Group identity in social and cultural systems

Abstract

The research in this paper analyzes the common characteristics shared between social organizations of varied type and how personal and group identity within these groups is derived from the identification with common contextual artifacts. This analysis is performed through survey questions concerning markers of cultural identity posed to the Armenian Diaspora, a relatively small, geographically disparate, cultural group. Due to geographic dispersion, this group serves as a useful representative for illustrating common artifacts as well as divergences in markers of personal identity. Social systems are composed of an agglomeration of groups of this type, cultural and social, that are central in the formation of personal identity within a larger societal context. Groups identify themselves through self-imposed artifacts or by artifacts imposed by virtue of their identification within a given social or cultural group. These markers of identity sometimes serve as a unifying principle within varied social structures, but often serve a different purpose, as a dividing principal within organizations as well as cultural groups. The conflict resulting from this type of interaction serves as an impediment to organizational efficiency. Integration in corporate structures and similarly interorganizational attempts to broker coexistence between cultural groups sharing common geography or other binding characteristics are commonly challenged by issues of object identity resulting in strife derived from identification of cultural artifacts.