The Social Construction of Identity
Identity is a person's sense of who they are, made up of characteristics that are ascribed, fixed for a person at birth or given without choice, such as sex assigned at birth, ethnicity or age, and characteristics that are achieved, gained or chosen during life, such as an occupation or qualification.
Before you start
Make sure you're comfortable with these topics first:
Method
- Learn the difference between an ascribed characteristic, fixed or given, such as sex at birth or ethnicity, and an achieved characteristic, earned or chosen, such as occupation or qualifications.
- Learn what 'socially constructed' means: that the meaning attached to a category of identity is created and can change through culture, rather than being fixed purely by nature or biology.
- Learn at least three named sources of identity from the specification, such as class, gender, ethnicity and age, and be ready to give one piece of evidence that meanings around each have changed over time or vary between cultures.
- Learn Goffman's concept of master status and be able to explain how one label can come to dominate a person's whole identity in the eyes of others.
- Link identity to socialisation: explain how agencies of socialisation, such as family, education, peer group and media, actively teach and reinforce the norms and meanings attached to different identities.
- When applying to a scenario, identify which source or sources of identity are relevant and whether the question concerns an ascribed or an achieved characteristic, or how the meaning of that characteristic has been socially constructed.
- For evaluation, weigh evidence that identity is socially constructed, variation across cultures and time, against evidence that some aspects of identity provide a starting point that culture then builds meaning around.
Worked example
In many workplaces fifty years ago, it was assumed that a woman's main role was to stay at home rather than pursue a career, and few women worked in senior professional jobs. Today, in the same society, it is common and widely accepted for women to hold senior professional roles. Using this example, explain what is meant by saying that gender identity is 'socially constructed'.
- Identify the two time periods being compared: fifty years ago and today, within the same society.
- Note what stayed the same: the biological characteristics associated with being a woman have not changed between the two time periods.
- Note what changed: the social expectations and meanings attached to being a woman, specifically around paid work and career, have changed considerably.
- Apply the definition of social construction: because the meaning of 'being a woman' in relation to work has changed even though biology has not, this shows the meaning is created and maintained by society and culture, not fixed by nature.
- Link to socialisation: agencies such as education, the media and changing workplace policies have gradually taught and reinforced a new set of expectations about women and work, illustrating how socially constructed meanings are built up and can change.
- Conclude: the example shows that saying gender identity is socially constructed means the expectations attached to being a man or a woman are produced by society and can change over time, rather than being permanently fixed by biology.
Practice questions
Try each question, then tap to reveal the answer.
Q1What is the difference between an ascribed and an achieved characteristic?Show answer
Answer: An ascribed characteristic is fixed for a person or given without choice, such as sex assigned at birth or ethnicity, while an achieved characteristic is gained or chosen during a person's life, such as an occupation or qualification.
Q2What does it mean to say identity is 'socially constructed'?Show answer
Answer: That the meanings attached to a category of identity, such as gender or class, are created and maintained by society and culture, rather than being fixed purely by nature, and that they can vary between societies and change over time.
Q3Name three sources of identity studied in sociology.Show answer
Answer: Any three of: social class, gender, ethnicity, age, nationality, religion.
Q4What is a 'master status' according to Erving Goffman?Show answer
Answer: A single label or characteristic, such as being labelled disabled or a criminal, that comes to dominate how others perceive and treat a person, overriding other parts of their identity.
Q5Give one example of how the meaning attached to a source of identity has changed over time in British society.Show answer
Answer: For example, expectations about women working in senior professional jobs have become far more accepted over the last fifty years, even though sex itself has not changed.
Q6How do agencies of socialisation contribute to the social construction of identity?Show answer
Answer: They actively teach and reinforce the norms, values and expectations attached to different identities, for example through the different ways families or media often present typical behaviour for boys and girls.
Q7Give one example of an identity that could become a master status for someone.Show answer
Answer: For example, being labelled a criminal after a conviction can dominate how employers or the local community see a person, overriding other aspects of who they are.
Q8Why might sociologists say ethnicity is partly socially constructed as well as biological?Show answer
Answer: Because while ancestry has a biological element, the meanings, stereotypes and social significance attached to ethnic categories are produced and can change through culture, media and social interaction, not fixed by biology alone.
Exam-style questions
Written in the style of a GCSE Sociology exam paper, with a full mark scheme.
Explain two ways in which agencies of socialisation contribute to a person's sense of gender identity.
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Explain two reasons why sociologists argue that identity is socially constructed rather than fixed by nature.
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Item H: Sociologists argue that identity, including ideas about masculinity and femininity, is not fixed by biology but is socially constructed: it is created, maintained and can change through culture, and it differs between societies and over time. Discuss the view that gender identity is socially constructed rather than biologically determined.
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