2.1.2 Cultural Identity Theory
The term cultural identity refers to an individual’s sense of self derived from formal or informal membership in groups that transmit and inculcate knowledge, beliefs, values, attitudes, traditions, and ways of life (Kim, 2002). At its core, CIT (Collier, 2005; Collier & Thomas, 1988) is concerned with cultural identity as the enactment, representation, and negotiation of social identifications by group members in a particular setting in ways that enabled and constrained by relational dynamics, macro context, and public discourses. CIT posits properties and processes associated with cultural identity enactment (e.g. avowal, ascription, and salience)
Cultural identity has been defined as a particular aspect of identity, defined as “a social construct that affects how people behave and communicate” (Shin, 2003). People’s identity can be grouped under three categories: human, social, and personal. Human identity refers to the way people see themselves and others, view supposed to be shared by all human beings. Social identity represents the common (shared) views about in-groups, and personal identity the one particular view of themselves that differentiates one person of the in-group of another (Gudykunst W. B., 1997) In the same time, people articulate a local, regional, and national sense of self that defines three different but co-existing identities, as well as a social class identity, religious identity, professional, educational etc.