Authentic social identity development
It is a basic human need to be your true, authentic self. Individuals who say they are authentic have better psychological and social well-being compared to those who do not feel they can act like their true selves. It is said that this happens when your actions match your behavior and when you really feel authentic.
According to theorists, the search for a true self is a balance between our own needs, desires, and behaviors, as well as the social context and environment that have shaped these behaviors. From birth, variations in social categories such as skin color and gender determine our way of life ingroup And outgroup. In a world of increasingly complex social categories, this process helps us determine which traits to incorporate into our core personalities, informing central components of our decision-making processes.
We develop and learn to express our authentic selves through constant validation and invalidation from peers, family, and powerful social actors (e.g., government and teachers). When engaging in behavior that aligns with our socially prescribed ingroup, these agents of social identity development either invalidate behavior that does not conform to ingroup norms or validate behavior that does. A process that is so strong that people have developed ingroup favoritism and outgroup aversion by the age of six.
Social identity threats to authenticity
Once we have our own group, we automatically want to be seen as morally “good” because we are only human! Familiarity with members of our ingroup makes it easy for us to experience them as warm and hospitable, while unfamiliar outgroup members can unconsciously arouse feelings of hostility.
However, an unfortunate consequence of this common cognitive process is the tendency to reject group members who do not conform to stereotypical social beliefs about what it means to be a group member. Such cultural denials threaten authentic social identity and often occur when individuals behave in ways that may be stereotypically associated with an outgroup. For example, you may experience cultural invalidation when you listen to music or dress in a way that is commonly associated with an outgroup.
In such cases, one may face conflict in determining which aspects of authenticity, the self or the ingroup, are more representative of their social identity.
In other cases, the social context itself can be a strong barrier to authentic self-expression.
Be authentic…don’t be like that
In addition to group feedback determining our authentic social identity expression, the environment is also a strong factor in our decision to engage in certain behaviors.
Due to identity histories and class-based structural inequality, social and cultural norms in certain spaces may inherently place certain social identities at the top. For example, social connections in the workplace are often based on shared cultural values, such as popular TV shows, religious holidays, or even style of speech and dress. Conformity to these norms is expected to maintain one’s social status.
When these behavioral and social expectations are aligned with one’s culture, as is usually the case among racial and/or gender majority groups, authentic social expression is fluid and requires less cognitive load. However, in the case of minority groups, this process may involve an intense behavioral and cognitive management process due to the effort to overcome authentic cultural norms that do not meet such ‘normative’ expectations.
Research among racial and gender minority populations has shown that individuals can actively change their behavior, speech style, and interests in their efforts to easily fit in with majority group members.
Authenticity for everyone
While there may be short-term gains from such impression management strategies, individuals are more vulnerable to psychological problems such as depression and anxiety, as well as workplace problems. So what is there to do?
Authenticity Essential reading
Amid increasing calls questioning the relevance of diversity, equity, and inclusion interventions, it is important to emphasize the end goal of such programs. To improve the quality of the workplace.
One step is to recognize and unlearn the ways in which our daily actions can be steeped in social and systemic biases. Your authentic self may be different from someone else’s, but the value judgments you (un)consciously assign to these differences need to be questioned. For example, almost everyone feels the implications of social inequality, and explicit awareness of these contributions to something as crucial as authentic identity expression is important for fostering a quality workplace.
Highlighting and valuing differences, rather than using color-blind and identity-neutral approaches, is just one step individuals can take to improve authentic identity expression for all.
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