Cultural identity refers to how a person (or groups of people) define who they are and their place in the world. We all have a cultural identity; in fact, each of us has more than one!
To step back, you might ask, "What is identity?" According to New Scientist, a sense of self is an example of consciousness, and a brain activity that developed out of the human need to function in social groups. In order to understand others, we humans need to be able to go beyond merely experiencing sensations to be able to observe ourselves in relation to our environments, including the people we come in contact with.
The ability to see ourselves and others as separate beings and to communicate and cooperate with each other led to the human need to belong. The New World Encyclopedia cites Psychologist Abraham Maslow as identifying the need for love and connection as being a basic human requirement, after physiological and security needs.
Kinds of Cultural Identity
Sociology provides different ways to define cultural identity. Two of those are through the lens of personal identity, or social identity.
According to Psychology Today, personal identity is about how you see yourself as “different” from those around you. Social identities tell how you are like others, and focus on your similarities.
Who are you? Your personal identity is what makes you unique. Your personal identity is characterized by traits like your accomplishments; dreams and goals; habits; hobbies; political and religious beliefs; musical preferences; and your personality.
What are you? Your cultural identity is also shaped by your social identity. There are a set of social identities that are considered “The Big 8": age, race, gender, ability, religion, class, immigration status, and sexual orientation.
Still other ways to look at cultural identity and focus on the emotional aspect of cultural identity are cultural universalism and social constructivism.
According to Noba, the former is based on the idea that all humans have the same set of feelings and are “hard wired” to experience a certain range of emotions in given situations. Social scientists who subscribed to the school of thought that there are emotions that have their roots in physiology are no less than Aristotle, Charles Darwin and William James.
Initially there were nine core emotions identified as being part of the human experience: interest, enjoyment, surprise, distress, fear, anger, shame, dissmell (reaction to bad smell) and disgust. That list was recently updated to 12 distinct emotions: interest, joy, surprise, sadness, anger, disgust, contempt, self-Hostility, fear, shame, shyness, and guilt
The University of Minnesota Libraries states that in the social constructivism view, cultural identity is formed through our interactions with others and in relation to social, cultural, and political contexts. Studies conducted in the 1970s by psychologists examined facial expressions of people from different cultures and found that emotional reactions were, in fact, not shown to be universal. For example, this study revealed that 86% of U.S. participants associated wrinkling of the nose with “disgust,” but only 60% of Japanese did. The scientists concluded there were cultural differences in how people felt it was appropriate to display emotions in a particular situation.
Expressions of Cultural Identity
On any given day and in many ways, we continually communicate our cultural identity. Some of those forms are traditional cultural expressions, known as TCEs. According to the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), some of the TCEs include architecture, dance, folk art, and music. WIPO defines TCEs as integral to the cultural and social identities of indigenous and local communities, embody know-how and skills, and transmit core values and beliefs.
Other expressions of cultural identity include culinary arts, festivals, garden and landscape techniques, language, maritime traditions, spiritual practices, textiles, and visual arts.
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