Explore Identity

Learning Objectives

After completing this unit, you’ll be able to:

• Identify how aspects of our identity influence our perceptions of the world.
  
• Describe aspects of your own identity.
  

Explore Your Identity

Every one of us has a unique identity. Our identities are made up of many complex components that we don’t often think about. We simply are who we are. But if we were to take a step back and take inventory of the things that make up our identity, it would reveal a lot about how we view and interact with the world. One of the tools we can use to take an inventory of our identity, and how it works, is called an identity wheel.

The identity wheel is a tool designed to help us name the many aspects of our identity and to understand the role they play in our lived experiences. It’s important to note that this wheel in no way reflects an exhaustive list of all of the vast components of any individual’s identity, but it does provide a pretty good starting point.

As we mentioned before, our identities are made up of many components. Some of these components can be changed, and frequently do change, throughout our lives. For example, we can change our appearance pretty much whenever we want to. Our political ideologies, our job classification, and even our socioeconomic status can fluctuate. These things may change from time to time based on our life experiences. Components of our identity that are fluid or change frequently throughout our lives are listed in the outer circle of the identity wheel.

There are components of our identities that are a little more rigid and don’t change (or, at least don’t change frequently) no matter what our experiences are. We cannot change our age (become younger or older at will), nor can we change our race or ethnicity. Components of our identity that more or less remain the same throughout our lives are listed in the center circle of the identity wheel.

Looking at the components in the center circle, some people might ask, “Well, don’t some of those things change? For example, what if I suffer a major injury? Couldn’t that change my physical ability in some way?” And the answer is, yes, some of the aspects named in the core of the identity wheel can, in fact, change. However, the idea here is that they don’t change frequently. Unlike the aspects of identity listed in the outer circle of the identity wheel, the aspects of identity that make up our core tend to stay pretty consistent, with few exceptions, especially once an individual steps into their true, authentic self.

Having a better understanding of the components that make up our own identity can help us understand how we interact with the world. For example, our lives can change based on our geographic location, and where we live and work. Some individuals may choose to live and work close to where they were born. As a result, they have a deep sense of familiarity with the world around them, built over an entire lifetime.

Similarly, moving to a new place, even within the same region of the world, where things are different and not as familiar, can result in major lifestyle changes for those individuals. Suddenly there are new restaurants to eat in, places to shop, and new communities and cultures to explore. When even one thing that makes us who we are shifts or changes, we may find that we are exposed to whole new ways of living. Our identities shape the way we view the world, and, in some cases, how the world views us.

Take an Identity Inventory

On a sheet of paper, list the specific aspects of your identity that align with the various categories in the identity wheel. If you can think of other things that make you who you are, even better. After you’ve listed the parts of your identity that align with these categories, reflect on how those parts of you shape how you see the world, and how the world sees you. After reflecting, challenge yourself to answer these questions.

• What part of your identity is most important to you?
  
• What part of your identity do others notice first about you when they meet you?
  
• What part of your identity most influences your interactions with people at work? Why?
  
• In what ways might your identity make your experience at work different from those whose identities differ from yours?
  

Now that we have a better understanding of how aspects of our identity shape the way we view and interact with the world, let’s take a deeper dive into how our perceptions can influence our behavior. In the next unit, we explore the concept of implicit bias.