Interpersonal Identity
Notes
Interpersonal Identity means that our identity isn't set in isolation. We are not truly ever individuals, because we are born into a social world Human is a social being. We are shaped by our Social Environment, and if we are impactful enough, we get to shape it back. The way we see the world Subjective Reality, our beliefs and Core Values, our happiness, are all affected by our interactions and experiences with others.
Imagine yourself being born to different parents, perhaps in a different time, in a different state. Would you really say that you would be the same person? That your preferences, dreams and viewpoints would be exactly the same? I think that the obvious answer is not nature vs nurture. We owe much, if not all, of our identity to others, to humanity. Even something small as a dream to be an astronaut, only exists because others have invented space travel, and you heard stories about it from others who did it.
We often imitate the behaviors of others and make it a part of our identity. The say that close friends and partners tend to act alike as time goes by. By doing so, it is as if we hold a collection of identities, of other people we wish to imitate within ourselves, forming together our unique identity A person is a community.
It could be argued that our innate tendency to mirror and empathize with others is a result of our mixed identity, a proof that the individual level is never the right scope for understanding a person, that we always have to look at the network associated with them Behavioralism.
A more extreme notion claims that our identity is a complete Social Construct. That the different roles we assume (whether by choice or by force) such as parent, friend, partner, even racial and gender group are all assigned by others. We can't be friends with people who don't love us back. We can't be a parent to a random kid of the street, there has to be a connection to base it on. The way others perceive who we are, is who we are.
Visual
Overview
🔼Topic:: Personal identity (MOC) Origin:: Selfless (book) Link:: https://share.snipd.com/episode/3c740c3a-6bab-4440-87f1-997c3049f93c