Cultural identity, shaped by the effects of cultural unity and collective consciousness, is one of the most major components of ethnic and national identities. However, proverbs are certainly curicial traditional folk culture products that are the source of understanding the national values and social meaning patterns that shape daily life in view of the fact that the determinants of economic, sociological, and psychological. This paper aims to explore the meaning of Turkish collective identity, built on the stereotypes and symbolic boundaries with economic, sociological, and psychological approaches in proverbs, which are unifying components in everyday life. The qualitative content analysis method is used in the study. Results reveal that the Turkish proverbs that motivate the act of helping each other, which is the source of cultural powers of “unity, solidarity, and unity of interest” as in depending on the conditions of “cooperation, common mind, and sacrifice” in the relations of “kinship, family, neighborliness, and friendship”. “Positive” stereotypes, which are the determinants of social acceptance in proverbs, are “fatalistic, leader, smart, knowledgeable, talented, honest, noble, measured, dignified, hopeful, patient, humble, have a valuable personality, speak well, love, do the favour, and not to be pretentious”; “negative” stereotypes were found to be primarily “evil, bad manners, laziness and lying”. “Wealth, power, work, effort, being thrifty, content with what you have, protecting your interests, not being needy and being generous” are determined as the criteria of success from the point of an economic perspective. “Poverty, greed, extravagance” were determined as unacceptable stereotypes in the everyday life. In addition, results reveal that the requirements of collective action and social acceptance in the proverbs are expressed with a deterministic worldview by emphasizing the understanding of “reward-punishment” and the “cause-effect” relationship. It has been mentioned that attitudes and thoughts are dominated by oppositions and conditions in Turkish proverbs.

Turkish proverbs, culture, collective identity, cultural identity, stereotypes.