What is Cultural Identity

 

I believe that we all can learn from others, especially in Cultural knowledge, Anyone who knows me knows that I am proud of my Anglo-Celtic Culture and have taught it in classes a couple of times, which was fun. I love learning about other cultures and seeing how their traditions are and what has survived the years and how people learn from others of different cultures. 

 we have the ability to learn to live with differences if we would just learn and understand what other traditions and cultural identities are. Cultural identity is a rich tapestry of an individual's life experiences, race, nationality, heritage, beliefs, language, customs, and worldview. Understanding and celebrating cultural identity can boost self-esteem and wanting to learn from other cultures. In an increasingly diverse society and interconnected global world, awareness of cultural identity is essential to effective cross-cultural communication. Cultural identity is at the forefront of discussions in education, politics, medicine, social policy, businesses and international relations.

Cultural identity refers to identification with, or sense of belonging to, a particular group based on various cultural categories, including nationality, ethnicity, race, gender, and religion. Cultural identity is constructed and maintained through the process of sharing collective knowledge such as traditions, heritage, language, aesthetics, norms and customs. As individuals typically affiliate with more than one cultural group, cultural identity is complex and multifaceted. While formerly scholars assumed identification with cultural groups to be obvious and stable, today most view it as contextual and dependent upon temporal and spatial changes. In the globalised world with increasing intercultural encounters, cultural identity is constantly enacted, negotiated, maintained, and challenged through communicative practises.

There are three pieces that make up a person’s cultural identity, these are cultural knowledge, category label, and social connections. Cultural knowledge is when a person connects to their identity through understanding their culture's core characteristics. Category label is where a person connects with their identity through indirect membership of said culture. Social connections are where a person connects with their identity through social relationships. Cultural identity is developed through a series of steps. First, a person comes to understand a culture through being immersed in those values, beliefs, and practises. Second, the person then identifies as a member of that culture dependent on their rank within that community. Third, they develop relationships such as immediate family, close friends, coworkers, and neighbours.

Children begin to develop a sense of identity as individuals and as members of groups from their earliest interactions with others (McAdoo, 1993; Sheets, 1999a). One of the most basic types of identity is ethnic identity, which entails an awareness of one’s membership in a social group that has a common culture. The common culture may be marked by a shared language, history, geography, and (frequently) physical characteristics. Not all of these aspects need to be shared, however, for people to psychologically identify with a particular ethnic group. Cultural identity is a broader term: people from multiple ethnic backgrounds may identify as belonging to the same culture. For example, in the Caribbean and South America, several ethnic groups may share a broader, common, Latin culture. Social groups existing within one nation may share a common language and a broad cultural identity but have distinct ethnic identities associated with a different language and history. Ethnic groups in the United States are examples of this. . . . Definitions of Culture and the Invisibility of One’s Own Culture. Anthropologists and other scholars continue to debate the meaning of this term.