Self and Identity in Career Development: Implications for Theory and Practice

This article expands the conceptual framework of considerations of the self and identity in career development theory and practice. A brief review of the existing self and identity constructs in career development theory is provided. Selected advances in theoretical considerations of the self and identity emerging from fields outside of the purview of career development are presented with a focus on the importance of the relational and cultural contexts. An “embeddedness” perspective is offered that describes the interdependence between intrapersonal experience and social, relational, historical, and cultural contexts. A case vignette is provided to illustrate the implications for practice of that perspective.     

化解民族冲突的策略——民族接触与相互依存

如何消除民族偏见与歧视,进而减少民族冲突？一方面,民族接触理论认为,在民族接触与冲突之间存在着某种负相关,即个人接触越多,冲突就越少;另一方面,相互依存的观点则从对历史与现实的资料的分析出发,指出种族间的暴力很少会在相互依存已经变成制度化的地方爆发     

女性主义认同:理论、研究与实践

在过去的三十多年中,女性主义认同发展理论一直是西方心理学研究中一个活跃的研究主题。女性主义认同是一种基于女性主义立场并自我标签为女性主义者的社会认同。基于Downing和Roush的女性主义认同发展理论,心理学研究者开发了FIS、FIDS、FIC等旨在评估女性主义认同发展阶段与水平的测量工具。研究表明,由于女性主义赋权女性挑战其生活及社会文化中的性别主义偏见,因此,女性主义认同发展能够有效地提升女性的自尊、自我效能感、主观幸福感,从而促进女性的身心健康。未来的女性主义认同研究应该重点致力于女性主义认同理论的完善和深化及研究方法论的变革,包括运用交错性范式与多元方法探讨不同性别、种族/民族、年龄、阶层等多元群体经验,使用追踪研究探讨女性主义认同发展的历程,以及致力于女性主义认同研究工具的本土化,从而推动我国女性主义认同研究的发展。     

Advances in Neuropsychoanalysis,Attachment Theory,and Trauma Research: Implications for Self Psychology

In 1971, Heinz Kohut, trained in neurology and then psychoanalysis, published The Analysis of the Self, a detailed exposition of the central role of the self in human existence. This classic volume of both twentieth century psychoanalysis and psychology was more than a collection of various clinical observations—rather it represented an overarching integrated theory of the development, structuralization, psychopathogenesis, and psychotherapy of disorders of the self. Although some of these ideas were elaborations of previous psychoanalytic principles, a large number of his concepts, including an emphasis on self rather than ego, signified an innovative departure from mainstream psychoanalysis and yet a truly creative addition to Freud's theory.     

Advocacy and Empowerment in Parent Consultation: Implications for Theory and Practice

In this article, the authors expand the view of parental consultation to include advocacy and empowerment as important contextual considerations. A brief review of existing approaches to parent consultation is provided. Selected advances in multicultural parent consultation are also presented. An advocacy‐and empowerment‐focused perspective is offered that describes the power of consultation with parents from marginalized backgrounds. A case vignette is provided to illustrate the implications for practice.     

Diversity Identity Development Training: Theory Informs Practice

Most identity development models are unidimensional and mutually independent. They rarely acknowledge multiple cultural identifications or their relationship to diversity awareness training. This article discusses this relationship in a four-stage conceptual model for diversity identity development and its implications for the design, structuring and leadership of diversity training programs.     

关于"自我"的社会建构论学说及其启示

从后现代主义的立场出发,社会建构论认为传统心理学有关自我的研究都是本质主义的．社会建构论以“关系的自我”取代“本质的自我”,认为自我并非行为背后的精神实体,而是人际互动的产物,是一种文化的建构物。这种观点对于我们正确认识自我具有一定的启发意义。     

Alternative Measures of American National Identity: Implications for the Civic‐Ethnic Distinction

Studies of national identity distinguish between ethnic and civic nations and have sought to identify these alternative conceptions of national identity in public opinion. The standard measurement technique is to assess the normative content of American national identity by asking survey respondents to rate the importance of particular traits for making someone a “true” American. We argue that such measures are problematic, chiefly because of the impact of nonrandom measurement error. We explore the influence of using ranking measures instead of ratings, using a survey experiment conducted on a nationally representative sample of Americans in 2008. The ranking method is superior for distinguishing between ethnic and civic conceptions of nationhood and, therefore, for predicting preferences on issues such as immigration policy. We develop a new statistical method that effectively “converts” ratings into scores that approximate rankings, resulting in the creation of more valid measures of both ethnic and civic national identities.     

Self and Identity in Later Life: Protecting and Enhancing the Self

Self and identity are central concepts in the social and behavioral sciences for multiple reasons. At least three major research traditions focus on the self. First, sociologists view the self as a primary bridge between social structures and individual attitudes and behaviors, as a mechanism by which social structures and individuals affect and are affected by each other. Second, self and identity are viewed as cornerstones of well-being. Thus, social and behavioral scientists have documented important links between the self and physical and mental health, role performance, the quality of interpersonal relationships, and subjective well-being. Third, the self is conceptualized as a central motivating force in human behavior. Issues as diverse as self-selection into specific environments, defense mechanisms, and the desire and ability to break addictive behaviors have been informed by attention to the motivational force of the self. This latter tradition serves as the conceptual bedrock of this paper. This paper examines three components of the self: self-efficacy, self-esteem, and a sense of authenticity. The first two have received substantial theoretical and empirical attention; the latter, much less. I argue that this unequal distribution of scientific inquiry is a result of too much emphasis on the motivation to protect the self, to the neglect of motivation to enhance the self. I make a case for the particular importance of examining self-enhancement in late life.     

Using a Narrative Metaphor: Implications for Theory and Clinical Practice

The evolution of family therapy from a cybernetic metaphor to a narrative metaphor has led us to think differently about therapy, about clients, and about ourselves as therapists. In this article we pursue how this different way of thinking has informed a theoretical understanding of a narrative therapy approach and consequently has opened space for different ways of working clinically. We begin by tracing the evolution to narrative; we consider the implications of social constructionism and its political effects; and we complete the discussion by focusing on narrative theory. We then show how the clinical work follows logically and is coherent with the theoretical considerations. We describe, and illustrate with clinical examples, an innovative approach to working with couples and families with adolescents. In this work we pay attention to the larger cultural stories, including gender constructions, and to personal stories that persons have created to make meaning out of their experience as they interact with one another in a reciprocal meaning-making process. Interventions focus on externalizing the problem narrative that is influencing the client(s), mapping the effects of the problem pattern and/or the totalizing view persons might have of others, and creating space for client(s) to notice preferred actions and intentions. Finally, we close the loop by asking questions of ourselves and others about the effects of working from a narrative metaphor.     

Interdependence and Social Identity in Youth Sport Teams

The degree to which team members believe that they rely on one another to perform successfully and achieve collective outcomes may relate to perceptions about the extent that they integrate the group within their own identity. This study examined the relationship between interdependence and social identity among 422 high school team sport athletes. Youth completed measures of task and outcome interdependence, as well as social identity. Multilevel analyses revealed that higher perceptions of outcome interdependence at an individual and team level predicted greater social identity. Results highlight the role of outcome interdependence on athletes’ perceptions of social identity in sport teams.     

Searching for the Self: An Identity Control Theory Approach to Triggers of Occupational Exploration

Identity control theory researchers have found evidence for two processes of identity development (identity defense and identity change) and have theorized a third process (identity exploration). College students (N = 123) self-rated as high or low in occupational identity certainty and importance received self-discrepant feedback to induce identity disturbance, and dependent measures of identity defense, identity change, and identity exploration were obtained. As predicted, high certainty about identity standards led to identity defense, while low certainty led to identity change. Although an interaction between certainty and importance was hypothesized to predict identity exploration, results showed that the two operated independently. Low certainty predicted exploration of additional occupational areas, whereas high importance predicted exploration of self, environment, and additional occupational areas.     

Self and Identity in Advanced Old Age: Validation of Theory Through Longitudinal Case Analysis

Case studies drawn from a 20-year longitudinal study of aging were examined for the support they provide to two theoretical viewpoints on the self in later life: one focusing on management of self-esteem, the other on development of identity as story. The five cases selected for scrutiny represented diverse trajectories of self-esteem. They furnished ample illustrations of certain key aspects of both theories, including assimilative processes of coping, depression related to absence of accommodation, maintenance of life story themes, and life review processes. They did not, however, give strong support to the dichotomy, drawn within both theoretical models, between younger and older old age. Examples of accommodation, disengagement, and self-transcendence, hypothesized to typify advanced old age, were relatively few in number and emerged only toward the very end of life. It is argued that examination of prototypical cases provides a useful approach to validating and developing theory. A conclusion drawn from this study is that more analysis should be carried out on the lives of persons who exemplify the theoretically ideal characteristics of advanced old age.     

Reconsidering Self and Identity Through a Dialogue Between Neuroscience and Psychoanalytic Theory

The terms self and identity have figured prominently in psychological and psychoanalytic writings despite a lack of consistent definitions. Whereas most attempts to clarify the terms have been in the context of a particular theoretical model such as ego psychology, self-psychology, or object relations theory, these clarifications were limited to that particular frame of reference. This paper presents evidence from the dynamic systems models of neuroscience as a foundation to inform psychoanalytic theory toward a clarification of these terms. The neuroscience data supports a distinction between self and identity relative to right hemisphere, reflexive, nonlinguistic experience and left hemisphere, reflective, linguistically mediated experience. A parallel between the empirical study of consciousness in terms of ownership, agency, unity, and continuity is also made with contemporary psychoanalytic concepts and their relationship to self and identity. Additionally, the article offers suggestions for a mutually informing dialogue between psychoanalysis and neuroscience in the hopes of promoting interdisciplinary research.     

Self and Identity in African Studies

Rather than a comprehensive review of self and identity in particular settings, this article considers implications of research in African Studies for the psychological science of self and identity. The first section considers implications of research about enemies for the concept of interdependent selfways (Markus, Mullally, & Kitayama, 1997). In contrast to the positive connotations typical of studies about culture and self, this research directs attention to the dark side of interdependence. The second section considers implications of research about identity for the concept of dynamic construction (Hong, Ip, Chiu, Morris, & Menon, 2001). In contrast to the tendency to regard cultural identities as natural entities, research in African Studies directs attention to the active reproduction of cultural identity in everyday lives.     

Clinical Implications for the Expressions of Self and Identity in Adolescent Psychotherapy: Case Studies of a Vampiress and a Gangster

Self and identity are examined as significant complementary processes in the psychoanalytic psychotherapy of two adolescent patients. The distinction between these processes is underscored as emergent from neuropsychological developmental changes while being expressed within a shared unconscious process. These cases examined how the analyst and patients fostered their co-constructed potential space for therapeutic transformation. Each patient had adopted compensatory identities in response to profound psychic conflict. The treatments explored the function of their identities as objectified processes to cope with psychic trauma while also addressing an essential respect for the subjectivity of self as a vehicle for psychological truth.     

The Relationship Between Racial and Ethnic Identity in Black Adolescents: The Cross Racial Identity Scale and the Multigroup Ethnic Identity Measure

Ethnic identity and racial identity are related terms that are often used interchangeably, although the theoretical models differ. In this study, we examined the relationship between ethnic identity attitudes operationalized by Multigroup Ethnic Identity Measure (MEIM; Phinney, 1992) scores and racial identity attitudes operationalized by Cross Racial Identity Scale (CRIS; Vandiver et al., 2000) scores in a sample of 143 adolescents. Bivariate analyses indicated that scores on the MEIM's Ethnic Identity subscale had modest positive correlations with Afrocentricity scores of the CRIS and negative correlations with Assimilation and Self-Hatred scores. Other Group Orientation scores from the MEIM were positively related to Multicultural scores on the CRIS and negatively related to Anti-White scores. A canonical correlation yielded 2 interpretable functions labeled Black Racial/Ethnic Identification and Grounded Multiculturalism. Black Racial/Ethnic Identification was characterized by high proethnic and pro-racial scores and low scores on non-ethnic/racial subscales, and Grounded Multiculturalism was characterized by high pro-ethnic scores as well as high pro-other scores.