Multiple Identities

There are traits and characteristics that describe a person or group of people. However, each person or group has its own unique characteristics. The many countries within Europe have their own unique traits. These defining characteristics contribute to the creation of an identity. An identity is a notion that one can associate themselves with. Many examples of such principles are religion, language, culture, gender, social status and nationality. The idea of identity is based upon the Us-other dichotomy and is created on the assumption that the Us-group is superior to the Other-group. A person or group of people that can identify themselves with more than one idea leads to the concept of multiple identities. Roberta Guerrina describes multiple identities as, “a set of concentric circles. The closer a circle is to the centre, the closer this particular feature of an individual’s identity is to his/her self ”. Multiple identities can be reinforcing but can also lead to conflic...