Souza 1

Pedro Souza
Mrs. Pritchett
7th grade Reading
9 March 2021
Impact on and of identity

Have you ever wondered why people like different things and why they have so many
different personalities? It all comes down to identity and what it does. People today still try to
find out what it is and how it is shaped or will be shaped. Identity can be influenced by many
factors, and those factors will produce different outcomes, because depending on what people
go through in their lives, these moments are what will affect their personality.

The Cambridge Dictionary defines identity as “who a person is, or the qualities of a
person or group that make them different from others” (Cambridge). Then, everyone has a
personal and a social identity, and the factors that influence identity affect who a person is and
her qualities. One of those factors is the different environments in which different people live,
this can affect specially the social identity. Things like culture, language, and religion are some
of the main environmental factors, they can define what a person is in society and how they act
towards other people. These things can change views, opinions, practices, and even the outlook,
without these in people’s lives, individuality would be lacking. This shows how depending
on the environment the identity of a person can be extremely affected, socially and personally.

Identity may also be influenced by the way people see themselves. That is why One
thing that must also consider is social media and media in general. That is because it can have
more than one effect on the development of one’s identity. People may gain control with the
media, but they may also have troubles with their past. Media also influences how people see
their selves, and it can help them to share identity but at the same time question it. Social media
can capture someone’s identity into their virtual identity, while at the same time the person may
hide certain things to see herself better. Being negative or positive, what matters is that it affects
identity in a tremendous way, and consequently sometimes may even reflect it. Social media is
for sure another factor when talking about identity development, since it has many effects on
how the person sees herself before the society.
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Along with these, there are many other deeper factors that influence, especially personal
identity. Another main factor of identity development that is probably the most influential is
family, that is because these influences affect many of people’s actions. So, people begin by
being identified as labels like son, daughter, sibling, parent, and others, these influence the way
they may look at themselves in the group. Dysfunctional families can cause great damage, and
that is known because good families develop people that are healthy and have good
relationships. The kids who grow up in dysfunctional families as a result think they are not
special and likely develop a low self-esteem. They may end up not trusting many people when
they grow up, and may also have problems in judgement because of the families they grew up
in. The family is an agent that develops a child for the future and so develops the child’s identity
and personality, problems may affect them in a horrible way when they become adults and have
their own families. Therefore, a good household can cause a lot of good things, just as a bad one
can cause bad, but both have a tremendous role when talking about identity.

In life there are many factors that make people who they are, and these will also
influence their actions and lifestyle. It may be family, environment, social media, or other
things that people experience and shape their identity, but it is certain that each person has her
own unique personality. Everyone has gone through experiences that changed them forever, and
this is how identity is shaped. Identity is always going to be different because people are not the
same, and each one has different influences in their lives.

Works Cited
- Storey, Rachel. “How does environment shape a person’s identity?”. Arcgis. 9 April
2021.<https://www.arcgis.com/apps/Cascade/index.html?
appid=b9c42eb1a7604910b5f7e86055a0d159>
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- Renner, Nausicaa. “How social media shapes our identity”. The New Yorker 8 August
2019. 9 April 2021. <https://www.newyorker.com/books/under-review/how-social-
media-shapes-our-identity>

- “Dysfunctional family relationships”. Brown University. 9 April 2021.

<https://www.brown.edu/campus-life/support/counseling-and-psychological-
services/dysfunctional-family-relationships>

- “Identity”. Cambridge Dictionary. 9 April 2021.

<https://dictionary.cambridge.org/pt/dicionario/ingles/identity?q=Identity>

- “What factors really influence identity”. July 2 nd, 2020. Y Studios. 9 April 2021.
<https://ystudios.com/insights-people/influence-on-identity#:~:text=Identity
%20formation%20and%20evolution%20are,self%2Dexpression%20and%20life
%20experiences>