Personal Identity (Meaning and Explanation)

We explain what personal identity is, its perspectives and its elements. Also, its characteristics and what social identity is.

personal identity group membership — Membership groups intervene in the formation of personal identity.

What is personal identity?

Generally, when we talk about personal identity we are referring to something similar to self-image. It is the set of characteristics that define an individual and allow him to recognize himself as a distinct and differentiated entity from the others.

It is not exactly a synonym for personality, character, or personal traits, but it is a concept that seems to encompass all these aspects, thus forming the “essence” of an individual.

However, from certain perspectives, such as philosophy, defining this concept becomes much more complicated. What is its nature? How do we distinguish it from other psychological, emotional or intellectual traits of the human being? How is it that he can be the same person and at the same time change over time? Where does identity end and context begin?

There are numerous approaches that seek to define personal identity. Some of them are:

The psychologist. That assigns an important role to memory and mental processes within identity;
The physiological-somatic. That seeks the answers in the human body itself;
The narrative. That poses personal identity as a self-story that is constantly being told (and therefore modified).

Finally, in more practical areas, such as administration, personal identity is often spoken of as the set of data and personal information with which we can access some type of account, application or service profile. That is, personal identity is thought from the information that represents it. This is also known as a “fingerprint”.

Characteristics of personal identity

The concept of personal identity, understood from different points of view, usually has a series of stable characteristics, such as:

Constancy Identity is a set of constant traits, that is, they can be appreciated in the same way over time, although it is at the same time possible to appreciate their long-term changes.
Coherence When we say that personal identity is coherent, we mean that we can predict some of its traits, that is, some of its reactions to certain conditions or stimuli.
Adaptability Although personal identity is constant at a given moment, it is also changing over time, as experience and life suppress certain behaviors and implement others.
Socio-cultural character This means that identity occurs in contrast to others, since it is defined based on the similarities or differences with respect to those who share a community and a culture with us.

How is personal identity constructed?

The construction of personal identity is a long and complex process. Its beginning goes back to the individual's childhood and runs along with his entire life as their way of being adapts to what they have experienced and integrates the different experiences they have had, that is, they learn.

It brings together other forms of identification that are formed in different and successive stages, such as sexual identity, gender identity, social identity, etc.

This construction process is gradual. A diverse range of experiences intervene in it, especially those linked to the erotic-affective, with social integration, with the cultural, with the religious, with the political, as well as with self-perception and self-esteem.

Elements of personal identity

Personal identity is made up of the following elements:

Membership groups These are the human groups to which we subscribe, voluntarily or involuntarily, and with which we share a series of values, as well as a common history. They can be family, friends, religious groups, politicians, etc.
Traditions and customs Cultures and human groups share social practices, rituals and policies coming from a historical context, inherited knowledge or foundations, or more or less explicit social agreements. All of this is part of the baggage that socially determines personal identity, whether it goes in its favor or against it.
Experience Experience is the fundamental factor in the construction of identity, since it summarizes personal history, with all the transcendent events that can be decisive in personality, ideology or behavior. In other words, experience is the unique and individual story of each person.
Political orientation Beyond the political/partisan positioning, political elements such as the presence of institutions, political activism,

Although social identity is contained in personal identity, these are not concepts that are the same. The difference between them is that Social identity links the individual with the community of which he or she is a part while personal identity singles you out as a unique individual.

This difference is important, since social identity plays a central role in the constitution of personal identity, either inheriting values to the individual or serving as a system against which to rebel or oppose.