Condition for Learning Essay: Personal Identity, Values, and Society

This essay examines the conditions for learning, focusing on how individuals perceive their identity and how their values are formed. It explores the influence of various factors, including place of birth, skin color, socio-demographic elements, and lifestyle, on shaping personal identity. The essay also delves into the process of socialization, highlighting the role of family, education, and interactions with society in acquiring values. It discusses how personal values evolve over time, influenced by factors such as age and interactions with others. Furthermore, the essay explores the relationship between personal values and aspects like sexuality, race, gender, and social class, emphasizing the impact of gender socialization and differing circumstances on value systems. The essay references Lefkowitz et al.'s (2014) study on gendered attitudes and their relation to sexual behaviors and beliefs, providing a comprehensive analysis of identity and value formation.

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Student’s Name
Course Name
Instructor’s Name
Date

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The way people perceive their identity may change based on their circumstances.
According to Cavarero’s argument, individuals see themselves as protagonists of a story they
long to hear. Therefore according to him, self-identity is a relatable practice. Additionally, the
identity of a person is also determined by their ideas of what is wrong or right as well as what is
true and what is not. These attributes contribute to the self-identity of a person.
In searching for their identity, individuals try to answer the question of who they are. In
my case, my identity, or who I am, is informed by many elements.I believe that these elements
collectively define who I am. The first element of my identity is the place I grew in. To start
with, the place I was born in played a significant role in shaping my personality to the person I
am today.The values I hold are a reflection of the place I was born in. Secondly, my skin color is
also a significant component of my identity. This means that people are likely to perceive me in a
certain way based on the color of my skin.
Similarly, my skin color also informs how I present myself in the broader society.
Equally, my identity is also informed by socio-demographic elements such as my age, gender,
the ethnic group I belong to, the economic status of my family or employment status. This means
that people are likely to perceive me in a certain way based on one of these factors. Similarly,
my lifestyle is also a significant element of my identity. In this regard, people primarily
recognize me based on the goods and services I purchase, my travel patterns. Finally, my identity
is also demonstrated by the type of clothes I wear as well as the way I interact with other people.
According to sociologists, individuals are produced through the social world. This
statement implies that an individual’s social values are created through their interaction with the
social world. The acquisition of values starts right from the lowest social unit, which is the

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family. After individuals are born, they are introduced to essential values that characterize
members of their community or society. Therefore, the process of socialization has been pivotal
in my acquisition of the values I hold currently. In this regard, the interaction with family
members and other members of the society while growing up has been the most significant
source of my values. These interactions with individuals and groups have provided me with an
opportunity to understand and internalize what is desirable and what is not. It has also helped me
to internalize the accepted behavior within my social setting. Additionally the formation of my
values has also been influenced by listening and watching the older persons around me. My
parents have also played a significant role in the shaping of my personal values. Watching them
and emulating them over the years has also shaped me into the person I am today. Finally, the
role of education in the formation of my values has been integral. The various schools I have
attended have shaped me to become a useful member of society. Education has therefore shaped
my values to conform to the needs of the larger society. Some of the values that I no longer
include the assumption that prioritization of my needs was the only important thing for me.
Additionally, my value on the significance of my culture over other cultures has also changed.
I believe that several factors have necessitated the changes witnessed in my values over
the years. Most importantly, age has had a significant role in the new development. I have not
only acquired more years over the years, but my ability to reason objectively has also improved.
In this regard, the way I perceived things as a young child is not the same as I view them today.
For example, I no longer prioritize my needs at all times as I used to do back in time. I now
understand that it is not all about me but about others as well. Additionally, interacting with
knowledgeable and senior members of society has also played a major role in the change of some
of the values I held before. Through such interactions, I have not only become wiser but also

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more positive. I now understand that even though people come from different cultures, they are
all equal members of the human race.
The personal values displayed by individuals are primarily linked to their sexuality, race,
gender, and social class. As explained socialization is one of the processes through which
members of a community acquire values. The socialization process is carried out following
gender-specific needs. This process is called gender socialization. Through gender socialization,
girls are taught to be girls and boys shown to be boys. This means that the values displayed by
the female gender may differ from those indicated by the male gender (Lefkowitz, Shearer,
Gillen and Espinosa-Hernandez,2014). Additionally, members of different races grow up in
different circumstances. Therefore, the values held by different races reflect their unique
circumstances . Finally; society members from different social classes have specific
characteristics that define them. The values held by one class of individuals could, therefore, be
different from the values of a different social class

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References
Lefkowitz, E.S., Shearer, C.L., Gillen, M.M., and Espinosa-Hernandez, G., 2014. How gendered
attitudes relate to women’s and men’s sexual behaviors and beliefs. Sexuality & Culture, 18(4),
pp.833-846.