Component 1 Section A: the acquisition of identity, including the sources of identity (class, gender, ethnicity, nationality, age, sexuality and disability); the difference between personal and social identity; and modernist and postmodernist views of whether identity is fixed or chosen.

What this dot point is asking

This statement is about identity: how socialisation produces a sense of who we are. You need the sources of identity (class, gender, ethnicity, nationality, age, sexuality, disability), the distinction between personal and social identity, the claim that identity is socially constructed, and the big debate between modernist (identity rooted in structure) and postmodernist (identity fluid and chosen) views. It is the natural sequel to socialisation: socialisation is the process, identity is the product.

The answer

Personal and social identity

Identity is relational: we define ourselves partly through difference from others (an "us" implies a "them"). It is also shaped by how others see and label us, which interactionists capture in ideas such as the looking-glass self (Cooley) and labelling. This is why social identity can be imposed as well as chosen.

The sources of identity

The specification expects you to be able to discuss several sources and how socialisation produces each:

• Class identity comes from occupation, income, consumption and upbringing, though sociologists debate whether class identity has weakened in recent decades.
• Gender identity is taught through gender role socialisation (Oakley's canalisation and manipulation) and reinforced by the media and peers, so masculinity and femininity are largely social constructs.
• Ethnic identity draws on shared culture, language, religion and heritage, and may be strengthened by hybridity (mixing of cultures) or by experiences of racism.
• National identity is constructed through education, the media, language, symbols and rituals (such as sport and ceremony), giving people a sense of belonging to a nation.
• Age identity is shaped by the meanings each society attaches to childhood, youth, adulthood and old age, which are themselves social constructions.
• Sexuality and disability are also sources of identity, often involving the negotiation of stigma and the labels imposed by others.

Modernist versus postmodernist views

The central debate is whether identity is fixed by structure or fluid and chosen:

• Modernist sociologists (including functionalists and Marxists) argue identity is strongly anchored in structural position, above all class, but also gender and ethnicity. These shape life chances and self-image, so identity is largely given rather than freely selected.
• Postmodernists such as Bauman and Giddens argue that in a consumer society identity has become a reflexive project of the self: people construct and reconstruct who they are through consumption, media and lifestyle, picking and mixing identities. Traditional sources have loosened their grip.

Most sociologists reach a middle position: identity is more flexible than in the past, but structural factors such as class, gender and ethnicity still constrain the identities realistically available to people.

Examples in context

A strong answer treats identity as socially constructed, separates personal from social identity, and weighs the modernist against the postmodernist view rather than asserting one.

Try this

Q1. Explain the difference between personal identity and social identity. [6 marks]

• What the marker wants. A clear distinction (AO1): personal identity as the unique features of an individual, social identity as the part derived from group membership and labels (class, gender, ethnicity, nationality), with the point that social identity is socially constructed, illustrated with an example.

Q2. Analyse two ways in which national identity is socially constructed. [12 marks]

• Cue. Two developed points: education and the media transmit shared symbols, history and language, and rituals such as sport and ceremony create a sense of belonging, each applied to an example and linked to the idea that national identity is learned rather than natural.