Social Constructionist Approach to Personal Identity

Personal Identity as Socially Constructed

Personal identity is not a priori, but is formed through interactions with the social world. Experiencing the attitudes, values, and beliefs of the social community, known as the generalized other, precedes the establishment of one's personal identity with particular and unique attitudes, values, and beliefs. While one interacts within a societal context, one encounters the norms of a given social environment (the generalized other), which can call one to reflect on the perspective of those norms and decide whether to align with them or to function otherwise than social convention.

Encountering the generalized other allows a person to experience who he or she is as a person. From one social context to another, a person elects elements to take on as part of his or her personal identity from a multiplicity of perspectives. Through each encounter with another, an individual reflects on himself or herself as a person and how others view him or her. Other persons’ perspectives can be imagined, and adjustment to one's own self is constituted to form a unique and personal identity.

Humans, unlike others in the animal species, are capable of reflecting on their own identities and the impression made upon other humans. In doing so, objectification of the self occurs, placing reflexivity as a pragmatic skill of viewing oneself as if from the standpoint of others where one grasps or understands the perspective of the other. In this social interaction, self-realization of identity is processed and a person comes to know who he or she is.

Communication, Play, and Game

Through communicating with significant others, playing, and participating in games, children begin to make sense of who they are. When children are born, their personal identities are not present; as significant symbols and gestures are learned and others communicate with children, identities begin to form. Identities cannot develop without experiencing others through communication and then reflecting upon these social interactions. Play is a medium for children's imaginations to use these symbols and gestures while children's capability of taking the role of another develops. So, as children pretend to be firefighters, doctors, or Indiana Jones, they are playing the role of another. With maturity, children begin to organize the various roles they choose to play and how to act within the greater community. The set of rules of how to act within each role is, in a sense, the game. Humans are socialized to play the game of life in their respective communities while attaining their own identities within that community with respect to others. The rules of game playing and appropriate interactions with others are established within a societal context, and social norms constitute the generalized other. In games, individuals cooperate with others and learn how to interact effectively by reflecting on perspectives of others, learning to think as others think, and playing the game. In childhood, these actions of communication, play, and games are foundational to identity formation and continue into adulthood. Unlike a chameleon that changes with every new environment, personal identity is anchored in attitudes, beliefs, and values developed over one's youth. Then, with every new social interaction, personal identity evolves as one reflects on new encounters and decides what values, virtues, and characteristics to accept or reject.

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