COMM 10 Module 3 Communication and Identity Construction PDF

CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES IN COMMUNICATION (COMM 10) Module 3 Communication and Identity Construction The common preparation that we do for an online meeting is ensuring...

CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES IN COMMUNICATION (COMM 10) Module 3 Communication and Identity Construction The common preparation that we do for an online meeting is ensuring that you are presentable or, at the very least, you project a formal image on the screen. For sure, what people see beyond the video and the image you project are totally different from each other! The same dynamics can be applied in presenting our identities: we make sure that we have some control on how other people see and make sense of our own personalities. In the previous module, we learned about the use of communication to influence attitudes and behavior. In this module, we will learn about the influence of communication on identity construction. At the same time, we will learn about how our identities affect how we communicate. At the end of this module, you should be able to: 1. explain the process of identity construction in and through communication, and 2. analyze issues in the construction of personal and collective identities using concepts from the Communication Theory of Identity, Positioning Theory, and related perspectives. 1.0 What is Identity? According to Djite (as cited in Versluys, n.d., p. 6), identity is the “everyday word for people’s sense of who they are.” This sense of oneself is formed through our interactions with others. Since we are social beings who interact with and relate with others as members of social groups and communities, our identity is not stable and unitary but shifting and multiple. At the simplest level, this is evident in the fact that our self-concept and others’ conception of us are not necessarily one and the same. Consider this remark by the sociologist and cultural theorist Stuart Hall (1985): At different times in my thirty years in England, I have been “hailed” or interpellated as “coloured,” “West-Indian,” “Negro,” “black,” “immigrant.” Sometimes on the street; sometimes at street corners; sometimes abusively; sometimes in a friendly manner; sometimes ambiguously. In fact, I “am” not one or another of these ways of representing me, though I have been all of them at different times and still am some of them to some degree. But, there is no essential, unitary “I” - only the fragmentary, contradictory subject “I” become (pp.108-109). This example shows that a person’s identity is shaped by his/her relationships with others. It is fluid rather than fixed, and it is political, as well as personal. Page 1 of 7 COMM 10 - Critical Perspectives in Communication ————————————————————————————————————— Learning Activity 1 Identity Layers Recognizing that identity is a social process and it is constructed through communication, take a closer look at some things about yourself which are usually taken for granted. Consider the questions below as your prompt for reflection. Write your answers on the table right after the question prompts. 1. What does your room/space/closet communicate about you? 2. What does your morning ritual communicate about you? 3. What does your search history in Google or YouTube communicate about you? 4. What does the list of FB groups that you belong to communicate about you? 5. What do your “liked” pages and posts in social media sites communicate about you? Space Morning Ritual Search History FB Groups Liked posts and pages Our self-identity is influenced to a large extent by how others see us, and we form our self-identity in the process of interacting with other people. This view of how identity is formed is distinct from the liberal-humanist perspective of identity as something that is essential or innate. Rather, from the perspective of the Communication Theory of Identity (CTI) developed by Michael Hecht and his colleagues (2009), identity is a social process and is constructed in and through communication. Learning Activity 2 Read the discussion on the CTI by Hecht. (Check the material shared on Canvas.) Be guided by the following study questions: 1. How is identity a social process? 2. How is identity constructed through communication? 3. What are the processes in identity construction in and through communication? Page 2 of 7 COMM 10 - Critical Perspectives in Communication A. The Process of Identity Construction The Communication Theory of Identity (CTI) posits that a person’s identity is constructed in the process of interacting and communicating with others. Identity is constructed in and through language, and communication defines our identity both directly and indirectly. Communication defines our identity directly when we employ linguistic codes, such as naming and kinship terminologies, to describe and assign macro- and micro- characteristics to ourselves, others, and groups of people, that also serve as our orienting grid under different contexts. Communication defines our identity indirectly when we internalize judgements of ourselves, others, and social groups based on our way of expressing ourselves. In this continuous process of identity construction, some of the conceptions that we form about ourselves and others that prove relevant to existing social structures are maintained, those that have changed over time are refabricated, and those that are no longer relevant to the current conditions are replaced. Thus, identity is dynamic rather than static, and multiple rather than singular. P, E, R, C Hecht identifies four loci or frames of identity: the personal, enacted, relational, and communal. These frames help us to understand identity as a multifaceted social entity nested in different levels. The personal frame concerns our self-cognitions (including self-image and self-concept) or sense of being. All personal dispositional characteristics that help us to make sense of who we are belong to this frame. The enacted frame covers the performance and outward expressions of identity. How we formulate messages to express our identity belongs to this frame or layer. The relational frame explains identity as something that is embedded in our relationships with others. In the communal frame, identities become a shared vision of “personhood” for a collective identity. In this process, identities are ascribed and avowed to through relationships. To view identity as a social process is to acknowledge that identity is an interactional accomplishment. It is embedded in our conceptions of ourselves, our actions, our relationships, and our social affiliations, and it is produced, refashioned, and continually negotiated through interaction and social performances. Hecht states that the four frames of identity interpenetrate or are intertwined with each other. They are not separate from each other but fused. Jung and Hecht cite the example of gender identity. We may identify ourselves as man or woman (personal frame) and our enactment of our gender identification is determined by how others look at men in relation to women or women in relation to men (relational frame), and by how the dominant cultural scripts and power structures define men and women (communal frame). In other words, communal identities help reinforce personal identities and affect the enacted and relational identities. The notion of the interpenetration of frames can explain how identities are usually consistent and complementary. However, inconsistency and contradiction among the frames can Page 3 of 7 COMM 10 - Critical Perspectives in Communication occur. For example, there may be a mismatch between a person’s self-concept and others’ ascriptions that he/she experiences in his/her relationships. The resolution of these contradictions involves constant negotiation, accounting for the dynamic and fluid nature of identity. Jung & Hecht propose the concept of identity gap to refer to discrepancies between or among the four frames of identity, and their study focuses in particular on the gap between personal and ascribed relational identities and the gap between personal and enacted identities. They emphasize that since CTI posits that “identity is inherently communicative and social”, then these gaps or discrepancies “should be associated with communication outcomes” (p. 270). In their study, they examined the relationships between the two identity gaps and three key communication outcomes, namely, communication satisfaction, feeling understood, and conversational appropriateness and effectiveness, and they found that larger gaps are associated with less communication satisfaction, appropriateness and effectiveness and less feelings of being understood. In another study (Jung, Hecht & Wadsworth, 2007), they hypothesized that identity gaps “are more likely to occur among international students, who often lack mainstream American communication skills and are subject to stereotypical and/or ignorant attributions, in their communication with Americans” (p. 608). ————————————————————————————————————— Learning Activity 3 Read Erving Goffman’s concept of self as performance (articulated in his book The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life published in 1959, pp. 10-19). Be guided by the following study questions: 1. How does a coherence in setting, appearance, and manner help in performing your identity? 2. How are fronts selected? How does our selection of fronts affect our identity performance? After reading Goffman, fill in the blanks below for a quick self-assessment. 1. The word person comes from the Latin word persona, which means ________________. 2. Age and race are examples of __________ signs, while facial expressions and gestures are examples of ______________ signs. 3. _____________ fronts can be considered as scripts that have become institutionalized in terms of the stereotyped expectations they contain. Page 4 of 7 COMM 10 - Critical Perspectives in Communication Learning Activity 4 A. Read Elena Andreouli’s (2010) “Identity, Positioning and Self-Other Relations.” Be guided by the following study questions: 1. What is positioning? How does it clarify the relational character of identity? 2. How does positioning explain how marginalized groups negotiate and assert their collective identities in asymmetric social relations where they experience discrimination and prejudice? B. To supplement your understanding on identity, watch or listen to Siyanda Mohutsiwa’s TED talk and reflect on the role of social media in the construction of racial and regional identities: How Young Africans found a Voice on Twitter https://www.ted.com/talks/siyanda_mohutsiwa_how_young_africans_found_a_voice_on_twi tter Citing various theorists, Andreouli notes that the process of identity construction involves a dynamic interaction between the individual and the social, or between the self and other (similar to the notion, in CTI, that identity is relational), which produces social representations. These provide “various possible identities” or positions that individuals take to “help them structure their social world and orient themselves within this world” (Andreouli, 2010, pp. 14.2-14.3). Individuals and groups construct social identities that reflect their efforts to situate or position themselves within their society and “in relation to the symbolic field of culture” (p. 14.2). Positioning theory posits that this process of positioning and social identity construction is discursive and can be understood as “‘doing identities’ in talk.” Yamakawa et al. (2009, p. 2) explains this as follows: Positioning is defined as “the discursive process whereby people are located in conversations as observably and subjectively coherent participants in jointly produced storylines” (Davies & Harré, 1999, p. 37). One can be positioned by another or by oneself, interactive or reflective positioning, respectively. This definition means that participants position themselves or are positioned in different conversational locations according to changes in storylines. Since “conversations are on-going discursive practices in which storylines and participants’ roles are subject to change as conversations evolve,” positions are not fixed or stable. Participants can position themselves in certain ways, reframe the conversation, and change the storyline. This process is evident in the reconstruction of collective identities by marginalized groups. Page 5 of 7 COMM 10 - Critical Perspectives in Communication Conclusion In this module, we have explored the dynamics between identity and communication as elucidated in the Communication Theory of Identity, Presentation of the Self in Everyday Life, and Positioning Theory. One key point is that identities are multiple and not singular, and they do not function in total isolation from each other. When we acknowledge the multiplicity of identities, we can avoid drawing hasty generalizations about people (stereotypes) that may fuel discrimination, micro-aggressions, and inter-group conflict. Instead, our judgements of people are based on a balanced and wide understanding of our respective contexts and positionalities. Furthermore, if identities are relational phenomenon, we would do well to refrain from oversimplifying them as revolving around a unitary axis of similarity and difference. As Joseph (2010) opined, identity is an intersubjective construction emerging from overlapping and complementary relationships characterized by, but not exclusive to, similarity and difference, genuineness and artifice, and authority and delegitimacy. This perspective in turn should enable us to give space for others to negotiate their identities as we negotiate ours. Additional Reading Read the article: Our Changing Identities Under Covid-19” (Bowles, 2020) https://pursuit.unimelb.edu.au/articles/our-changing-identities-under-covid-19 References Page 6 of 7 COMM 10 - Critical Perspectives in Communication A. Required Readings (Listed in the order in which they should be read in this module) Hecht, ML. (2009). Communication theory of identity. In SW Littlejohn & KA Foss (eds), Encyclopaedia of Communication Theory, pp. 139-141. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, Inc. Goffman, E. (1956). The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life. University of Edinburgh Social Sciences Research Centre, George Square, Edinburgh 8 Monograph No. 2 Andreouli, E. (2010). Identity, positioning and self-other relations. Papers on Social Representations, 19, 14.1-14.13. ‘ B. Other References Hall, S. (1985). Signification, representation, ideology: Althusser and the post-structuralist debates. Critical Studies in Mass Communication, 2(2), 91–114. Available at https:// doi.org/10.1080/15295038509360070 Hecht, ML & Choi, H. (2012). Chapter 8 - The communication theory of identity as a framework for health message design. In H Cho (Ed.), Health Communication Message Design: Theory and Practice (pp. 137-152). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Available at https://in.sagepub.com/sites/default/files/upmbinaries/43569_8.pdf Jung, E; Hecht, ML & Wadsworth, BD. (2007). The roles of identity in international students’ psychological well-being: A model of depression level, identity gaps, discrimination, and acculturation. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 31, 605–624. Martin, JN. & Nakayama, TK. (2010). Identity and intercultural communication. In Intercultural Communication in Contexts (5th ed.) (pp. 161-217). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill. Samovar. LA; Porter, RE; McDaniel, ER & Roy, C. (2013). Culture and identity: Situating the individual. In Communication Between Cultures (8th ed.) (pp. 213-243). Boston, MA: Wadsworth Cengage Learning. Wodak, R; De Cillia, R; Reisigl, M & Liebhart, K. (1999). The Discursive Construction of National Identity. Edinburgh, United Kingdom: Edinburgh University Press. Yamakawa, Y, Forman, E & Ansell, E. (2009). Role of positioning: the role of positioning in constructing an identity in a third grade mathematics classroom. In K Kumpulainen, K Hmelo-Silver & M César (Eds.), Investigating Classroom Interaction: Methodologies in Action (pp. 179–202). Rotterdam: Sense Publishers. https://www.learnlab.org/research/wiki/images/b/be/Yamakawa_role_of_positioning.p df Yep, GA. (2015). Toward thick(er) intersectionalities: theorizing, researching, and activating the complexities of communication and identities. In Sorrells, K & Sekimoto, S (eds.). Globalizing Intercultural Communication. A Reader. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. https://us.sagepub.com/sites/default/files/upmbinaries/66097_Sorrells_Chapter_5.p df Page 7 of 7 COMM 10 - Critical Perspectives in Communication