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How Does Culture Affect the Self Identity Personal Essay

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Introduction

Culture influence on personality identity, chinese – indonesians’ culture in relation to personal identity, how am i shaped and influenced by culture.

Culture or the way of life is attributed to the personality of an individual and makes them who they really are. Self awareness emphasizes the significance of an individual to exist and is attributed to social views and practices. It defines individual characteristics and contributes to the diversity of people in the world and this makes life interesting.

Culture and personal identity relate closely and are dependent on each other. Construction of identities is within individual in relation to a particular historical background and organization. This paper shall explore the personality trait explained above and explain the contribution that culture has made.

The vibrant Indonesian culture is ethnic and is also being influenced by countries such as China and India which neighbor it. Cultural identity is marked by the influence from the family, regional, and religious aspects. For instance, am a mixture of Chinese and Indonesian, born in Indonesia and have lived there my entire life.

My family background is relatively humble although my parents provide for my basic needs. However, Luxuries are not always present when needed. With hard work, the family is better than before since the parents have worked extra hard to make ends meet. Nevertheless, the initial financial constrains that my family experienced contributed to my personality.

I have come to be known as a girl of low profile since my cultural background has dictated so. I have learnt to save money and use it on important things only. In addition, I’ve learnt to share with others and not to become self-engrossed, an image that I always portray not only to my parents and friends but also to the society at large. This has made me and the whole family relate well with others.

Chinese- Indonesians are an ethnic minority whose culture is heterogeneous. They have been categorized into totok and peranakan. Since peranakan have their birthplace as Indonesia, they are identified with the ethnic regions of Indonesia and they disregard their Chinese origin.

In contrast, the totok has a lesser Indonesian orientation instead, are more of Chinese since them or their parents have been born in china (Aimee 77).

Another distinction is in the commercial activities undertaken by the groups. Totok group are geared on achieving business success and accumulate wealth. Thus, this is reflected in their self-reliance, investment approach, and prowess which are aspects that have greatly influenced my identity.

As a totok I practice a significant cultural value known as the guanxi . It is a concept which points out that for one to succeed, he or she should relate with people who matter and one must harmonize with the environment instead of altering it.

“For instance, through his personal and financial connections with government officials, particularly Suharto, whom he befriended long before he became Indonesia’s president, Liem Sioe Liong amassed a multibillion dollar importer that encompassed the manufacturing of cement and steel, automobile distribution …” (Aimee 78).

The example emphasizes the aggressiveness of the totok which in turn has taught me to avoid being self-centered but instead count on others in every activity I undertake in life.

On the other hand, the peranakan base their engagements on merit hence are not very successful in the Indonesian commercialism. Therefore, being a totok means that the culture has dictated my hardworking nature and most significantly, my networking and social nature. This has in turn affected my personality of being considerate of others and avoiding being self-centered.

Religious aspects, social environment, and distinct originality have had a strong effect on my identity. Being a Chinese- Indonesian I have learnt proper use of money and resources in order to become successful in life contribute to my identity of being low profile.

The family is a very important institution based on the cultural values if Chinese-Indonesians. Family ties are maintained and preserved by practice of norms such as marriage which ensures solidarity among members (Aimee 74).

It is the role of the parents to teach their children proper manners in life and this has been properly implemented by both of my parents in a strict way which has enabled me to follow the rules and regulations set in various areas quite easily. The family union is relevant to set a good example to the children and ensure happiness in marriage. Marriage is one cultural value that is highly regarded by Chinese-Indonesians.

Indonesian culture is very categorical on religious morals which are elements that are reflected in the entire society and more specifically by my trait of putting others ahead of me and sharing my resources with them. I believe that Sex before marriage is a vice that is forbidden by my culture which helps maintain an environment where children can grow well, become educated, and attain a high degree of moral standards.

Being a Muslim country it is also under the influence of other religions such as Buddhism as well as Hinduism which may as well have played a part on my personal identity. Its cultural, richness is depicted in the country’s art and theatre work such as dances and music.

The economic background, family relations and ethnic distinctions have contributed significantly to the personality trait of being a low profile person who is considerate of others. Moreover, belonging to a Chinese-Indonesian ethnicity means that I have interacted with several cultures.

A multicultural interaction may have similar or contradicting effects on personal identity which is reflected in my personality making it hard to evaluate specifically whether I am of totok o r peranakan origin.

Nevertheless the role played by my immediate family has guided me as I interact with the social environment around me. The culture has enabled me be identified in the society as a low profile woman. This does not only help to deliberately avoid undue prominence but also to exercise personal freedom and acceptance.

Aimee, Dawis. The Chinese of Indonesia and their Search For Identity: The Relationship Between Collective Memory and the Media . New York: Cambria Press. 2009. Print.

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Home — Essay Samples — Sociology — Culture and Communication — Society and How Your Culture Influenced Who You Are

Society and How Your Culture Influenced Who You Are

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The Individual and Society

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About this Chapter

Who am I? Who are you? Who are we? How we answer these questions shapes how we think about, and how we behave toward, ourselves and others. And our answers to those questions are influenced by the society we live in.  This chapter explores the relationship between the individual and society, and how that relationship affects the choices we make.  

Essential Questions

• What is the relationship between the individual and society?
• What factors shape our identities? What parts of our identities do we choose for ourselves? What parts are determined for us by others, by society, or by chance?
• What dilemmas arise when others view us differently than we view ourselves?
• How do our identities influence our choices and the choices available to us?

What's Included

This chapter is from the  Individual & Society  section of  Holocaust and Human Behavior  and includes:

• 17 readings 
• Connection Questions

Additional Context & Background

We begin to learn our culture—the ways of our society—just after birth. That process is called socialization, and it involves far more than schooling. Our culture shapes the way we work and play, and it makes a difference in how we view ourselves and others. It affects our values—what we consider right and wrong. This is how the society we live in influences our choices. But our choices can also influence others and ultimately help shape our society.

Imagine that you encounter a stranger walking down the street. How might you describe the person? What labels would you use? We know that every person is different from any other in countless ways, yet when we encounter others we often rely on generalizations to describe them. “It's a natural tendency,” says psychologist Deborah Tannen. “We must see the world in patterns in order to make sense of it; we wouldn’t be able to deal with the daily onslaught of people and objects if we couldn’t predict a lot about them and feel that we know who and what they are." 1

Our society—through its particular culture, customs, institutions, and more—provides us with the labels we use to categorize the people we encounter. These labels are based on beliefs about race, ethnicity, religion, gender, sexual orientation, economic class, and more. Sometimes our beliefs about these categories are so strong that they prevent us from seeing the unique identities of others. Sometimes these beliefs also make us feel suspicion, fear, or hatred toward some members of our society. Other times, especially when we are able to get to know a person, we are able to see past labels and, perhaps, find common ground.

The stories in this chapter explore some of the dilemmas people face as they establish themselves both as individuals and as members of a group, and as they define themselves and are defined by others. As the first step in the Facing History & Ourselves journey, this chapter introduces ideas about human behavior and decision making that will serve as a foundation for examining the historical case study in the chapters that follow. Teachers are encouraged to select the readings that match their objectives and the interests and needs of their students.

• 1 Deborah Tannen, You Just Don't Understand: Women and Men in Conversation (New York: HarperCollins, 2007), 16.

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Inside this chapter, explore the readings, the bear that wasn't, the danger of a single story, names and identity, finding one's voice, the eye of the beholder, gender and identity, defining race, the social reality of race, the consequences of stereotyping, the blink of an eye, little things are big, words matter, religion and identity, the "in" group, finding confidence, one identity, multiple belongings.

Analysis & Reflection

Enhance your students’ understanding of our readings on individual, society, and identity with these follow-up questions and prompts.

A person has three names: one that he is called by his father and mother; one that people know him by, and one that he acquires for himself.

What is this poem suggesting about the ways we come to understand our identities? What stories from this chapter could illustrate this poem?

• The Bear That Wasn’t is a children’s book that reflects universal questions about the relationship between the individual and society. How do you see ideas from Reading 1, "The Bear That Wasn’t ,"  echoed in some of the other readings throughout this chapter?
• In the reading  The Danger of a Single Story , Chimamanda Adichie warns of “the danger of a single story.” What does she mean? What other readings in this chapter illustrate this danger? Which ones suggest ways to overcome the danger of a single story?
• Legal scholar Martha Minow writes, “When we simplify and sort, we focus on some traits rather than others, and we assign consequences to the presence and absence of the traits we make significant.” What are some of the “traits we make significant” in our society? Do you think some traits and differences matter more than others, and if so, why? Who decides which traits matter most? What readings from this chapter have had the strongest influence on your thinking about these questions?

Related Materials

• Reading The Bear That Wasn't
• Reading The Danger of a Single Story

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How Culture Wires Our Brains

Cultural values may leave a greater impact on our brain more than our behaviors..

Posted January 26, 2017 | Reviewed by Ekua Hagan

Culture has been called “an amalgam of values, meanings, conventions and artifacts that constitute daily social realities” (Kitayama & Park, 2010). As a system of meaning and shared beliefs, culture provides a framework for our behavioral and affective norms.

Countless studies in cultural psychology have examined the effect of culture on all aspects of our behavior, cognition , and emotion , delineating both differences and similarities across populations.

More recently, findings in cultural neuroscience have outlined possible ways that the cultural scripts we learn during childhood and the cultural practices we observe as adults influence our brains.

First, what is cultural neuroscience?

As an interdisciplinary field of research, cultural neuroscience investigates the relationship between culture and the brain, particularly, the ways in which culture “both constructs and is constructed by the mind and its underlying brain pathways” (Kitayama & Park, 2010).

Exactly how might culture wire our brains? According to findings from cultural neuroscience, the mechanism has to do with the brain’s plasticity, or the brain’s ability to adapt to long-lasting engagement in scripted behaviors (i.e. cultural tasks ). The capacity of our brains to undergo structural changes from recurrent daily tasks has been well documented (e.g., larger hippocampi — a region that is intimately involved in spatial memory — of London taxi drivers ; increased cortical density in the motor cortex of jugglers ).

Analogously, in order to process various cultural functions with more fluency, culture appears to become “embrained” from accumulated cultural experiences in our brains. Numerous fMRI studies have shown how cultural background can influence neural activity during various cognitive functions. For instance, cross-cultural differences in brain activity among Western and East Asian participants have been revealed during tasks including visual perception, attention , arithmetic processing, and self-reflection (see Han & Humphreys, 2016 for review).

Culture and self-construal

One of the widely studied traits to interpret cross-cultural differences in behavior, cognition, and emotion is self-construal. Self-construal refers to how we perceive and understand ourselves. Western cultures promote an independent self-construal, where the self is viewed as a separate, autonomous entity and the emphasis is on the self’s independence and uniqueness. East Asian cultures, on the other hand, foster an interdependent self-construal, with a self that is more relational, harmonious and interconnected with others.

Recent cultural neuroscience studies have given a glimpse into the interaction between self-construal, culture, and the brain. In particular, research has suggested that self-construal mediates differences in brain activity across different cultures by activating a framework for various neural processes involved in cognition and emotion. In other words, because the self is formed in the context of our cultural scripts and practices, continuous engagement in cultural tasks that reflect values of independent or interdependent self-construals produces brain connections that are “culturally patterned.” This neural blueprint, according to researchers, is the foundation of the cultural construction of the self.

One way researchers have studied the influence of cultural values on neurocognitive processes is by priming participants towards independent and interdependent construals and then examining how the brain reacts to various situations afterward. Priming can be done, for example, by asking participants to read stories containing different pronouns (“we” or “us” for interdependent self-construal and “I” or “me” for independent self-construal) and asking them to think about how similar or different they are to others.

Findings have demonstrated various differences in neural activity after priming for independent or interdependent construals. For instance, priming has been shown to modulate the response to other people’s pain, as well as the degree with which we resonate with others. In another study , when participants were primed for independent construals during a gambling game, they showed more reward activation for winning money for themselves. However, when primed for interdependent construals, participants showed similar reward activation as when they had won money for a friend.

Culture also appears to influence the way the self is represented in our brains. In one experiment , Western and Chinese participants were asked to think about themselves, their mothers, or a public person. The fMRI data showed that the same parts of the brain (Medial Prefrontal Cortex) were activated when both groups thought about themselves. However, unlike with the Western participants, the MPFC was also activated among Chinese participants when they thought of their mothers. These results were interpreted as suggesting that the Chinese participants (interdependent self-construals) use the same brain area to represent both the self and their mothers, while the Western participants use the MPFC exclusively for self-representation.

Recent cultural neuroscience research is shedding light on how culture shapes our functional anatomy, biases our brains, affects our neural activity, and even influences the way we represent the self and others in our brains. Whether due to daily activities or genes , when neurons fire repeatedly in scripted ways for a prolonged time (essentially what cultural practices entail), brain pathways can be reinforced and established – all to enable a more seamless execution of cultural tasks and to “facilitate a cultural and biological adaptation” (Kitayama & Park, 2010).

Thus, as some researchers have suggested, our endorsement of particular cultural values may leave a greater imprint on our brains than on our behaviors.

Ames, D. L., & Fiske, S. T. (2010). Cultural neuroscience. Asian Journal of Social Psychology, 13 (2), 72-82.

Draganski B, Gaser C, Busch V, Schuierer G, Bogdahn U, May A. (2004). Neuroplasticity: Changes in grey matter induced by training. Nature, 427 :311–312.

Frenkel, K. Cultural Neuroscientist Shinobu Kitayama. The fpr.org blog https://thefprorg.wordpress.com/fpr-interviews/cultural-psychologist-sh…

Gardner, W. L., Gabriel, S., & Lee, A. Y. (1999). “I” value freedom, but “we” value relationships: Self-construal priming mirrors cultural differences in judgment. Psychological Science, 10 (4), 321-326.

Gutchess, A. H., Welsh, R. C., Boduroĝlu, A., & Park, D. C. (2006). Cultural differences in neural function associated with object processing. Cognitive, Affective, & Behavioral Neuroscience, 6 (2), 102-109.

Han, S., & Humphreys, G. (2016). Self-construal: a cultural framework for brain function. Current Opinion in Psychology, 8 , 10-14.

Han, S., & Northoff, G. (2008). Culture-sensitive neural substrates of human cognition: A transcultural neuroimaging approach. Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 9 (8), 646-654.

Hedden, T., Ketay, S., Aron, A., Markus, H. R., & Gabrieli, J. D. (2008). Cultural influences on neural substrates of attentional control. Psychological Science, 19 (1), 12-17.

Jiang, C., Varnum, M. E., Hou, Y., & Han, S. (2014). Distinct effects of self-construal priming on empathic neural responses in Chinese and Westerners. Social Neuroscience, 9 (2), 130-138.

Kitayama, S., & Uskul, A. K. (2011). Culture, mind, and the brain: Current evidence and future directions. Annual Review of Psychology, 62 , 419-449.

Kitayama, S., & Park, J. (2010). Cultural neuroscience of the self: understanding the social grounding of the brain. Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, 5 (2-3), 111-129.

Maguire EA, Gadian DG, Johnsrude IS, Good CD, Ashburner J, Frackowiak RS, et al. (2000). Navigation-related structural change in the hippocampi of taxi drivers. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences , USA. 97:4398–4403.

Markus, H. R., & Kitayama, S. (1991). Culture and the self: Implications for cognition, emotion, and motivation. Psychological Review, 98 (2), 224.

Obhi, S. S., Hogeveen, J., & Pascual-Leone, A. (2011). Resonating with others: the effects of self-construal type on motor cortical output. Journal of Neuroscience, 31 (41), 14531-14535.

Park, D. C., & Huang, C. M. (2010). Culture wires the brain: A cognitive neuroscience perspective. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 5 (4), 391-400.

Tang, Y., Zhang, W., Chen, K., Feng, S., Ji, Y., Shen, J., ... & Liu, Y. (2006). Arithmetic processing in the brain shaped by cultures. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 103 (28), 10775-10780.

Varnum, M. E., Shi, Z., Chen, A., Qiu, J., & Han, S. (2014). When “Your” reward is the same as “My” reward: Self-construal priming shifts neural responses to own vs. friends' rewards. NeuroImage, 87 , 164-169.

Zhu, Y., Zhang, L., Fan, J., & Han, S. (2007). Neural basis of cultural influence on self-representation. Neuroimage, 34 (3), 1310-1316.

Marianna Pogosyan, Ph.D. , is a lecturer in Cultural Psychology and a consultant specialising in cross-cultural transitions.

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Tips for the College Interview Question "Who Has Most Influenced You?"

• Ph.D., English, University of Pennsylvania
• M.A., English, University of Pennsylvania
• B.S., Materials Science & Engineering and Literature, MIT

Interview questions about influential people can come in many variations: Who is your hero? Who deserves the most credit for your success? Who is your role model? In short, the question is asking you to discuss someone you admire.

Interview Tips: Who Has Most Influenced you?

• You don't have to be creative with this question. Just be honest and thoughtful. Family members, teachers, and friends are all fine answers.
• Be careful with polarizing political figures since it can a challenge for your interviewer to be entirely unbiased.
• Don't try to impress your interviewer with historical figures like Abraham Lincoln or Mother Theresa.
• Focus on a human, not a pet.

Good Interview Answers About an Influential Person

So, who should you name as a hero or influential person? Speak from the heart here. There is no right answer other than a sincere answer. Also, realize that unlike a "hero," an influential person isn't always a positive example. You may have grown and changed as a result of someone whose mistakes or inappropriate behavior taught you what  not  to do with your life. Answers to the question can draw from lots of different options:

• A Family Member— For most of us, parents and siblings have a huge impact on our lives. Answering with a family member is fairly predictable but also perfectly appropriate. Just make sure you can articulate the specific ways in which the family member influenced you.
• A Teacher— Is there a particular teacher who got you excited about learning, a subject area, or continuing your education? Since you're interviewing in an effort to continue your education, focusing on an educator can be an excellent choice.
• A Friend— For good or bad, your close friends have a huge influence on your decisions and behavior. Do you have a close friend who has helped you succeed in high school? Or, depending on how the question is worded, do you have a friend who influenced you in a negative way?
• A Coach— Coaches often teach us leadership, responsibility and teamwork. As long as your response doesn't reveal that you value athletics more than academics, a coach can be a great choice. Try to articulate how your coach has helped you succeed in areas other than sports.
• A Community Member— Do you have a mentor in the church or some other community organization? Community members often teach us to think outside of the narrow sphere of our families.

Bad Interview Answers

This question about an influential person, like many common interview questions , is not difficult, but you do want to think about it for a few minutes before your interview. A few answers can fall flat, so think twice before giving responses such as these:

• Myself— In truth, you probably are the person who is most responsible for your success. You may, in fact, be self-reliant with no real heroes. However, if you answer this question with yourself you will sound self-absorbed and selfish. Colleges want to admit students who help each other out and work as a community. They don't want solitary egotists.
• Gandhi or Abe Lincoln— If you have great respect for an admirable historical figure, that's wonderful. Such answers, however, can come across sounding like you're trying to make a good impression, not like you're answering the question sincerely. In your day-to-day life of classes, extracurricular activities , tests, and relationships, is Abe Lincoln really influencing your behavior? If he is, fine. If not, rethink your answer and work to speak from the heart.
• Donald Trump or Barack Obama— Here, as with the example above, is the president (or Senator, Governor, etc.) really influencing and guiding you in your day-to-day life? This question has an added danger. Your interviewer will do his or her best to be unbiased, but interviewers are human. If you name a Democrat and your interviewer is a staunch Republican, your response could create a subconscious strike against you in the interviewer's mind. Both Trump and Obama can be polarizing figures, so be aware of the inherent risks before choosing a prominent political figure for your response.
• God— At a college with a religious affiliation, God could be a fine answer. At many colleges, however, the answer is a crap shoot. The admissions officer may admire your faith. Some interviewers, however, will be skeptical of students who attribute their successes to prayer and divine guidance rather than commitment and hard work. That said, you certainly don't need to shy away from your faith in your interview, and a priest or rabbi can be an excellent choice for this interview question.
• My Dog— Fido may be a great pet who has taught you responsibility and unconditional love, but keep your answer in the world of humans. Colleges are made up of humans.

A Final Word

Whatever your answer, bring the influential person to life for your interviewer. Avoid vague generalities. As with an admissions essay on an influential person , you'll want to provide colorful, entertaining, and specific examples of how the person has influenced you. Also, keep in mind that a strong answer provides a window into your life and personality, not just the admirable qualities of the influential person. The ultimate goal of the interviewer is to get to know you better, not the person you admire.

Finally, make sure you dress appropriately and avoid common interview mistakes . College interviews are generally congenial exchanges of information, so try to relax and have a good time chatting with the college representative.

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How does cultural environment influence personality essay?

According to some sociologists, the development of personality and the acquisition of culture are not different processes, but one and the same learning process. The studies carried out in 1937 by Linton, the social anthropologist, and Kardinar, the psychoanalyst, demonstrate that each culture tends to create and are supported by a “basic personality type”.

In their view, the basic personality type found among most of the members of a particular society is the result of the culturally similar early childhood experiences, and not of instincts or inherent ‘drives’. The child is not born in a vacuum but in a cultural context which affects his mental make-up, habits and attitudes.

A given cultural environment sets off its participant members from others operating under different cultural environments. The following illustrations may be cited in support of the above thesis. Culture consists of both material and non-material elements. According to Ogbum, both of these elements have a bearing on personality.

By way of illustrating the influence of material elements of culture, he referred to the influence of plumbing on the formation of habits and attitudes favourable to cleanliness and to the relation of clocks to punctuality.

Ogbum says that the American Indians who had no clocks or watches in their culture had little notion of keeping appointments on an exact time.

According to him, the difference in the personality of an American Indian from that of a white American in the matter of punctuality may be traced to differences in the material elements of their culture (in the instant case, the possession of watches or clocks or their absence in their respective cultures).

Likewise, some cultures greatly value cleanliness, as is clear from the saying – “Cleanliness is next to godliness”.

The trait of cleanliness is greatly encouraged by the technology of plumbing and other cultural aids that are found with it. Language affords an instructive example with regard to the connection between the non-material or abstract elements of culture and personality.

Since language is the medium through which an individual obtains his knowledge about the basic premises and various facets of the “culture” of his community, it may be regarded as the principal agency for moulding his personality. This is evident from the fact that people who cannot speak generally exhibit warped personality.

It is evident from the aforesaid examples that culture has a very close bearing on the development of personality. Ideas, values, and behaviour patterns of an individual are largely the outcome of cultural conditioning.

It should not, however, be concluded that culture is a massive die that shapes uniformly all those who come under it with an identical pattern. Within the same culture, personality traits differ— some more aggressive and some less, some more submissive and some less, some more sensitive and some not so sensitive, and so on. In fact, culture is only one among many determinants of personality.

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Sense Of Self: An Introduction

Children develop a sense of self through their life experiences, culture, and relationships with important adults. This lesson provides an introduction to the concept of sense of self, how it is developed in adults and children, and how you can support children’s positive sense of self.

• Define and describe sense of self for preschoolers.
• Reflect on the experiences, relationships, and perceptions that shaped your own sense of self and understand how this affects the work you do with children.
• Describe the importance of resilience to the work of a preschool teacher.
• Identify ways culture and early experiences influence a sense of self for children in preschool and their families.

Self-Reflection

Throughout our lives, we tend to have ideas or questions about who we are as a person (e.g., “I am a nature-lover,” or “Am I a good person?”), and who we are in different roles (e.g., "I am a Marine,” or “What is the right career for me?”). Take a moment to jot down a few words or phrases that describe who you are.

How did you describe yourself? As a friend? As a teacher or caregiver? Did you use words like smart, emotional, or energetic? Did you describe what you look like, such as tall or brown-eyed? Some of your responses likely reflect personality traits and some may be physical traits. You may have responded with reference to the many roles you assume in a day such as mom, son, friend, or teacher. Your interactions with others also shape how you define yourself. Your words may describe your association with groups and cultures, such as Muslim, Cuban, or Black. All of your descriptions offer a window into your sense of self.

You are a unique individual with thoughts, emotions, and behaviors independent of your family, friends, and coworkers. However, you did not become the person you are today all on your own. Most likely, there were others in your life that helped you to realize these abilities and strengths that you were developing. Maybe a teacher helped you see your artistic ability, or a grandparent encouraged you to try out for a team or enter a writing contest. Maybe a parent helped you when you made a mistake -- or maybe you helped them. You are an individual, but you have used your experiences and interactions with others to develop your unique sense of self.

This course will help you better understand the concept of sense of self and how it relates to your own competence, confidence, and well-being. It will also explain how a sense of self develops for children, and the critical role you play in helping them develop a healthy and positive sense of self.

What is a Sense of Self?

Our sense of self includes the roles, attributes, behaviors, and associations that we consider most important about ourselves, (Ylvisaker, 2006). Examples of things that help to develop who we are as individuals can include our occupations, hobbies, affiliations, abilities, personality traits, and spiritual beliefs. Our identities and how we feel about ourselves is largely the result of our environment and immediate surroundings. For example, if you are a member of an encouraging or nurturing environment, you are more likely to feel accepted and confident in your abilities. But if you are part of an unsupportive or negative environment, you may have difficulty discovering who you are due to a lack of acceptance and encouragement to explore your interests and positive attributes. Think of a person you know who is confident in their ability to perform a particular task or skill. Chances are this individual has received positive support from others, which helped to further the development of that ability and foster a sense of identity.

As we grow and mature, our identities can also change depending on time and place. Relationships, parenthood, and life events can help shape our identities. Think back to who you were 10 years ago. Do you feel like the same person now? Whether you were 19 or 59 a decade ago, it is likely that your concept of who you are has changed in some way. Perhaps you have accomplished major goals like earning a degree or starting a family, and these events have changed how you see yourself. Perhaps experiences like caring for an aging parent or ending a long-term relationship have called into question things you thought you knew about yourself.

Sense of self encompasses self-esteem, self-worth, identity, and self-image. It is a combination of the way we see ourselves, our experiences, our environments, and how we feel about ourselves. For children, a sense of self is linked to their developing identities, which become increasingly independent from their families.

Interactions with others also shape sense of self. For example, if your family praises your cooking ability, you may come to believe that you are a good cook. However, if you were to enroll in a cooking class, your perception of your abilities may change when you are in the company of others with more advanced culinary talents. In this example, your sense of self was altered, though your ability to cook remained the same. If you truly enjoy cooking, though, and gain satisfaction from it, you are less likely to need encouragement from others because you are motivated from within. Intrinsic motivation, or an individual’s desire to seek out opportunities and experiences for their own development and growth without need or external rewards (Di Domenico & Ryan, 2017), is most likely to be developed from experiences that result in a positive and healthy sense of self.

According to Ylvisaker (2006), there are seven experiences that contribute to the construction of a positive and productive sense of self:

Acceptance and respect

The level of acceptance and respect from relevant adults is a strong contributor to an individual’s sense of personal identity at all ages. Adults demonstrate respect for children through the expression of genuine care for children’s thoughts and interests as well as holding reasonably high standards for children’s behaviors and abilities. Nonjudgmental communication and positive regard for the children’s families are also important components of respect.

Success with meaningful tasks

A positive sense of self and self-esteem are ultimately derived from meaningful achievements. As a preschool teacher, you must therefore be intentional in identifying activities and tasks which can help children experience meaningful success, and ideally, a sense of contribution. This might be helping children to make muffins for snack, or planting grass in a bare spot on their playground.

Association of positive role models

People who are reminded of someone with strong values or great inner strength prior to beginning a difficult task tend to put more effort into the task and achieve at higher levels than if they had not had the positive association. For example, you might say, “Tammy, this toy truck broke! Can you be like your grandpa and help us put fix it?”

Honest feedback

When giving feedback, it should be honest, respectful, and specific to the task at hand. Rather than saying, “Good job!” to a child who successfully completed a large puzzle, try saying, “Wow! You worked so hard to put that puzzle together. That took a long time, and you didn’t give up.”

Genuinely challenging and meaningful tasks

Creating experiences and opportunities that are meaningful and fitting to a child’s developmental level and that support daily routines can help contribute to a positive sense of self. Knowledge about each child and of developmentally appropriate practices will be essential when you plan your activities and experiences. For example, drilling children on their colors with pieces of colored paper would not be meaningful, but sitting at the art table and asking, “Why do you think the red marker and the red crayon look different on your paper?” would likely draw out a rich conversation.

Opportunities for meaningful peer interaction

Ongoing support from peers can help contribute to a child’s positive sense of self. In a classroom of preschoolers, you have opportunities every day to encourage positive peer interactions. For example, in the dramatic play area, you might say, “Oh, this is good cake! Roya, would you like to try Eric’s cake?”

Coping with defeats

Defeats are a part of everyday life. Learning how to deal with setbacks and turn them into opportunities for growth will help to build a positive sense of self. Managing frustration is important for children to learn, and they often need guidance to develop and practice this skill. Try acknowledging children’s feelings, while also encouraging a positive outlook. You might say, “I can tell you are frustrated you did not win. In this game there is always a winner and loser. That is part of what makes it exciting, but that can be disappointing too. Would you like to play again, or do you feel like taking a break?”

What is Self-Concept?

As you think about your own life, you may recall specific times when you experienced a strong feeling of who you are, or self-concept. Perhaps it was during a school or sports activity, a theatrical or musical performance, or another event when you felt proud and accomplished. Achieving goals and accomplishing challenging tasks helped you develop a positive self-concept. The relationships that you had with caring adults in your life (e.g., parents, grandparents, teachers, coaches) nurtured your self-concept as you learned about your unique abilities and talents. Conversely, a child who is put down, denied opportunities, and rejected will likely view themselves as incapable and unlikeable. Multiple factors, including cultural background, experiences, and, most importantly, relationships with adults and peers affect the development of a child’s self-concept. Just as your own experiences and early relationships with family members and peers influenced the development of your self-concept, you are creating experiences that influence the children in your care as they learn about themselves.

What does a Sense of Self Mean for Preschoolers?

Adults are able to view themselves from different perspectives – as a mother, as an artist, as they are with friends, as they are with strangers, and so on -- and can describe themselves in detail with distinctions in ability and worth within these dimensions. But young children are still developing, and their sense of self is not as complex or established as an adult’s.

Preschoolers are just beginning to understand their own unique characteristics and their place in the world. They view themselves in broad terms such as, physical appearance, physical abilities, academic abilities, social competence, and social acceptance. When asked to describe themselves they will most often reply with physical actions such as, “I can run fast” and “I am a big kid.” or physical traits such as “I am a girl and I have brown hair.” Occasionally preschoolers may go on to list their likes and dislikes. Preschoolers see themselves and others in a “this or that” perspective, such as entirely good or bad. They are beginning to learn that a person may be both at the same time.

The interactions and experiences that occur during the early years lay the foundation for an individual’s sense of self, and once a perception is established it can be enduring (Marsh et al., 2002). Children whose culminating experiences cause them to view themselves as good or capable will likely carry on this confidence throughout their lives, whereas children who are consistently made to feel bad or inept early in life may have a difficult time seeing themselves as anything else later on. As their teacher, then, it is essential that you show support for their interests and ideas and convey your confidence in their abilities.

What is Resilience?

According to Michele Tugade and Barbara Fredrickson (2004), there are individuals who seem to bounce back from negative events quite effectively, whereas others are caught in a rut, and struggle to manage their hurt, disappointment, or anger. The capacity to recover despite negative stressors demonstrates a concept known as resilience. Someone who is said to be resilient is effective at coping and adapting even when faced with loss, hardship, or adversity. That is not to say that they are immune to negativity or do not experience anxiety or frustration. Instead, someone who is resilient is able to focus on positive aspects and emotions of the situation at a greater rate.

Importantly, every child can develop resilience with the support of caring adults like you. Resilience is developed within the context of important, safe, and responsive relationships with caring adults. When children are given encouragement to explore safe challenges, when their feelings are validated and they are helped to manage them productively, and when they are cared for and respected as unique and valuable human beings, children will have a secure foundation enabling them to be resilient when challenges arise (Center on the Developing Child, 2021). Put another way, those interactions with adults will help children develop a positive sense of self, so that when they do experience hurt or loss, they will be secure and supported enough to recover.

What Role does Culture Play?

Culture is a complex but critical component of everyone’s sense of self. You, the children you care for, and their families may share some cultural affiliations and differ in others. An individual’s culture can change over time, and includes many components such as language, gender, religion, sexual orientation, race, ethnicity, and economic diversity (Selmi, Gallagher, & Mora-Flores, 2015). All of these work together to contribute to a sense of self.

It is critical for you to respect others’ cultures and to acknowledge and understand that individuals may not develop a sense of self in the same manner as you. Culture shapes how we each see ourselves and others. For example, some cultures expect children to be quiet and respectful when around adults. This does not indicate that a quiet child lacks self-confidence or intelligence, but rather is a reminder that not all families reinforce the mainstream American cultural values of individualism, competition, and assertiveness. Some cultures value waiting until everyone is seated and served to begin eating, but for other cultures this may be unnecessary. Other children may expect to eat sitting on the floor, or to only use one hand to eat. It is important to remember that ways of being that differ from our own are neither “good” nor “bad,” but simply different from what we are used to. Shaming children for cultural differences can harm their self-concept and disconnect them from their system of cultural support. As a preschool teacher, you assume the important task of supporting young children’s sense of self, both as an individual, and as a member of a family and culture. 

Two of the most studied aspects of culture related to sense of self are independence and interdependence. Independence views individuals as separate from one another, and values ideas such as self-esteem, individual choices, and assertiveness. Interdependence means more value is placed on the group than the individuals in it, and prioritizes ideas like conformity, concern for others, and group decision-making. Children come from families and cultures that value independence and interdependence in different ways at different times.

According to developmental psychologist Catherine Raeff, culture can influence how you, your coworkers, and the families you serve view:

• Relationships : Culture influences how you enter into and maintain relationships. For example, relationships may be seen as voluntary or as duty-based. This influences how adults encourage children to form relationships: Do children choose whom to play with? Are children required to share? How are new children brought into the group?
• Personality traits: Culture influences your personality and how it is displayed, such as if and how you value traits like humility, self-esteem, politeness, and assertiveness. Culture also influences how you perceive hardship and how you feel about relying on others.
• Achievement: Culture influences how you define success and whether you value certain types of individual and group achievements.
• Expressing emotions: Culture influences which feelings you show, when and how you share them, and whether you consider feelings public or private.

Take a moment to reflect on the hundreds of ways culture has influenced your sense of self. How do your experiences, sense of self, and culture influence your teaching practices and expectations in your classroom? Which practices and expectations are you proud of? Which would you like to change to better align to your values?

What Does this Mean for You?

As a preschool teacher, you are likely to encounter coworkers, children, and family members from a variety of backgrounds and life experiences. It is important for you to understand the complexity of culture’s influence on identity, but it is also important for you to understand individual differences. For example, a parent who has had a lifetime of encouragement, praise, and support may have a very different parenting style than a parent who has experienced extensive criticism, self-doubt, and isolation. In addition, one parent may recognize and celebrate a young child’s growing abilities and all she or he is capable of doing on her own, while another parent may choose to take on tasks the preschooler is capable of doing independently. Children’s experiences with the important adults in their lives will influence how they perceive their abilities, their self-worth, and how they face challenges. As a preschool teacher, you will need to provide young children with culturally sensitive and developmentally appropriate care and to help them be successful in the classroom now and in the years ahead.

Sense of Self: An Introduction

As a preschool teacher, you can play a significant role in helping young children develop a positive and healthy sense of self. Preschoolers learn from caring, responsive adults who support their feelings and ideas, and encourage them to explore their environment and grow. Here are some things you can do to foster preschoolers’ developing sense of self:

• Acknowledge and show genuine enthusiasm in children’s ideas and discoveries
• Model healthy behaviors that support healthy self-image and self-esteem
• Encourage and respond to young children’s comments, questions, feelings, and concerns
• Establish and nurture a sense of community among the children and adults in your program by stating your shared values routinely and living them out, and addressing hurtful behavior among children promptly
• Be positive and sensitive to children’s unique backgrounds and needs
• Welcome and learn about the families of children in your classroom

Completing this Course

For more information on what to expect in this course, the Self & Cultural Understanding  Competency Reflection , and a list of the accompanying Learn, Explore and Apply resources and activities offered throughout the lessons, visit the Preschool Self & Cultural Understanding  Course Guide . 

Please note the References & Resources section at the end of each lesson outlines reference sources and resources to find additional information on the topics covered. As you complete lessons, you are not expected to review all the online references available. However, you are welcome to explore the resources further if you have interest, or at the request of your trainer, coach, or administrator.

Think about your own self-concept and resiliency as you complete the Self-Reflection Activity . Take a few minutes to respond to the questions as you think about your own sense of self. Then, share and discuss your responses with a trainer, coach, or administrator.

Self Reflection Activity

As a preschool teacher, you can play a significant role in helping young children develop a positive sense of self. Preschoolers learn from caring and supportive adults that encourage them to explore their environment and grow. Positive relationships are a crucial foundation for learning and development, and require you to be planful and intentional.

Read the attached resources from the Center on the Social and Emotional Foundations for Early Learning. From these, identify 2-4 specific actions you can take to improve your relationships and interactions with the children in your care. Share your plans with your trainer, coach, or administrator. Make a plan to follow up on how it went.

Building Positive Teacher-Child Relationships

Expressing warmth and affection to children, demonstrate.

Berk, L. E. (2012). Child Development (9th ed.) . Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon.

Center on the Developing Child. (2021). Resilience. Harvard University. https://developingchild.harvard.edu/science/key-concepts/resilience/

Di Domenico, S. I. & Ryan, R. M. (2017). The Emerging Neuroscience of Intrinsic Motivation: A New Frontier in Self-Determination Research. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 11, 145. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2017.00145

Marsh, H. W., Ellis, L. A., & Craven, R. G. (2002). How Do Preschool Children Feel About Themselves? Unraveling measurement and multidimensional self-concept structure. Developmental Psychology , 38(3), 376.

Marshall, H. H. (1989). The Development of Self-Concept. Young Children , 44(5), 44-51.

Measelle, J. R., Ablow, J. C., Cowan, P. A., & Cowan, C. P. (1998). Assessing Young Children’s Views of Their Academic, Social, and Emotional Lives: An evaluation of the self-perception scales of the Berkeley puppet interview. Child Development, 69 (6), 1556-1576.

Raeff, C. (2010). Independence and Interdependence in Children’s Developmental Experiences. Child Development Perspectives , 4(1), 31-36.

Selmi, A. M., Gallagher, R. J., & Mora-Flores, E. R. (2015). Early Childhood Curriculum for All Learners: Integrating play and literacy activities. SAGE Publications.

Tugade, M. M., & Fredrickson, B. L. (2004). Resilient Individuals Use Positive Emotions to Bounce Back from Negative Emotional Experiences. Journal of personality and social psychology , 86(2), 320.

Verschuerena, K., Doumena, S., & Buyse, E. (2012). Relationships With Mother, Teacher, and Peers: Unique and joint effects on young children’s self-concept. Attachment & Human Development , 14(3), 233–248.

Ylvisaker, M. (2006). What is Sense of Self? LEARNet. Retrieved from http://www.projectlearnet.org/tutorials/sense_of_self_personal_identity.html

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How Has Your Culture Influenced Who You Are

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