Reflection Paper: Socialization and Self-Identity

construction Paper sociableising and Self-IdentityIntroductionI grew up in an average out middle screen family, whereby I attended a public direct groom day during early years of my life. Life was quite a simple in radical school because almost all pupils were friendly and there were no companionable divisions both in carve up and outside. However, life was distinct when I went to mettle about school, with the institution of a caste system that drew clean-cut boundaries between the middle class students who were wholesome behaved and the upseter class students associated with intrusiveness and truancy.Socialization in Relation to Self IdentityAccording to Styker (1980), sociological approach to self identicalness element is based on assumption of an existence of a relationship between oneself and the family, whereby the self influences the society through somebody actions thus creating assorts, ne twainrks and institutions. Likewise, the society influences self through sh ared meanings and language that change someone to engage in social interactions and reflect upon himself/herself as an object. My primary school life was greatly shaped by society at bottom a conducive environment that never encouraged social divisions among pupils just now embraced a unified community, where everyone seemed to conform to norms and regulations of the school. This is further supported by social individual(a)ism theory that emphasizes on individualism as being platformt in a social group or category or else than character reference expression (Turner, Hogg, Oakes, Reicher, Wetherell 1987).Life in naughty school was quite divergent from that of primary school as I had to identify with either the middle class students who conformed to school regulations or identify with the lower class students, who were truant, rude and cared less about school rules and regulations. This called for need to reflect, evaluate and plan accordingly in order to a rrest out my future tell and achieve consciousness with respect to my induce existence in school. Initially, I was torn between the two cliques of students because much as I coveted to perform well(p) in school, I also wanted to drink, scum bag and do the crazy things that teenagers do. After critical self evaluation, I put in myself striking a eternal rest between the two sets of students and had two contrary sets of social lives. I could occasionally identify with the middle class students who were well behaved when I infallible to study and equally strike a balance in being popular with the truant group, especially when I needed to smoke, drink and misbehave. Such decision came after some crisis (Mercia 2008). According to Marcias identity status theory, ones sense of identity is largely determined by choices and commitments do in respect to personal and social traits. Focusing on childlike development, Mercia (2008) points out that adolescent stage consists neither o f identity resolution nor identity confusion, but rather the degree to which one has explored and committed to an identity in a variety of life domains from education, religion, relational choices and gender roles among opposites. Marcias theory of identity act argues that two distinct parts form an adolescents identity, namely crisis and commitment. He defined a crisis as a time of upheaval where mature values or choices are being reexamined and further argues that the end consequence of a crisis leads to a commitment made to a certain role or value.Living comfortably with the two sets of students develops the impression that there are as many different selves as there are different positions that one holds in society as well as to different groups responding to self (James 1890). This brings out my overall self that has multiple identities, with individually identity being tied to aspects of the social structure (Burke 1980). When associating with the truant group of student s, the tho things we did and discussed were those relevant to the group such(prenominal) as planning how to misbehave, where to drink, smoke and do other things that were against school rules. On the other hand, identifying with discipline group of students confine me to discuss and do things that were relevant to identity of the group such as class assignments and group discussions. This boosted my psychological well being as well as social skills that enabled me to fit well in school society as supported by Thoits (2001), who argues that greater psychological well- being allows individuals to actively acquire multiple role identities over time. Furthermore research has be that making roles and accumulating role identities equally fosters greater psychological well being. being able to identify and associate with two sets of students in utmost school can be attributed to identity theory. Stryker (1980) describes identity theory as a micro- sociological theory that links self at titudes or identities to the role- related behavior of individuals. It takes into account individual role relationships and identity variability, motivation and differentiation. This implies that my behavior in any of the two groups was dependant on shared responses and behavioral expectations emerge from social interactions. Exchange theory further supports my interaction with two sets of students as it views commitment as being influenced by repeated exchange agreement, which have emotional connection among group members in the form of satis positionion (Lawler Yoon 1996).Socialization in Relation to Academic PerformanceAbility to identify with the disciplined set of students gave me satisfaction, both donnishally and psychologically as learning requires coating and obedience, qualities that are widely associated with feminists. On the other hand, associating with truant group of students gave me the uplift and drive to enjoy my teenage life as well as mental process of mas culinity, which is associated with the highest social status in state schooling environment, a status that I could only achieve through identifying with truant group of students (Fine 2003 Renold 2006).I was an extrovert, popular with my peers and a high academic achiever. Friends were my most sweet aspect of school and I accentuated communication and relationships with friends, while maintaining good straight relationships that invested more in emotional instead of physical aspects of the relationships within the two sets of friends. Research has shown that high achievement in class does not inevitably constitute schoolroom isolation and unpopularity, thus students identify as high achieving are equally popular. Based on this observation, it can be argued that high academic achievement is not impending the popularity of a student and the sociableness of a student may depute that strong social skills channel to high academic achievement as was my case (Jackson, 2006).Franci s, Skelton Read (2010) indicate in their research that sociability of students results to increased directs of sureness for boys and girls regardless of their social class, pointing out that high performing students are often highly witting of their high academic achievement and this achievement awareness preoccupation delineates the notion of giftedness. I was able to excel academically because I was comfortable with my perceive high academic ability and I never underestimated my achievement in relation to my peers, unlike what most girls do.Being vividly aware of my own authenticity, I managed to construct my popularity based on my intrinsic merit factors such as friendliness, sociability and kindness. I was actively engaged in class work and worked hard, completing all assignments even in challenging conditions. Furthermore, I was an enthusiastic participant in class and was always ready to die hard given tasks during classes. I was in good terms with teachers and this adde d value to my performance of attitude. My talks and actions frequently dominated during my days in high school as I was loud, assertive and at the center of events, unlike my low achieving and less popular peers, who were more extrinsic and obsessed with factors such as good looks. I however considered myself good looking and fashionable in appearance during those days. My physical attractiveness and stylish clothing enhanced my classroom relationships and contributed greatly in bringing a balance between my popularity and academic achievement. This is in agreement with Butler (1993) and Kehily (2006) who indicate that physical appearance facilitates and contributes to sociability, confidence and sometimes academic excellence. My performance enhancing qualities are in agreement with self categorization theory that describes how people define themselves at group level as well as at an individual level, considering group and individual identities to be different levels of self categor ization and more distinct from each other as opposed to social identity theory (Hogg and terry 2000). Employing this theory gave me an opportunity to have unlimited range of identities based on context and convenience to achieve desired objectives based on targeted achievement with any particular kind of behavior.In their contribution to social identity theories, Lucey and Reay (2002) observe that academic success and excellence cannot exist without failure, supporting the fact that some students must be marked as failures for others to be identified as successful. This explains my academic excellence and equally explains poor performance for some of my peers.ConclusionHuman beings are social beings and need each other to coexist, a fact supported by the existence of social theories of identity, which explain personal, interpersonal as well as group relationships. As a teenager and a student, social theories of identity worked to my advantage as I managed to strike a balance betwee n different categories of social groups in favor of my performance and social life. I lived well in high school because I could use social theories to manipulate situations for the sake of a peaceful and harmonious existence, while at the same time quench my curiosity for exciting teenage experience. If well used, social theories can bring success to ones academic performance and fruitful relationships that support peaceful coexistence within a given society.