were 40 years ago (John Lock, 1690)
- A conceptualism that underpins mainstream cognitive psychology.
This is very much a part of our psychology and day-to-day discourse:
Implies a ‘core’ self that is accessible to ourselves
The benefits of buying summaries with Stuvia:
Guaranteed quality through customer reviews
Stuvia customers have reviewed more than 700,000 summaries. This how you know that you are buying the best documents.
Quick and easy check-out
You can quickly pay through credit card or Stuvia-credit for the summaries. There is no membership needed.
Focus on what matters
Your fellow students write the study notes themselves, which is why the documents are always reliable and up-to-date. This ensures you quickly get to the core!
Frequently asked questions
What do I get when I buy this document?
You get a PDF, available immediately after your purchase. The purchased document is accessible anytime, anywhere and indefinitely through your profile.
Satisfaction guarantee: how does it work?
Our satisfaction guarantee ensures that you always find a study document that suits you well. You fill out a form, and our customer service team takes care of the rest.
Who am I buying these notes from?
Stuvia is a marketplace, so you are not buying this document from us, but from seller lilyhickling0. Stuvia facilitates payment to the seller.
Will I be stuck with a subscription?
No, you only buy these notes for $9.85. You're not tied to anything after your purchase.
Can Stuvia be trusted?
4.6 stars on Google & Trustpilot (+1000 reviews)
57114 documents were sold in the last 30 days
Founded in 2010, the go-to place to buy study notes for 14 years now