Julie Kim

Ms. Ehrlich
English 131
7 November 2014
Imagine how much of peoples life is impacted by the social norms
how peoples self-identity is formed under the culture. Self-identity is a term
which defines an individuals quality in the society, which is usually formed
under the social norms. Social norm is closely related to the culture and law.
It is the standards the society has set to classify whether a person is a good
fit for the group or not; those groups are called an agency. Also, depending
on what kind of self-identity the person has, he or she is scouted by the
agency and are automatically specified into one. However, the failure to get
into one may be labeled as a stereotypeeither the ones who couldnt fit
anywhere or left the boundary of a social norm.
Self-identities are formed by the social norms and agency of the
dominants. If the identity is formed outside the standards of social norms
and agency, society, then, labels them a stereotype. To avoid becoming a
stereotype, people act according to the social norms. Their actions are
limited under the agency that is formed by the dominant people, thus,
narrowing down peoples free will. In order to blend in in the society, peoples
actions need be comprehensible to the society. The failure to do so will be
considered a stereotype through the societys set standards and perceptions.

It is apparent that our daily routines are derived from the agency, the
majority of people who shares the same set of social standards. However,
there are, still, people who wont even acknowledge or notice that their free
wills are limited coercively under the laws and social norms.
Social structure shapes the operations of memory, experience,
identity, and embodiment. Agency is a social structure led by the dominant
class and cultural formation (Smith), in which affects people to form their
self-identity under certain conditions. Through agency, peoples actions are
limited, and most people arent aware that their free wills are restricted by
the law and coercive institutions such as police. Individuals self-identity,
therefore, is unconsciously formed beyond certain boundaries of social
norms. Identity is enacted daily through socially enforced norms that
surround us. If a person breaks or goes against this social norms, he or she
may be defined as a failure to conform fully.
Social norms interventions change student behavior have spread
across the college campuses nationwide through marketing campaigns.
Cynthia Demetrious article talks about the theorists have applied the social
norms approach to primarily health related student behaviors such as
drinking, smoking, violence prevention, and sexual assault. The article is
about the potential applications of the social norms approach to academic
advising. In the context, she mentions about how social norms affect
persons behavior; Social norms may provide advisors with insight into
student behaviors as well as tools to communicate information that might

affect behavior (Demetriou). The social norms inside the school are often
led by the dominant group of students who have enough power to trigger
change in the norms. Often, the newly changed standards of the social
norms are going to be detrimental toward the students academic work.
The human self has always evolved over time. The article What Is the
Self raises a question about whether the average person today is more
differentiate and integrated than our ancestors were three or thirty years go
(Csikszentmihalyi). The author, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, answers a part of a
question by saying that evolve of self-identity was caused by the great
advance that culture contributed. It is absolutely agreeable that the culture
is proportionate with the self-identity, that if culture is evolved over time, the
self-identity will evolve as well. However, the culture itself is not the only
factor that influences peoples self-identity.
The dominant culture is what affects the self the most. It restricts
people to act the specific way so that there wont be any consequences
enacted on them. The minor culture wont have strong influence on forming
peoples self. Whereas, the dominant culture would greatly impact ones self
because whether if you like it or not, it needs to be followed. If it is not
followed, the following person will be classified as a stereotype and most
likely be criticized by the majority, the people who follows that culture. For
example, all women in the Middle East counties are required to wear hijab
past certain age. People who defy against this culture would be considered
rebel and outrageous. Thus, peoples self-identities are restricted under

culture and how culture is parallel to the social norm, which, eventually,
creates stereotypes for those of whom does not follow culture.
Social norms are the standards the society has set to classify people
whether or not they fit to become a part of them. The article Agency informs
that the discursive systems emergent in social structures shape the
operations ofidentity (Smith). This means that the self-identity is affected
by the social norms. The article explains in the beginning that the human
beings are agents of or actors in their own lives. People are the pawns in
social games but they dont notice it. People are the agents and they are
managed by the agency.
The only requirement to get into the agency is to follow their
ideologies. These ideologies must not be challenged or questioned under the
coercive state institutionsthe government and police (Smith). Peoples
actions are limited due to the laws set by the government and supervision of
polices. People who pass the limit will be considered criminal and the
consequence will be followed. These consequences are the threat in peoples
lives, therefore, they avoid the consequences by unconsciously limiting the
free wills on their own. The agency has the dominance over the agents.
Almost always, the agency doesnt allow any divergence within its agents. So
the either manipulate or make people perceive that they should act certain
way and none of the other.

It is important to be conscious about how our self-identities are formed

based on the social norm. It is mentioned in the text that the human
behavior is not completely dictated by social norms (Demetriou). However,
it does play a key role in how people act. Perhaps, the social norm is a
foundation of a self-identity. It is intrinsic for people to avoid breaking the
laws and act against the social norms. But sometimes, the law and the
government could be morally wrong and the minor citizens could be right.
Sometimes, people can act outside their self-identity in order to reform their
social norms, but it will only be successful if the number of people who
wishes to go against the current social norm is dominant enough to
challenge their agency. This process is an evolution of self-identity. Selfidentity is intrinsic, but at the same time, it could be corrected and changed
over time.
Self-identity and social norms exist in in form of perceptions. According
to Cynthia Demetrious research paper on social norms theory to academic
advising, instead of trying to completely eliminate an undesirable behavior
the self-identitysuch as excessive drinking, users of social norms
marketing campaigns reported the factual norm to students in hope that the
accurate information will change the students perception of others and
individuals behavior. Like this, there are some exceptions to go against the
social norm. Thus, correcting the misconception and updating the selfidentity could increase the quality of peoples life.

It is essential to acknowledge where the self-identity has derived from.

People who understands their self-identity, often times, have better insights
than the ones who dont understand. Its a sad reality that the person has to
restrict his free will and understand that his self-identity is formed under a
social norms in order to fit in the society. However, there are always an
exception where the person will cross the boundaries of social norms due to
the falseness of the standards. People share a common perception that if
they break any of the requirements for the social norms, they will be labeled
as rebels, the stereotypes. Part of it is true and part of it is incorrect.
However, the most important thing to keep in mind is that the social norms
change, and this change triggers our self-identity to evolve over time. There
are no exact standards, which satisfy either self-identity or social norms.
Work Page Cited
Csikszentmihalyi, Mihaly. "What Is the Self?" The Evolving Self: A Psychology
for the Third Millennium. New York, NY: HarperCollins, 1993. N. pag.
Print.
Demetriou, Cynthia. "Potential Applications of Social Norms Theory to
Academic Advising." NACADA Journal 25.2 (2005): 49-56. Web.
Etzioni, A., 2000, Social Norms: Internationlization, Persuasion, and History,
Law & Society Review, vol. 34, No. 1 (2000), 157-178.

Smith, Sidonie, and Julia Watson. "Agency." Reading Autobiography: A Guide

for Interpreting Life Narratives. Minneapolis: U of Minnesota, 2001. N.
pag. Print.