Matilda Jarvis Mr.

Lutz Exploratory Essay 7 October 2011 Change of SceneryChange of Identity Do you ever feel like you are a different person with your friends at school than you are with your family at home? I definitely do. After dragging myself out of bed in the morning, and heading to school, I find I act a certain way: I am intellectual, and cool, even laid-back with an air of no worries because that is who I am with my friends at high school. I am a senior. Then I drive over to the university for my next classes. Who am I there? Well, I am nervous and giddy on the inside because I get to take college courses, but I do not dare let that show. There I am the younger student, one who listens to discussions and soaks in as much information as possible: I am a meek freshman. At home I let this faade of intellectual brilliance fall, and enjoy goofing off with my sisters. There it does not matter if I have amazing grades; no one expects me to be reciting facts about the Constitution. I am meor am I? After realizing that the way I act changes from place-to-place, I started to wonder why there were these changes in behavior. Is it because of the people associated with each place? Or rather, because of the connection with the physical environment? To better understand what it was that I was looking for, I found a research article relating to this topic. Hugh-Jones, Siobhan, and Madill say, Identity is a complex concept encapsulating what is perceived to be unique about a personThere has been a movement away from theorizing identity purely in terms of essential characteristicsand towards more contextualized understandingthat allow exploration of the role of place in the formation and maintenance of

Jarvis 2 identity (Hugh-Jones, Siobhan, and Madill 601-602). I knew that my behavior differed, but to discover that place, or location and environment had such a notable purpose in the shaping of my identity led me to think more about its significance. Manzo explains how humans, at times, consciously connect with their environmental surroundings, and actually seek out certain places to encourage and maintain their self-identity (Hugh-Jones, Siobhan, and Madill 602). This makes sense: although school is not an environment I seek out but rather am obliged to attend, other places, such as the library, provide a haven of sorts for me. There I can satisfy the part of me that is desperate for the comfort that the mellow atmosphere as well as the stories provide. Or, I gravitate towards my best friends house, a place full of sparkling memories, where I have always felt welcomewhere I am the most bubbly and vivacious me. The correlation between the change of scenery and behavior suggests the environment not only influences our identity because of the physical conditions, but also that there is a real connection between a person and the surroundings. Wanting to explore this concept, I found an article on psychology, saying: Behavioral theories suggest that personality is a result of interaction between the individual and the environment (Cherry). This reaffirms that idea of the powerful relationship that influences identity. Cherry was not the only one to have suggested such a notion. In another article, Hauge explains, The influence place has on identityis seen as a result of holistic and reciprocal interaction between people and their physical environment; people affect places, and places (and the way places are affected) influence how people see themselves (Hauge 2). In addition to agreeing with Cherrys statement, Hauges gave a deeper insight to the situation: people influence places, and places in return influence individuals. If that is so, then perhaps the environment is the reason for acting differently.

Jarvis 3 While I may not behave the same way in each environment, the varying characteristics of my identity are constantly present, though perhaps more repressed as another role comes to the fore to lead me in the decision-making department. In certain situations, I act a specific way, and in others, another portion of my identity is represented. Barnes agrees: who we are is intimately related to where we are (Hugh-Jones, Siobhan, and Madill 603). Having found a compelling argument asserting a places importance with identity, I began to understand the vast difference it makes, and thought maybe the environment is the leading factor in this phenomenon of identity shifts. However, I couldnt help but play the believing and doubting game, as other factors are involved. I wondered if it was simply the environment, or what was in the environment: the people. I looked back at my own life; in each environment that I linked to a unique behavior pattern, I realized that the place was not the only element playing into my change in attitude: my family, friends, even strangers had been present. Could they have influenced the way I acted? Korpela says, place-belongingness is not only one aspect of place-identity, but a necessary basis for it. Around this core the social, cultural and biological definitions and cognitions of place which become part of the persons place-identity are built (Dixon and Durrheim 29). According to Korpela, place-belongingness is vital to place-identity; but the sense of belonging and attachment is built on the people who create the cultural and personal atmosphere. Depending on others, a place can be remembered as pleasant or miserable. I wondered if the reason I portrayed restricted aspects of my identity at home or school was because of the environmental atmosphere or because of the people I associate with each place. I tried a narrower approach of my basic question: why do I act one way with my mother and her Finnish-speaking family than I do with my English-speaking friends? This question led

Jarvis 4 me to the journal article by Bodenhausen, Diversity in the Person, Diversity in the Group: Challenges of Identity Complexity for Social Perception and Social Interaction. The title struck me; I had been thinking about the people in each location individually, but when I grouped and categorized them by the environment where I most often come in contact with them, a pattern emerged. Ramrez-Esparza, Gosling, et al. assert, bicultural individuals often possess two distinct cultural identities that take turn controlling processes of self-regulation in different contextsto the relevance of a given identity. One such cue may be language, and some research suggests that when using different languages, people appear to be expressing different personalities (Bodenhausen 8). This statement resonated with meof course there must be cues, and language is a logical reason, explaining the changing of personas, especially in my case. When I thought of my family, specifically in the setting of our home, I found that indeed, that is where I am most influenced by the cultural cues that come with my mothers native language. I speak from lower in my throat, making me feel like my personality is more frowning and unfriendly. But that is how I hear the language, and what I associate it with, as my extended family converseor quarrel, as it sounds. It is a different language and culture; I am different with them. However, relating my question on a broader scale, I assessed its pertinence to a larger group of individuals: not everyone is in the same bilingual situation. So I had to think if people, without regard for language, still have the same effect on the altering of behaviors? Bodenhausen certainly agreed that an individuals social identity is fashioned out of the reactions, expectations, and general pressure of the social context (Bodenhausen 9). This is one of the simplest concepts for a high school student to understand; at school, almost every action is determined by a group of friends: the clothes you wear, how you speak, how you act. People have so much power to influence the way you feel and behave, that they shape your identity

Jarvis 5 during the interactions with others. Twigger Ross et al., 2003 agree as they assert: A place is often associated with a certain group of people, a certain lifestyle and social status (Hauge 6). So, in rethinking a previous statement as told by Barnes (who we are is intimately related to where we are), could it be that who we are is intimately related to who we are with? I do not know for sure. Before researching the topic, I believed that people were the most important, the leading factor, the reason my behavior and identity changed when I went from place-to-place; but, in finding such a solid base for the argument of placethat I influence my surroundings, and in return they influence meI am more hesitant to jump to conclusions. Instead, I conclude that they both play a crucial role in the ultimate shaping of an individuals identity, though as to which is more dominant, that is the question.

Jarvis 6 Works Cited Bodenhausen, GV. "Diversity in the person, diversity in the group: Challenges of identity complexity for social perception and social interaction." European Journal of Social Psychology 40.1 (2010): 1-16. CINAHL Plus with Full Text. EBSCO. Web. 2 Oct. 2011. Cherry, Kendra. What is Personality? Psychology Guide. About.com. Web. 6 Oct. 2011. Dixon and Durrheim. Displacing place-identity: A discursive approach to locating self and other. British Journal of Social Psychology, 39 (2000): 27-44. Wiley Online Library. Web. 5 Oct. 2011. Hauge, Ashild Lappegard. Identity and place: a critical comparison of three identity theories. Architectural Science Review. High Beam Research. Web. 5 Oct. 2011. Hugh-Jones, Siobhan, and Anna Madill. "'The air's got to be far cleaner here': A discursive analysis of place-identity threat." British Journal of Social Psychology 48.4 (2009): 601-624. Sociological Collection. EBSCO. Web. 2 Oct. 2011.