How is a person's identity formed by society?
How identity is formed through socialisation: the sources of identity in gender, ethnicity, social class, age, nationality and religion, and how identity can change over time.
A focused answer on identity for WJEC GCSE Sociology: how identity is formed through socialisation, the main sources of identity such as gender, ethnicity, class, age, nationality and religion, and how identity can change.
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What this dot point is asking
This dot point covers identity: the sense of who we are, both how we see ourselves and how others see us. You need to explain that identity is formed through socialisation, describe the main sources of identity (gender, ethnicity, social class, age, nationality and religion), and explain that identity is not fixed but can change over time. Identity links the key concepts (culture, norms, roles) to the way individuals fit into society.
Identity is formed through socialisation
The main sources of identity
Identity can change
Try this
Q1. Identify three sources of a person's identity. [Knowledge recall]
- Cue. Any three of: gender, ethnicity, social class, age, nationality and religion.
Q2. Explain why sociologists argue that identity is not fixed. [Short explanation]
- Cue. Identity is learned through socialisation and can change as circumstances change, for example through moving country, changing job, or shifts in fashion and culture, and people hold several identities at once that they emphasise differently in different situations.
Exam-style practice questions
Practice questions written in the style of WJEC exam questions on this dot point, with worked answer explainers. The year tag is the paper they imitate, not the source.
WJEC (Component 1)2 marksExplain what is meant by 'identity'.Show worked answer →
A short knowledge question (AO1). Reward a clear definition with development.
Definition. Identity is the sense of who we are: how we see ourselves and how others see us.
Development. It is formed through socialisation and is shaped by things such as gender, ethnicity, class, age and nationality.
Top marks. A clear definition plus a developed point earns both marks.
WJEC (Component 1)6 marksExplain how socialisation shapes a person's gender identity.Show worked answer →
An explain question (AO1 and AO2). Reward developed points about how gender is learned.
Family. Parents treat boys and girls differently, through toys, clothes, chores and the language they use, teaching expected gender roles from an early age.
Other agencies. The media and peer group reinforce gender, presenting role models and applying pressure to behave in masculine or feminine ways.
Top band. Two or more developed points showing that gender identity is learned through socialisation, not simply biological.
Related dot points
- The key sociological concepts of culture, norms, values, roles, status and the difference between ascribed and achieved status, and why these shared ideas hold a society together.
A focused answer on the building-block concepts of WJEC GCSE Sociology: culture, norms, values, roles, status, and the difference between ascribed and achieved status, with clear UK examples.
- The process of socialisation: primary socialisation in the family and secondary socialisation through the agencies of education, peer group, media, religion and the workplace, and how each transmits norms and values.
A focused answer on socialisation for WJEC GCSE Sociology: primary socialisation in the family and secondary socialisation through education, peers, media, religion and the workplace, and the agencies that transmit culture.
- The nature versus nurture debate: the view that behaviour is biologically determined against the sociological view that it is learned through socialisation, with evidence from feral children and cross-cultural differences.
A focused answer on the nature versus nurture debate for WJEC GCSE Sociology: biological versus social explanations of behaviour, the evidence from feral children and cross-cultural differences, and why sociologists stress nurture.
- Social control through formal agencies such as the police, courts and law, and informal agencies such as the family, peer group and media, working through positive and negative sanctions to maintain social order.
A focused answer on social control for WJEC GCSE Sociology: formal control through the police, courts and law, informal control through the family, peers and media, and how sanctions maintain social order.
Sources & how we know this
- WJEC GCSE Sociology (Wales) specification (C200QS) — WJEC (2017)