I am what I think you think I am.

Im not that you think I am, I am not what I think I am…

I am what I think, you think I am.

A tongue twister much more true than the one about Sally and her Sea Shells.

In this article S-O & Q-H are intensely concerned with how students interpret the social mirror and how this interpretation, impacts their identity formation.

I agree with S-O & Q-H in that identity formation is a "process that is fluid and contextually driven" However, I also agree with Parham, in that identity formation is both a linear and cyclical. When looking at these definitions it leads one to believe that there might possibly be a predictable ebb and flow in identity formation.

While the formation of identity is painfully individual with little prediction, it is also socially constructed.
S-O & Q-H are spot-on when they comment on cultural constructions such as, "food, entertainment, religion, music and friendship" are choices that can "provide insight into relative comfort and affiliation with the points of cultural contact." The choices that students make in regard to each of these things are CERTAINLY influenced by the environment around them.


I began to think about the "negative" and "hostile" mirroring from society that happens so commonly for immigrant communities. After a little research I remembered a study done by, NYU professor Josh Aronson that attempted to link student reaction to stereotype activation with academic performance.
To summarize the study:
A selection of students were asked to write their race at the top of a paper and others were not. The minority students who were asked to identify their race before performing a test, performed worse than those who were not asked to identify race. This begs the conclusion that when racial stereotype is activated (writing race on the paper) students feel it and respond to it... and this is negatively represented in their performance.
Pretty heavy stuff!