{"id":4259,"date":"2020-10-07T17:31:39","date_gmt":"2020-10-07T15:31:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.dsu.univr.it\/re-serves\/?page_id=4259"},"modified":"2020-10-08T16:32:42","modified_gmt":"2020-10-08T14:32:42","slug":"social-ethnic-identity","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/sites.dsu.univr.it\/re-serves\/en\/glossary\/social-ethnic-identity\/","title":{"rendered":"Social (ethnic) identity"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class='clear'><\/div><div id='sub_menu1'  class='av-submenu-container main_color  avia-builder-el-0  el_before_av_one_fifth  avia-builder-el-first  av-sticky-submenu  container_wrap fullsize' style='  z-index:301' ><div class='container av-menu-mobile-disabled '><ul id='av-custom-submenu-1' class='av-subnav-menu av-submenu-pos-right'>\n<li class='menu-item menu-item-top-level  menu-item-top-level-1'><a href='https:\/\/sites.dsu.univr.it\/re-serves\/en\/glossary\/' ><span class='avia-bullet'><\/span><span class='avia-menu-text'>GLOSSARY<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul><\/div><\/div><div class='sticky_placeholder'><\/div><div id='after_submenu'  class='main_color av_default_container_wrap container_wrap fullsize' style=' '  ><div class='container' ><div class='template-page content  av-content-full alpha units'><div class='post-entry post-entry-type-page post-entry-4259'><div class='entry-content-wrapper clearfix'>\n<div class=\"flex_column av_one_fifth  no_margin flex_column_div av-zero-column-padding first  avia-builder-el-1  el_after_av_submenu  el_before_av_three_fifth  avia-builder-el-first  \" style='border-radius:0px; '><\/div>\n<div class=\"flex_column av_three_fifth  no_margin flex_column_div   avia-builder-el-2  el_after_av_one_fifth  el_before_av_one_fifth  glossa-dettaglio \" style='background: #ffffff; padding:30px; background-color:#ffffff; border-radius:0px; '><section class=\"av_textblock_section \"  itemscope=\"itemscope\" itemtype=\"https:\/\/schema.org\/CreativeWork\" ><div class='avia_textblock  av_inherit_color '   itemprop=\"text\" ><p><strong>Social (ethnic) identity<\/strong><br \/>\nAnna Aluffi Pentini, Roma Tre University<br \/>\nUgo Pace,\u00a0 Kore University of Enna<\/p>\n<p>Identity is defined on the existential level as the answer to the question \u201cwho am I?\u201d and on the sociological research level to the question \u201cwho are you?\u201d (Keupp &amp; H\u00f6fer, 1997).<br \/>\nNo definition of social identity should overlook the stages outlined by Erikson (1950\/2008). He viewed the process of growth in terms of overcoming a state of \u201cphysiological deficiency\u201d or crisis in human beings at different ages of life. For each age, therefore, he thus defined a way of responding to the environment and thus <a href=\"https:\/\/sites.dsu.univr.it\/re-serves\/en\/glossary\/participation\/\">participating<\/a> in society that is healthy by virtue of being adaptive and to a certain extent standard, a mode which consists in overcoming the evolutionary crisis of a given phase of growth. Today, the eight goals of autonomy corresponding to the various ages of growth occur later in life than they did in Erikson\u2019s original model. Nonetheless, these goals still represent the building blocks of a healthy social identity understood as the result of a synergy of trust, autonomy, initiative, industry, contestation, solidarity, intimacy, generativity and, finally, the substantial integrity of the ego.<br \/>\nIn fact, Taylor\u2019s (1993) point about the link between identity and recognition is particularly significant and, specifically in the educational sphere, this link appears to be the foundation of the educational relationship.<br \/>\nPersonal identity, which grants the person a strong sense of uniqueness, is the sum of what we are, our physical image, psychological characteristics, and strategies for achieving goals and facing life\u2019s challenges. Social identity, on the other hand, is the result of an in-depth process of awareness that comes from <a href=\"https:\/\/sites.dsu.univr.it\/re-serves\/en\/glossary\/belonging\/\">belonging<\/a> to a group, together with the emotional attributes that the person assigns to this belonging (i.e., what the group arouses in and represents for the person). Seeing as identity is the result of social engagement, therefore, it is a construct that is shaped continuously. It is transformed in part thanks to the mechanisms people use to achieve a positive image of themselves in relation to social groups, or to reduce cognitive dissonance (i.e., to develop a balance between the various opposing and divergent representations of the self and the world). Social identity, in other words, develops in terms of belonging to a cultural context characterized historically and geographically, and belonging to social groups (and sub-groups) with which individuals identify through their more <em>entourages<\/em>, while such groups in turn recognize and confirm their belonging.<br \/>\nTajfel (1981) has drawn on precisely the concept of \u201csocial identity\u201d to define ethnic identity as that part of the notion of self that derives from the peoples\u2019 knowing that they are members of a social group, together with the value and emotional importance connected to that belonging. Moreover, Tajfel (1982) has highlighted the fact that identity is defined on the basis of multiple instances of belongings, including ethnic identity; that no specific identity (gender, ethnic, cultural) may be considered absolute, that people\u2019s sense of identity is linked to their awareness of belonging; that belonging has a profound significance; and that forms of belonging are dynamic and vary over time in terms of awareness and meaning. In this sense and in light of this concept of belonging, educational and empowerment-building work consists in fostering students\u2019 awareness of belonging and meaning.<br \/>\nUsing Tajfel&#8217;s definition as the conceptual background for the RE-SERVES project\u2019s work with young people and migrants or those risking exclusion gives us the opportunity to cultivate a dynamic vision of groups rather than falling into the trap of reducing them to rigid categories.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Selected references<br \/>\n<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Erikson, E. (2008). Infanzia e societ\u00e0. Armando. (Originariamente pubblicato nel 1950)<\/p>\n<p>Keupp, H., &amp; H\u00f6fer, R. (Cur.). (1997). Identit\u00e4tsarbeit heute. Suhrkamp.<\/p>\n<p>Tajfel, H. (1981). Human groups and social categories: Studies in social psychology. Cup Archive.<\/p>\n<p>Tajfel, H. (Cur.). (1982). Social identity and intergroup relations. Cambridge University Press.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/section><\/div><div class=\"flex_column av_one_fifth  no_margin flex_column_div   avia-builder-el-4  el_after_av_three_fifth  avia-builder-el-last  \" style='background: #ffffff; padding:30px; background-color:#ffffff; border-radius:0px; '><section class=\"av_textblock_section \"  itemscope=\"itemscope\" itemtype=\"https:\/\/schema.org\/CreativeWork\" ><div class='avia_textblock  '   itemprop=\"text\" ><p><strong>How to cite this text:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Aluffi Pentini, A., &amp; Pace, U. (2020). Social (ethnic) identity. In M. Milana &amp; P. Perillo (Cur.) RE-SERVES Project: Glossary. <a href=\"https:\/\/sites.dsu.univr.it\/re-serves\/\">https:\/\/sites.dsu.univr.it\/re-serves\/<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div><\/section><\/div><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":3042,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.dsu.univr.it\/re-serves\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4259"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.dsu.univr.it\/re-serves\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.dsu.univr.it\/re-serves\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.dsu.univr.it\/re-serves\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.dsu.univr.it\/re-serves\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4259"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/sites.dsu.univr.it\/re-serves\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4259\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4372,"href":"https:\/\/sites.dsu.univr.it\/re-serves\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4259\/revisions\/4372"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.dsu.univr.it\/re-serves\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3042"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.dsu.univr.it\/re-serves\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4259"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}