Blog Post #2

A Sense of Identity

How do we see ourselves? What words do we use to describe ourselves? These are key questions when it comes to identity and self perception. “Any identity is more than a collection of traits, more than skin or physical feature; rather, identity is always a historical idea, a product of social norms and patterns of thinking that, solidified over time, have become taken for granted and seemingly “normal” (p. 97). Identity goes hand in hand with perception and I believe this sentence is important because, to me, it shows how complex and intertwined perception and identity actually are. Identities are our experiences in cultural, social, and political factors that are compiled together to form a frame or mark of these experiences to our individual selves. Identity answers the question of “who am I?”, not only to myself but to others as well. So this concept arises that shows how identity influences perception. Perception, on the other hand, is how one sees the world based on their personal experiences within cultures and social environments. These environments may be influenced by political, religious, or even educational factors.

There is one thing, however, that inherently bonds these two ideas: communication. Communication is the tool that is used to construct, and destroy, perceptions and identities. Identity and perception are intertwined through a communicative relationship, meaning that they are dependent on each other in order to be possible. Essentially, the self is the product of the messages it has encountered over past interactions. Warren states, “...we are how we've been communicated with throughout the course of our lives.” I related this back my interviewing class where we have talked about perception and how it shapes the way we see ourselves and the world. Although the class is revolved around interviewing, it is hugely influenced by interpersonal communication. One day, my professor got on the topic of perspective and the factors that are impacted by our perspectives. He proposed that position determines perspective, which influences our attitude and behavior, thus driving our emotions (K. Skidmore, personal communication, February 6, 2018). 

I continued to reflect on this in relation to the sentence that I chose to write about. I think this shows how perception and self are often fragmented. Our positions and situations determine who we are depending on where or who we are with. Societally, we construct our perceptions, beliefs, identities, and values constantly and many times on a subconscious level. These, in turn, affect and shape our identities as well as perceptions and we begin to identify with certain groups and people. If we can learn to respect others’ and our own viewpoints and identities, we then can construct shared meaning with others and become aware of the taken for granted, like race, gender, and class. Moving past the perspective that things just are, an understanding about who we are and the way we see ourselves (and others) can begin.

Warren, John T. and Deanna L. Fasset.  “Chapter 6: identity and perception.”
Communication: A Critical/cultural Introduction. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE, 2015. Print.