Maintaining a strong, healthy sense of identity is essential for individual survival and personal fulfillment.
The needs of society or the communities we belong to are not always in alignment with what's best for our survival or wellbeing.
2. What is a Sense of
Self?
Driven by the Ego, which is the part of the
mind that mediates between the
conscious and the unconscious and is
responsible for reality testing and a sense
of personal identity.
A person's sense of
self-esteem or self-
importance.
3. Importance
● Development happens in early
childhood, between the ages of 3-5, It is
when a child begins to separate itself
from its parents and find its
function/role in the world.
● Emerges out of the self’s encounter with
the world as it seeks to make sense of,
interact with, and construct images of the
world and relate to other people within it.
● It is a personal, psychological
perspective that is influenced by
experiences, goals, beliefs, identities,
preferences, and biases
● Ego/ Sense of Self gives a person the
motive to act in one’s self-interest
Possible Downfalls
● Conclusions formed can be out of touch with
reality.
● A person's Sense of Self can be programmed with
negative beliefs.
○ Critical or neglectful caregivers
○ Lack of positive reinforcement.
○ Misrepresentation in the media and society.
○ Exposure to high stress environments in
early childhood.
● Existing on autopilot, unaware that beliefs aren’t
rooted in truth.
● Lack of empathy, over empathizing.
● Programmed against the self, Internalized racism.
● Programmed against others, oppressive to others.
4. The needs of society or the communities
we belong to are not always in alignment
with what's best for our survival or
wellbeing.
5. Society & Identity
● Society is defined as the regularities,
customs and ground rules for anti
human behavior.(Hossain)
● Society and the individual are mutually
dependant.
● Humans cannot live without
associations, so a person's life is largely
based on the group it belongs to.
● The inherent capacities of a child can
only develop in society.
- Ugly baby video.
- Influence of media on identity
development.
● Why many people struggle to go against
societal norms.
- the groups we belong to often dictate what is
good and evil and the judgements we place
on ourselves.
● Society has a large influence on our attitudes,
beliefs, morals, ideals and thereby influences
our individual personality.(Hossain)
● Society doesn’t really exist, meaning it’s not
its own entity, we’re being influenced by the
ideologies of a very few people.
● Important to figure out what our values and
interests are outside of the group.
- Challenging the norms of a group can help
identify potential problems.
6. ● Favors consensus thinking or the need for harmony
and cohesion above critical evaluation and analysis.
● Individual critical thinking is de-emphasized and
frowned upon.
● Leads to flawed conclusions.
Causes
● Strong sense of shared identity among a group.
● Exacerbated by extrinsic factors, perception of an
external threat to the groups shared identity.
Outcome
“Enforces the illusion that the group's decisions are superior to
individual judgment, and that any opposing views are contrary
to the group's interests.”(Kenton)
Groupthink
8. Oppression & Identity
Oppressor
● Ideologies rooted in superiority
● Maintains control and domination of
others by manipulating power
dynamics.
● Benefits from the unjust and cruel
actions inflicted on the oppressed.
● Needs the oppressed group to
assimilate to it’s views in order for the
unbalanced power dynamic to work.
Oppression occurs when individuals are systematically subjected to political, economic, cultural or social
degradation (Anderson)
Oppressed
● Ideologies rooted in inferiority
● Suffers as a result of many forms of
exclusion, exploitation, control &
violence.
● Internalization of negative group
identities and low self-esteem.
● Socialization patterns help maintain
systems of oppression.
Both ideologies are fear based and are not rooted in reality.
9. Racine & Anaia Moses & Kitch Estragon & Vladimir
Both characters are impacted
by their traumatic childhood
and the lack of parental
guidance they received.
- Are two very different
examples of what
internalizing external
experiences does to a
person's psyche.
- Anaia we see this more in
her self image and clues
we get about her self
esteem.
- Racine we see this in her
view of the world and her
lack of consideration for
human life, (her’s wasn’t
considered.)
Both characters are heavily
influenced by an oppressive
society.
- Moses didn’t internalize
the views of society
because he was
constantly positively
reinforced by other
members of his
community.
- Kitch relied heavily on
Moses for leadership and
solutions.
- What would it have
looked like if they both
had a stronger sense of
self?
Both characters have given
away the power to change their
circumstances to an external
force, even though it caused
them to suffer.
- Estragon relied on
Vladimir for protection,
not very bright and gets
into a lot of trouble.
- Constantly brings up how
much happier he would
be if they separated.
- I think he stayed with
Vladimir and in the cycle
they were in because he
didn’t feel confident that
he’d be able to survive on
his own.
10. Solution
Ayn Rand proposes a “redeeming of what it means to be selfish” and “not surrendering selfishness to
man’s enemies or people who act with malicious intent.”
“Man must be the beneficiary of his own moral actions.”
“Must discover and practice the principles which his survival requires.
Patterns of oppression that arise within large groups suggests that it is necessary to live by a set of
principles and values that are in an individual's best interest and do not impede on the safety of others.
Acting in one’s own self interest, without malicious intent, is a byproduct of having a healthy sense of self
that is not based on oppression but on an individual's intrinsic right to exist fully.
11. ● Resisted against larger
societal stereotypes and
the norms most
prevalent in their
smaller communities.
● Initially driven by their
own self interests and
desires.
● Impact they’ve had on
others has been mainly
positive despite their
early childhood
environments or
experiences.
12. Works Cited
- Anderson, Amy J., et al. “Oppression and Power.” Introduction to Community Psychology, 21 June 2019,
https://press.rebus.community/introductiontocommunitypsychology/chapter/oppression-and-power/.
- Cherry, Kendra. “Understanding Erikson's Stages of Psychosocial Development.” Verywell Mind, Verywell
Mind, 3
Aug. 2022, https://www.verywellmind.com/erik-eriksons-stages-of-psychosocial-development-2795740.
- Hossain, F. M. Anayet Anayet, and Md. Korban Ali. “Relation between Individual and Society.” Open Journal of
Social Sciences, Scientific Research Publishing, https://www.scirp.org/html/8-1760197_49227.htm.
- Kenton, Will. “What Is Groupthink? Definition, Characteristics, and Causes.” Investopedia, Investopedia, 5
Dec.
2022, https://www.investopedia.com/terms/g/groupthink.asp.
- Rand, Ayn, and Nathaniel Branden. Virtue of Selfishness: A New Concept of Egoism. Paw Prints, 2016.
