Identity groups are identified by several factors and interrelated attributes, which include beliefs, perceptions, values, attitudes, behaviors and feelings. According to Hogg and Tindale (2005), these interrelated attributes reflect the similarities and differences among different identity groups. Generation, gender, religious affiliation, and ethnicity and other social factors differentiate identity groups.
My identity group is characterized by my religious affiliation. For the purpose of this paper, I will discuss my religious identity as a group and compare it to several other identity groups, as well as some historic events. As a Catholic, there are several similarities between my religious identity group and that of my ancestors and family members. In the first instance, several of my ancestors that I have been taught about them by parents were Catholics and played integral part in the stabilization of the Catholic faith in the ancient Rome. However, I have learnt that a few of my ancestors were Protestants and never supported the Catholic faith. The same has been transferred to my family members n they have divided religious affiliation. Most of them are Catholics and others Protestants
According to the interactionist theory, which majorly focuses on the details of the occurrences in people’s everyday life, people interact with others as well as maintain self-impression (Schofield, & Martin, 2011). In my identity group, several emerging religious groups and sects either reject or concur with our beliefs. In the past, the number of religious groups was fewer compared to the current situation. While people strongly believed in religion in the past, most people today are carried away by earthly desires thereby demeaning the influence of religion in their lives.
Modernization and Americanization have also led to several changes such as the emergence of freedom of worship in the United States. People tend to shift to the emerging churches and abandoning the Catholic Church (Wagner, 2006). Even though legislative controls have little influence on my identity group, there are set rules and regulations that govern out activities.
References
Schofield, T., & Martin, M. J., (2011). Intergenerational Transmission of Adaptive Functioning: A Test of the Interactionist Model of SES and Human Development. Child Development, 82(1), 33-47.
Wagner, B. S. (2006). Making American Civilization Jewish: Mordecai Kaplan's Civil Religion. Jewish Social Studies, 12(2), 56-63
