There are numerous factors that either make up or restrain the self-identity of a person or an individual. Culture, in addition to family traditions, is one of the factors that affect the self-identity of an individual. When growing up, the environment around affect the personality, values, as well as, beliefs of an individual. The environment includes friends, family members, and the people that affect the life of an individual. So, if the environment is negative, then an individual will have low self esteem. Moreover, as an individual grows up from being a child, they receive cultural values from the family or the society around. There are questions raised on matters dealing with identity: Can an individual choose his or her own
One other important question is how is cultural self-identity defined? Are they imposed on people or self-chosen? People who are bi-cultural always find themselves in a hard position trying to adopt a culture or creating their own identity. These types of individuals go through an identity crisis. This is where families come in to play an important role in instilling values into these individuals. There have been cultural and national identities created by other people that are harmful to the self-identity of an individual. This means that individuals can face a hard time trying to adopt other cultures apart from their own. There are certain values that could be seen as imposed to the members of that particular society. There are people who have had identities thrusted upon them that don't reflect their own. For example, an American Muslim would always feel like a terrorist in the United States. This means that the Islamic culture influence affects their identity in a negative manner (Fin 2001). The today's world poses a challenge to individuals in choosing their identity. Although one has an authority in deciding on how to live, there is a fraction of traits that have had an external influence. An individual is influenced by the environment around because no one can survive by themselves. There are social structures that individuals are in, they also descend from a certain family, and are