UNIT 1: IDENTITY AND IDEOLOGY

Influence of Beliefs and Values on Identity

Throughout your Social Studies education, you have been asked to think about your identity. Who are you as an individual? Who are you as a member of a group?

Look at the man on the left. He is a North Korean, posing in front of a communist monument in his own country. North Korea is a repressive state that controls its citizens tightly. Is this man's identity shaped by ideology? Is yours?
Although we are all individuals, with personal identities, we also have an identity as members of the various groups to which we belong. Our collective identity is also important.

Many factors influence our individual and collective beliefs and values. How does family and culture shape our beliefs? How does gender influence our values and the values of society? How do religion and spirituality shape us as individuals and as a group? Our environment and our relationship to it also influences our beliefs and values. The media also has a role, as does language. Finally, what role does ideology play? Ideologies are big ideas about the nature of people and society.