Identity

Self-identity or self-concept is a multidimensional personal construct that refers to one's individual perception of themselves in relation to a number of different characteristics or situations such as gender role, sexuality, racial identity, and so forth (Shavelson et al. 1976). Social-identity is the portion of the individual self-identity that has to do with perceived membership in a personally-relevant social group or social-identity can refer to the collective identity of the group (Turner and Oakes 1986).

Personal possessions have always been used by anthropogists to help to understand the personal and social identities of people living in different cultures, present and past; however, in the postmodern era, the notion of separate social identities is somewhat marred by the ability of consumers to connect with other cultures and possess items of a cross-cultural nature (Solomon 1983). Self-identity is something that people in the postmodern era create at least partially through their...
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