It
11
421
24.32 Cb)
TABLE 39
Comparison of Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal response
to Statement 24 - the confirming of identity by others
Statement
Agree Not
strongly Agree sure Disagree
¢, ft ft ft
*o zo . *⅛ *o
Disagree
strongly
ft
*0
Maj ority
support
O,
*0
24. I wish I knew what people
think of me
Aboriginal response (N= 93) 18,7
Non-Aboriginal response (N= 289) 30.3
50.5 23.1
44.2 16.7
5.5
7.8
(agree)
69.2
1.0 74.5
24.32 (c) Discussion
The hypothesis was not supported.
Both Aborigines and non-Aborigines agreed that they wished they
knew what people thought of them (30.3 per cent of non-Aborigines
agreed strongly).
⅛
These responses can be seen on the part of Aborigines not as
evidence of uncertainty of identity, but evidence of an orientation
to social integration, a wishing to have one's identity confirmed by .
others, a notion basic to sociological theory on the social construction
of identity (Berger, 1971:194ff.) and to psychological theory on
identity formation.
The point to notice here is that the response of Aborigines was
not greater than that of non-Aborigines - there was no support for the
notion that they were over-occupied with this problem.
ft
I
24.33 Strain towards withdrawal
The desire to do something bad to prove one's existence was seen
as a mark of socialization into a negative identity, an identity
capable of initiative but in negative ways.
Withdrawal is taken as being associated with identity-diffusion.