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Massey
24 July 2014
Having an American national identity means that one believes in independence and equality,
enjoys individuality and privacy, is not afraid of change, is typically materialistic, and values self-
reliance. It also means that a large portion of the rest of the world does not care much for you. I was born
into a white family comprised of mostly Western European ancestry, the majority of that being French
and Irish. Taking on the role of a man in America means that you are to grow up and be a provider for
your family. It also means that you should be strong willed, and not show your emotions because showing
your emotions was looked at as a sign of weakness. Growing up as a male also meant mowing the lawn
and helping out with the more difficult chores, along with trying out for sports and finishing something
that you start & not being a quitter. As a member of the Millennials (Generation Y), one had a pretty
awesome childhood. Members of Gen Y got to grow up with video games and Nerf guns. They also got to
be the first generation to grow up with the internet. Unfortunately, Gen Y is also known for childhood
obesity, as well as experiencing the events and aftermath of 9/11 as young children or adolescents. We are
also known for teen pregnancies, the use of social networking sites and are generally labelled as
slackers. Being a member of the middle-class in America meant that I grew up comfortably with more
than the necessities. It meant having more than you needed but not everything you want and you had to
work for those things you wanted but did not have. Growing up in Yakima, Washington promoted
independence and taught one to be wary of their surroundings since there is a lot of gang activity.
The worldview which most members of my communal identity share is a religious one. The
purpose of life is to live it to the fullest and take advantage of the opportunities afforded to you, and to do
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whatever you can to enjoy it, not regret it. The world is governed by law, but that God is the one in charge
of everything. The right way to live is to work hard, be honest, be respectful and courteous to those
around you and to the environment, as well as helping those who need it. It is believed that God created
the universe and life originated when God created man in his image. When we die, depending on the
quality of the life that we lived, our spirits continue to live in either heaven or hell, with a stop in
purgatory for a final judgment of the life we lived before the decision is made of our destination. The
sources of knowledge are found in school, and in other texts, including the Bible. Knowledge could also
be acquired through self-reflection and prayer. An example of something good would be going to church
and being active in the community, helping others as well as being trustworthy. Sin is an example of
something bad. Being honest and trusting of others are examples of doing right, such as turning in a lost
wallet without taking anything out of it, or not turning a blind eye when someone else is being mistreated.
Committing crimes such as rape, murder, and theft is wrong. So is worshiping any deity other than God.
Its hard to peg down a set of values for Americans due to our population of incredibly diverse
multiethnic ties, Professor Kohl came up with thirteen. Personal control over the environment shows up in
the form of building roadways and bridges. It shows up in the sense that we believe that we should have
control over our personal environment and everything around us. Change is a value that my communal
identity looks at as a good thing, even if the change is bad for the moment, such as losing a job, in the
long run, it will turn out for the better because the next job could be better. One phrase that sums up
change for us is when one door closes, another door opens. We look at time and its control as
something that should not be wasted. This is evident when you make an appointment at the doctor and
you do not show up, there is generally a fee that you have to pay for wasting the time that the doctor
could be checking someone else out. Equality is a big value for Americans within my communal identity.
We were taught to treat everyone the way we want to be treated, as equals. It extends out to the economic
world; with equal opportunity employers who are supposed to give everyone a fair chance. We value
individuality because it makes us unique and different from the group, as evidenced by the many ways in
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which we express ourselves. Whether it is tattoos and piercings, or wearing strange clothing, we enjoy
that uniqueness. Privacy is another value that we cherish as we enjoy being able to get away and be alone
with our thoughts and there are some things that we like to withhold from people. It shows up in the form
of being able to go in your room and shut your door, or adjust the settings on Facebook to keep specific
people from seeing certain posts. We value self-help because we believe in getting things done on our
own, evidenced by the saying if you want something done right, you better do it yourself. We value
competition greatly, even though we value equality, we love being better than everyone else. This is
evident by our capitalist economy where those that are better than the others in certain fields hold the
highest wages.
I have already talked about seven of the thirteen American values from Professor Kohl, lets look
at the other six. Future orientation is a big value, most of us do not do things for the here and now, unless
we need immediate gratification. Almost everything we do is done with the thought of how it will affect
us in the long run. We are definitely an active and work oriented culture. Our parents always used to say
that if we wanted something, we had to work for it and earn it, it was not just going to be handed to us.
For us, being formal was based on the context. We respected parents and elders, and people in authority,
dressed up for church, weddings and funerals. Being open, direct, and honest are important to us because
when we ask someone what they think of something, we want to know what they really think so that
anything that needs fixing can be fixed. We will tell you whether or not we like someone or something
because if we do not like it, we do not want to have to deal with it. Practicality and efficiency can be
looked at by the saying if it aint broke, dont fix it, it is unrealistic to fix something that works well.
We are very materialistic as we love to have the newest items and devices. We are always trading things
in for new models; cars, computers, video games, household appliances and so forth. We do this because
we value obtaining the best quality piece of equipment that is available, and when we get these new items,
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Values are only one cultural pattern, Hofstede looked at other patterns which we refer to as
Hofstedes Indices, which include individualism/collectivism, uncertainty avoidance, power distance, and
masculinity/femininity. With individualism being one of the main American values, it is readily apparent
by the fact that we would rather do what we can to better ourselves than the whole group. For example, if
there is a competition for a chance to get a better job position, we may throw people under the bus to get
what we think is best for us. Uncertainty avoidance is the amount of fear a cultures members feel about
the unknown. We would fit into the lower uncertainty avoidance because we are always trying to figure
out the unknown, we are more likely to pick up and move to a different, unknown part of the country or to
a different country altogether simply because we want something new. Power distance is based on the
belief of power being distributed equally or unequally. We represent the lower end of the scale, this is
apparent by the fact that we have somewhat personal relationships with our bosses and teachers, and can
talk to them as we would anyone else, with the given level of respect of course. Masculine cultures are
those based on successes and clearly defined gender roles, where feminine cultures are those where by the
fact that we are more concerned with how much money we can make rather than how well we live our
lives.
We have gone over the communal identity, now lets take a look at my social/relational identity.
My family was small. It was my parents and an older sister. My dad was the disciplinarian, which usually
involved getting bent over his knee and spanked, which was never fun; I always tried to avoid it, but for
some reason I just could not, it was practically inevitable. My mom was always easier for me to talk to
about anything, so I think I have a feminine communication style because of that. I grew up going to
Catholic Church and Sunday School every week. Going to church and Sunday School every week taught
me ritualized behavior, same time, same day every week. It affected my communication by teaching me
symbols that were important to my faith along with the type of language to use and not use.
When talking about school, most people will have gone all private school, or all public school, I
was lucky enough to attend both. The first couple of years I learned what was okay to do and what was
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not okay to do because I got in trouble a lot. First day of school in kindergarten I erased the chalkboard
and quickly learned that it was not an okay behavior. Being in public school affected my communication
by teaching me to raise my hand and wait my turn because everyone will have a chance to speak. Once
into middle school I ended up getting picked on a lot which made me act out angrily and made my
communication style pretty defensive, which it still can be today. I transitioned into a small private high
school, which took me a couple of years to adjust. I got suspended a couple of times which made me have
to change my behavior or get expelled. It helped me figure out the groups I wanted to belong to and the
The different jobs that I have had have all had a different effect on my behavior and
communication. My first job was McDonalds, where I learned that my attitude quickly led to less hours,
and the communication was terrible because the boss would never listen to anything anyone said and just
yell at people for doing something wrong instead of correcting it. The next job I got was probably my
favorite job. I was a reading tutor for two years at an elementary school. This job forced me to behave in a
way that was acceptable for being around young children in a learning environment. It also really taught
me code shifting since I really needed to watch not only the language I used, but also the way I talked
with the kids. After those two years were up I moved to Cheney and landed a job at Pizza Hut. Working
at Pizza Hut was sink or swim for me; I learned that in order to keep the job so that I could continue to
pay my rent and bills, I had to do a lot of things that I did not want to do. My boss was easy to
communicate with which made it easier for me to approach other figures of authority. While working at
Pizza Hut I got a job working at a foster home for at risk youth. This job also affected my communication
with more code shifting, this time to language and behavior appropriate for at risk teenage boys. This time
it was not just to be professional on the job, but it was also to help show the boys what kind of language
Growing up I had a few interests that had an influence on me. Out of all of them though, Id say
that video games have had the biggest impact. Video games always got me in trouble because I always
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put off everything I was supposed to be doing like chores and homework to play them. I would say I had
behavior issues due to playing games a lot which did not make me an easy person to communicate with.
Being a fan of rap and hip hop music influenced the language that I used and the way I behaved in my late
teenage years and early twenties depending on whether I was at work or with friends. Being a fan of
professional wrestling probably made me have a defensive behavior a lot of the time because people were
always talking down on it or on me for liking it. It was a source of a lot jokes from friends and family
alike. I used to play baseball growing up which showed me how to behave as a teammate and
communicate with others to accomplish a goal together. It also taught me to speak with the coach if I was
Now that we are finally on personal identity, I can talk about some of the experiences that have
really helped shape who I have become, as well as different character attributes and abilities that I have
had. Getting in trouble on my very first day of school will always serve as a reminder that I cannot always
do what I want. In first grade, a fellow student asked me to do something to their chair, as I was
working, I just held my pencil on the chair and she sat on it, next thing I knew, I was on my way to the
principals office every morning for the next couple weeks. This helps serve as a reminder to not do
stupid things when asked to or when pressured to. Getting hit by a pitch in Little League changed my
outlook on baseball forever, even though I continued to play through high school where I realized just
how much I actually disliked the sport. Graduating high school was a huge achievement for me, it was a
middle finger to everyone who doubted me, and there were a lot, including some of my teachers, and at
times my own parents did not think I would graduate. The biggest event in my life that has shaped my
current identity would by far be losing my mother to a battle with cancer in 2006 when I was nineteen.
Followed by my dad remarrying a year and a half later and relocating to Spokane which forced me to
move in with some friends in Cheney. As far as attributes are concerned, my biggest one would have to
be my memory, my friends hate how much I remember from most situations. I am also a loyal and
trusting person who trusts someone until I am given a reason to not trust them, at which point that trust
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can be very difficult to earn back. When it comes to my abilities, I would say I have a knack for getting
things done by deadlines, whether I slowly work on it throughout a given time period, or whether I wait
until the last minute; I have an ability to meet deadlines. I also have what could be described as a
chameleon like ability where I am able to make friends in many diverse circles and know which style of
The different experiences I have had have affected me in different ways. After getting hit by the
baseball, I continued to play even though I was afraid of it happening again because I wanted to be one of
the boys and did not want to quit. This has helped shape my personal belief that one should not quit
something they start and to stick it out until it is over. But it also helped me value doing what I like. As
the years went on, I began to dislike baseball more and more, until sophomore year when I decided not to
continue with baseball because I did not want to waste my time doing an extracurricular activity that I did
not enjoy. Graduating high school also helped shape my belief about finishing what you start because
even though I wanted to give up, and almost did, I pushed through and earned my diploma which was
very rewarding for me and showed me that hard work paid off. My mothers death has by far had the
largest impact on my personal beliefs and values. As stated earlier, I grew up going to a Catholic Church,
having been taught those teachings all my life, and then my mom was diagnosed with cancer. She went to
Seattle and had the cancer removed, only for it to come back and ultimately take her life. It was around
this time that I began to question everything I had been taught to believe in growing up. This event also
helped me value my family more and value time because I took for granted time that I could have spent
with her and did not realize it until I could not spend that time with her anymore.
My experiences and abilities have helped shape my norms and attitudes for the better. Making the
transition from living at home to living on my own originally changed my norms because I was able to
live one hundred percent my way; which also had an effect on my attitude since it caused me and my
roommates to get into arguments because I only wanted to do chores when I wanted to rather than when
they needed to be done. But this overall helped teach me to become a better roommate too. My norms
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also changed because I had to work now, so there was no more sleeping all day and doing as I please. The
death of my mother brought about some negative attitude changes. I had just got into drinking when it
happened and I used it as an outlet, often times getting very upset and angry because I did not know how
to cope with it. But being on my own, I was slowly able to change my attitude because if I did not, I was
going to end up without a job or a place to stay. My view of life is that it is too short, and that every
opportunity one receives, they should take. I used to think of the universe as Gods creation, but now, I
look at it from a spiritual point of view. I believe that there is some kind of greater power, but I believe
The effects that my different experiences and abilities have on how I communicate largely helped
me to become the adult I am today. If it was not for the fact that I had to grow up quick from being a
young kid living at home to paying for everything on my own helped me to be more aware of my
surroundings and the type of language to use depending on the context. They have also helped me show
more empathy for people going through hard times, whether it is the death of a loved one, or loss of work.
They also effect who I am willing to communicate with. I have never been big on speaking with those in
positions of authority, but I have been forced to do so in order to advance in the work place and to not be