Role Of Identity, And Well Being Among Volunteers, By Peggy A. Thoits

The example she used for this concept is that someone may work part-time as a clerk at the local convenience store, however they would probably not say that they are a store clerk on their “Who am I?” list. So the question therefore is why are some of our roles given more of a significance to who we are? O’Bryan believes that the answer lies in the opinions of others. She says, “when people whose opinions we value continually reinforce a specific behavior or identity… the identity becomes solidified into an aspect of ‘self’” (114).

IF indivs act towards objects on the basis of the meanings associated with those objects; identities reflect the set of meanings that indivs attach to self as a social object

In today’s society, identities play a big role in a person's life. To everyone that knows me, i am identified by being the “Greek Girl” that cares greatly cares for others more than herself. I am also identified by the person that does so much volunteer work that they wonder how i keep up with all the basics. I believe, that a person who can freely offer to lend a hand does so much good impact for the community. Volunteers impact everyone they help whether it be towards school, an occurrence of a natural disaster, or church.

The painting called The Volunteer’s Return (The Kunstmuseum Basel Oil on canvas, 97 x 77 cm.) was made by Swiss artist, Frank Buchser in 1867. Based on the title, we know that the painting represents the end of the American Civil War which lasted 4 years (1861-1865)

The acquiring of this knowledge is what leads to us gaining our identity. Social action theorists suggest that there are three main parts to our identity. The first of these parts is the things that make us individual, such as name, signature and photograph. The second aspect is social identity, which is made up of the personality characteristics that are associated with our role in society. For example, I am seen as an older brother, which society may make me out to be annoying and protective of my younger sibling, but I am also seen as a student, who is perceived to be hard-working and well-behaved. The final part of our identity is the concept of ‘self’, or what we think of ourselves, and how we think we play our respective roles.

An individual’s identity has an impact on our behavior (Bibble, Bank, Anderson, et al., 1985). According to Thorits and Virshup (1997) they assert that there are categories that individual’ s employ to explain themselves, which comprise sociodemographic characteristics such as social roles, social types, or personality traits. These categories guide identity-relevant behaviors based on identity ideals associated with meanings and expectations (Eifert, Adams, Dudley,

Volunteering is generally considered an altruistic activity and is intended to promote goodness or improve human quality of life. In return, this activity can produce a feeling of self-worth and respect. Volunteering is a renowned skill for development and socialization which has positive benefits for the volunteer as well as for the person or community served. One well-known benefit is that it is used to make contacts for future employment, but Haupt explains another benefit. Volunteering has become a new science when in relation to when a person is hurt. In “Volunteering Does a Body Good” published in 2010 by U.S. News & World Report, Angela Haupt supposes a great correlation between volunteering and making one’s self feel better with the narration of Brooke Ellison, the organization of the essay, the sources used, and the careful language.

“Why Helping Others Makes Us Happy” - Philip’s Argument “Whatever the motive, volunteering improves the health, happiness, and in some cases, the longevity of volunteers.” In Philip Moeller’s “Why Helping Others Makes Us Happy,” he gives his claim of how volunteering benefits the self no matter what age - whether the work is conducted by children, teenagers, adults, or the elderly. He argues the statement that “volunteering runs against the dynamics of self-interest” and defends himself by providing this statistic: “Yet 1 in 3 adults do meaningful volunteer work on a sustained basis.” Philip Moeller’s argument is developed through evidence, rhetorical language, and structure.

Social identity theory is a person’s sense of who they are based on their group membership(s) (Harwood, 2007). “In social identity theory and identity theory, the self is reflexive in that it can take itself as an object and can categorize, classify, or name itself in particular ways in relation to other social categories or classification” (Stets & Burke, 2000). The social identity theory has been known to let individuals find their own niche and group that they want to belong to. This could include what the individuals are active in or involved in. Research has also found that the groups that they classify themselves in can cause the participants to look down upon other groups that they are not involved in (Harwood, 2007). Negative attitudes are more of a complex issue, but interesting ideas come from explanations that emerge for social identity theory (Harwood,

Historically, symbolic interactionism was coined by one of the Mead’s students Herbert Blumer (“symbolic interactionism”, 2003 para. 2). He intended the term to have three basic ideas (“symbolic interactionism”, 2003 para. 2). He focused on terms of actions and its consequences (“symbolic interactionism”, 2003 para. 2). Herbert Blumer refers to this theory as role –taking with the ability to take perspective of other people (symbolic interactionism, 2003 para. 3). Though he does

Consequently, fundamental aspects of our social experience and identities, like race and gender, can be readily understood through the symbolic interactionist lens. Because both race and gender have no biological basis whatsoever, both race and gender can be understood as social constructs that function based on what we believe to be true about people, given what they look like. We use socially constructed meanings of race and gender to help us decide who to interact with, how to do so, and to help us determine, sometimes inaccurately, the meaning of a person's words or actions. Symbolic interaction perspective is a useful

The article is called “Role-Identity Salience, Purpose and Meaning in Life, and Well- Being Among Volunteers”, which is written by Peggy A. Thoits, from Social Psychology Quarterly, published in 2012, volume 75, starting at page 360.

The research design used Role theory as the theoretical framework (Schofield, Beek, Ward, & Biggart, 2013). Role theory is a theoretical approach to understand on individuals fit into social positions within a group (Wehner, & Thies, 2014). Role theory is closely related to the theoretical approach of Social Identify theory, the identified theoretical framework for the school-approved topic. Social Identify theory is an approach to understand how individuals identify themselves within a social

Gender is a social construct that consists of a set of social arrangements that are built around sex. Gender roles are sets of behavioral norms assumed to accompany one’s status as a male or female. According to Lorber, Gender is a social institution because these gender roles are being changed over time. Moreover, she defines gender roles as process of creating distinguishable social statuses for the assignment of rights and responsibilities. As a process, gender creates the social differences that define "woman" and "man." In social interaction throughout their lives, individuals learn what is expected, see what is expected, act and react in expected ways, and thus simultaneously construct and maintain the gender order. In this paper, I will discuss how the article untiled “"Night to His Day": The Social Construction of Gender helps clarify how gender roles is a social constitution.

In today’s Western society, self-identity and social roles are important dimensions that are at times challenging to face. Social roles have always been a fundamental part of society and yet as time goes on, it seems to be increasingly difficult to understand. As discussed in class, in the medieval period, people were assigned roles based on family status. In modern days, however, societal roles have expanded and opportunities are endless, which raises the question: Is there more uncertainty about identity in modern society?