The Encyclopedia
of World Problems
& Human Potential

Inadequate sense of personal identity

Visualization of narrower problems

Name(s):

Ambiguous social identity

Crisis of personal identity

Nature

Contemporary concerns such as bilingualism, religious education, homosexuality in the military, interracial adoption, politically correct body language, blasphemy, immigration, divorce or unmarried mothers reflect new challenges to identity. These correspond to tensions between libertarians concerned with individual rights, choice, freedom and enterprise, and cultural conservatives emphasizing group rights, traditional authority, family values and religion.

Claim

The old polarities between allegiances based on class solidarity and state planning, or those based on property rights, individual opportunity and markets, have now broken down. New divisions are centred on the ways in which people define their identity. People have a deep need to identity and belong which is unsatisfied by the traditional pattern of institutions and beliefs.

Broader

Narrower

Fear of losing control

Gender identity disorders

Elusiveness of male sexuality

Confused identity of womanhood

Static and unrelated social roles

Aggravates

Sexual repression ^{[in 39 loops]}

Counter-dependency ^{[in 10 loops]}

Parental favouritism ^{[in 14 loops]}

Lack of self-confidence ^{[in 20 loops]}

Forgetting one's purpose in life

Aggravated by

Ideological confusion

Psychological conflict

Denial of right to a name

Restrictive social groups

Discrimination in adoption

Dependence on social welfare

Forced separation of parents and children

Excessive intensification of parent-child relationship

Soul murder

Reduced by

Social discrimination

Strategy(ies)

Creating ambiguity

Managing personal life crises

Improving sense of personal identity

Value(s)

Reference(s)

Cable, Vincent: The World's New Fissures

Type

(F) Fuzzy exceptional problems

About the Encyclopedia

The Encyclopedia of World Problems and Human Potential is a unique, experimental research work of the Union of International Associations. It is currently published as a searchable online platform with profiles of world problems, action strategies, and human values that are interlinked in novel and innovative ways. These connections are based on a range of relationships such as broader and narrower scope, aggravation, relatedness and more. By concentrating on these links and relationships, the Encyclopedia is uniquely positioned to bring focus to the complex and expansive sphere of global issues and their interconnected nature.

The initial content for the Encyclopedia was seeded from UIA’s Yearbook of International Organizations. UIA’s decades of collected data on the enormous variety of association life provided a broad initial perspective on the myriad problems of humanity. Recognizing that international associations are generally confronting world problems and developing action strategies based on particular values, the initial content was based on the descriptions, aims, titles and profiles of international associations.

About UIA

The Union of International Associations (UIA) is a research institute and documentation centre, based in Brussels. It was established in 1907, by Henri la Fontaine (Nobel Peace Prize laureate of 1913), and Paul Otlet, a founding father of what is now called information science.

Non-profit, apolitical, independent, and non-governmental in nature, the UIA has been a pioneer in the research, monitoring and provision of information on international organizations, international associations and their global challenges since 1907.

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Inadequate sense of personal identity

About the Encyclopedia

About UIA