Social Identity, Personality & Gender Outline

Enculturation: the self and social identity The Culture and Personality School Personality & identity formation Gender Identity

Enculturation: The Self and Social Identity Enculturation, the process by which individuals become members of their society. Most learning of culture takes place in childhood Household primary in enculturation For enculturation to proceed, individuals must possess self-awareness, the ability to perceive and reflect upon themselves as individuals. Self-awareness develops at different rates between societies.

linked to contact & stimulation

Self Awareness

four orientations:

object orientation spatial orientation temporal orientation normative orientation

Psychological anthropology Began in 1930s in U.S. Two main directions:

The Culture and Personality School

Importance of childhood in shaping personality & identity Description of national-level personality patterns

National Character Studies

National character studies have focused on the modal characteristics of modern countries. Today they are largely discredited Others choose to focus on the core values Limitations

success in instilling these values in individual may vary considerably.

Personality and Development

The distinctive ways a person thinks, feels, and behaves. Most anthropologists believe that early childhood experiences play a key role in shaping adult personality. Margaret Mead

Tchambuli, Arapesh and Mundugumor

Males dominance is culturally constructed Importance of child-rearing for development of gender-related personality

Personality and Identity Formation Socialization during Childhood

Relationship b/t mode of production and child personality

Six cultures study Cross-cultural study on how childrens activities & tasks shape their personalities. Horticultural societies nurturant-responsible Industrialized and intensive agricultural societies assoc w/ w/ dependentdominant personality Fewer acts of caregiving, more acts that assert dominance over other children & more need for care by adults generation me focus on the self

Dependence Training Dependence training socializes people to think of themselves in terms of the larger whole.

Its effect is to create community members whose idea of selfhood transcends individualism, promoting compliance in the performance of assigned tasks and keeping individuals within the group. Found frequently in foraging societies.

Independence Training

Independence training fosters individual independence, self-reliance, and personal achievement. It is typically associated with societies in which a basic social unit consisting of parent(s) and offspring fends for itself. Independence training is particularly characteristic of mercantile , industrial, and postindustrial societies where self-sufficiency and personal achievement are important traits for success.

Personality and Identity Formation Adolescence and Identity

Puberty is a time in the human life cycle that occurs universally and involves a set of biological markers and sexual maturation Adolescence is a culturally defined period of maturation from the time of puberty until adulthood

Coming of Age and Gender Identity

Anthropologists distinguish b/t sex and gender Sex is something that everyone is born with (biological markers genitals, hormones and chromosomes) Gender is the learned behaviour and beliefs associated w/ maleness and femaleness It is culturally constructed and is highly variable across cultures

Gender identity In all cultures there are gender ideologies which influence the developed of gender-based personalities. Variation in experiences of gender ideology

Hypermasculinity

USA notions of masculinity Performance of masculinity differs b/t different social groups

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