The self from various perspectives
Anthropology
Learning
1. Explain how culture affects and shapes one’s identity
2. Understand how culture and self are complementary concepts
3. Appreciate the self embedded in culture
4. Develop insights on how to achieve a sense of self, situated in multicultural and dynamic situations
Introduction
• “Filipino” term is defined as belonging or relating
• In the context of citizenship, this means membership
in a state nation
• In the constitution, this refers to someone who legally
resides in the country
Introduction
• Anthropologically, to belong to a people is not necessarily
implying a legal association to a country but it entails a
responsibility to live and protect the country’s cherished
values.
• To belong and relate to culture means to adopt, accept,
and treasure its entire way of life
The self and the person in cultural anthropology
Anthropology:
• Study of all aspects of the human condition
• Science of humanity
The self and the person in cultural anthropology
• Anthropology considers human experience as an interplay
of :
• “nature” referring to the genetic inheritance which sets
the individual’s potentials
• “nurture” referring to the sociocultural environment
The cultural construction of self and identity
• Culture: from the latin word “cultura” or “cultus”, meaning
care or cultivation
• Is analogous to caring for an infant because an infant has
a prolonged dependency, he or she has to be taken care
of by people around him or her.
The cultural construction of self and identity
• Identity refers to “who the person is” or the qualities and
traits of an individual that make him or her different from
the others
• Cultural identity is self-identification, a sense of belonging
to a group that reaffirms itself.
• Which one is a representative of a given culture
behaviorally, communicatively, psychologically, and
sociologically
The cultural construction of self and identity
• CI is dynamic and constantly evolving
• It covers the lifespan of a human being and changes every
moment based on social context.
• It is the constantly shifting understanding of one’s identity
in relation to others.
The cultural construction of self and identity
• In social anthropology, the concept of identity was used
mostly in the context of “ethnic identity” pointing the
sameness of the self with others, that is to a
conscientiousness of sharing certain characteristics.
The cultural construction of self and identity
• There are two ways in which the concept of self is viewed in
the different societies:
a. Egocentric view – self is seen as an autonomous and
distant individual. Each person is defined as replica of all
humanity but capable of acting independently from
others
b. Sociocentric view – self is contingent on a situation or
social setting. This is a view of the self that is context-
dependent which emphasizes that there is no intrinsic self
that can possess enduring qualities
Forming of cultural identity
• CI is negotiated, co-created and reinforced in communication
with others when we socially interact.
• They are manifestations of social reality
• One’s identity is not inborn. It is something people continuously
develop in life.
Forming of cultural identity
• According to Arnold van Gennep believes that
changes in one’s status and identity are
marked by three-phased rite of passage:
a. Separation phase – people detach from
their former identity to another
b. Liminality phase – a person transitions
from one identity to another
c. Incorporation phase – the change in one’s
status is officially incorporated
Properties of cultural identity
Jane Coller and Milt Thomas combined the ethnography of
communication and social construction in order to frame the
properties of CI
1. Avowal and Ascription
2. Modes of Expression
3. Individual, Relational, and Communal Identity
4. Enduring and Changing Aspects of Identity
5. Affective, Cognitive, and Behavioral Aspects of Identity
6. Content and Relationship Levels
7. Salience or Prominence
Properties of cultural identity
Jane Coller and Milt Thomas combined the ethnography of
communication and social construction in order to frame the
properties of CI
1. Avowal and Ascription
2. Modes of Expression
3. Individual, Relational, and Communal Identity
4. Enduring and Changing Aspects of Identity
5. Affective, Cognitive, and Behavioral Aspects of Identity
6. Content and Relationship Levels
7. Salience or Prominence
Properties of cultural identity
1. Avowal and Ascription
How a person perceives himself or herself (Avowal)
How others perceive and communicate a person’s identity (Ascription)
Properties of cultural identity
2. Modes of Expression
• It include core symbol, names and labels, and norms that a
cultural community share and follow in order to show that they
belong to a particular group
Properties of cultural identity
3. Individual, Relational, and Communal Identity
Individual – this is how an individual interpret his or her cultural
identity based on his experiences
Relational – how an individual interact with one and another
Communal identity – use of communication in the creation,
affirmation, and negotiation of shared
identity
Properties of cultural identity
4. Enduring and Changing Aspects of Identity
Changes that occur due to the following factors such as social,
political, economic, or contextual
Properties of cultural identity
5. Affective, Cognitive, and Behavioral Aspects of Identity
Refers to emotions fully attached to cultural identity
Properties of cultural identity
6. Content and Relationship Levels
• Refers to the interaction between two or more individuals
• The participants of the conversation interpret the choice and
meanings of the words based on their experiences.
Properties of cultural identity
7. Salience or Prominence
• This refers to the degree to which an identity is demonstrated
in a situation
• Also refers to how much a person’s cultural identity stands out
and attracts attention
The self embedded in culture
• There are statements that people make, that constitute the
self
Attitude Beliefs Intentions
Norms Values
The self embedded in culture
• Self as embedded in culture can only be embraced when the
self recognize its relation to everything
• The complexity or dynamics of culture identities shall be
recognized and accepted
• Remain reflective of the similarities and unique differences of
everything
The self embedded in culture
Clifford Geertz (1973)
• Offers the reformulation of the concept of
culture which favors a symbolic
interpretative model of culture
• Culture = inherited conceptions expressed
in symbolic forms
• Humans give meanings to their
experiences so that order in the world can
be established
Thank
