The Intersections of Sexuality, Gender, and Race: Identity Research at the Crossroads

Psychology’s engagement with an intersectional perspective on social identities continues to grow. This special issue is significant in its use of intersectionality to complicate thinking about sexual orientation as a singular, homogenous category. Furthermore, it spotlights how intersectional positions within the range of sexual minority identities articulate with multiple other dimensions of identity, including gender, racial ethnicity, socioeconomic status, and age. In addition to recognizing the important contributions of this issue’s authors, in this commentary we relate their efforts to current trends in intersectionality research, including the contrasting ways intersectionality is applied in psychology. We observe that the authors portray intersectionality as either primarily concerned with multiple marginalized identities or as a more generalized theory of identity, and the authors use intersectionality as a framework, a theory, and an approach to social justice. We then address critiques of intersectionality theory that appear in the field of feminist/gender studies, showing how articles in this special issue both exemplify and challenge those critiques. Last, we focus on next steps in intersectionality research, focusing especially on the question of how intersectionality can best inform theory and methods in psychology.     

Integrating who “we” are with what “we” (will not) stand for: A further extension of the Social Identity Model of Collective Action

Collective action refers to any action that individuals undertake as group members to pursue group goals such as social change. In this chapter, we further extend the Social Identity Model of Collective Action (SIMCA) by including not just (politicised) identity but also moral motivations into its core, effectively integrating who “we” are with what “we” (will not) stand for. Conceptually, we utilise self-categorisation theory’s notion of normative fit to elaborate this special relationship between the moral and identity motivations for collective action. Empirically, we review two research projects (the experimental and survey-based Value-Identity Fit Project and the longitudinal Politicisation Project) that both suggest that the SIMCA needs to be extended to include, both conceptually and empirically, a broader range of (violated) moral beliefs and a focus on identity content. We discuss key implications of expanding the core of the SIMCA for the social psychology of collective action and social change, and suggest new directions for future theorising and research in this field.     

Erik H. Erikson

In this article Erik H. Erikson’s concept of identity is discussed in its various aspects. Erikson’s pioneer achievement in this field made him a mentor for recent theories of self and narcissism, psycho-social and psycho-historical approaches in psychoanalysis. In some respects Erikson’s concept of identity may have lost its social basis in the age of postmodernism, yet he remains a classic of the entire identity research, whose fruitful contributions still cannot be circumvented.     

Investigating how ostracizing others affects one’s self-concept

Abstract

Social relationships are connected with an individual’s self-concept, so events that influence one’s relationships subsequently influence one’s self-concept. Ostracism, being excluded and ignored, is an aversive experience involving both a target (the one being ostracized) and source (the one ostracizing). We will discuss previous limitations of source paradigms and how we addressed them when developing our paradigms. We will also highlight current source research, from a co-edited special issue, and how this research is relevant to an individuals’ self-concept. Lastly, we will suggest how cognitive dissonance work can ground source research within a larger theoretical framework and inspire future research. We consider how one’s self-concept influences cognitive dissonance related to knowingly harming others through ostracism.     

Adjusting to life in retirement: the protective role of new group memberships and identification as a retiree

ABSTRACT

Among the many factors that influence retirement adjustment, there is increasing recognition of the role played by people’s social relationships. In particular, research points to the benefits that joining new groups can have for people’s well-being when they experience life change. In three studies, we extend this research to assess the contribution that new groups and identities make to supporting the well-being and adjustment of people transitioning to retirement. Study 1, involving 302 retirees, demonstrates that joining new groups in retirement and developing a stronger sense of identification with retirees predicts life satisfaction after controlling for known predictors (e.g., financial planning, marital status, physical health status, retirement aspirations), while only retiree identification predicts adjustment. We then examine the extent to which multiple group memberships support retirement adjustment and well-being through the mediating role of new group memberships and retiree identification. This is first examined in a cross-sectional study of 90 retired academics (Study 2) and then in a two-wave study involving a general sample of 121 recent retirees (Study 3). Findings from both studies point to the importance of social group and identity gain in retirement adjustment and highlight the particular importance of retiree identification in the transition.     

始成年期自我同一性发展特点及影响因素

Erikson将自我同一性看作是终生发展的过程并把18~25岁作为发展的关键时期, Arnett根据后现代社会的现实环境将这一阶段命名为“始成年期”。始成年期自我同一性对情感、工作、世界观等自我同一性发展领域的关注度相对青少年期更广泛与深入, 发展任务的繁杂使始成年期自我同一性的发展更具波动性, 并随着个体逐渐成熟而更多处于同一性的高级状态。后现代社会属性是始成年期自我同一性问题的根本, 原生家庭持续影响始成年期自我同一性的发展, 同时学校与工作单位这样的社会机构构成近端环境直接作用于始成年期自我同一性, 自主性在始成年期个体与其家庭及所处社会机构的交互作用中对自我同一性起到关键性调节作用。     

Assessment and Intervention with Black-White Multiracial Couples

SUMMARY

Effective therapy with Black-White multiracial couples begins with therapist work on self attitudes and with sensitive assessment of the ways racism and race may or may not be connected to a couple's problems. We suggest ways to begin to explore self attitudes and suggest basic assessment questions for work with Black-White couples. In addition, we point out important clinical issues that may come up for Black-White couples in the areas of social support/social network, parenting, and grief.     

Digital power: exploring the effects of social media on children’s spirituality

Digital culture is a prominent factor in the formation of children’s identity and relational experiences, with high percentages of children in many countries participating in gaming and social networking activities. Yet little scholarly work has addressed the ways in which various patterns of engagement in digital culture call into question current assumptions about childhood identity formation and relationality and the repercussions of formational and relational shifts on children’s spirituality. This essay explores ways in which digital culture functions as a spiritually enriching force in children’s lives, paying particular attention to the potential value of social networking for children’s spiritual well-being and the ways in which the internet’s positive aspects may mask other, more corrosive, elements.     

The social psychology of disordered eating: The Situated Identity Enactment model

Eating disorders and subclinical behaviours such as dangerous dieting are a significant public health burden in the modern world. We argue that a social-psychological model of disordered eating is needed to explain how sociocultural factors are psychologically represented and subsequently reflected in an individual’s cognitions and behaviour. We present evidence that three central elements shape disordered eating – social norms, social identity and social context – and integrate these within a Situated Identity Enactment (SIE) model. Specifically, the SIE model states that social context determines the salience of both social norms and social identities. Social norms then influence disordered eating behaviour, but only to the extent that they are consistent represented in the content of a person’s social identities. We conclude by outlining the implications of the SIE model for researchers and practitioners in the domain of disordered eating, focusing in particular on the need for, and potential value of, theory-derived social interventions.     

Why are they being so nice to us? Social identity threat and the suspicion of Whites’ motives

Abstract

Stigmatizing racism has made Whites’ kindness attributional ambiguous to people of color (POC). When this ambiguity is experienced in domains where stereotypes are active, POC may experience praise from Whites as a form of social identity threat. The current article reviews how POC are predicted to respond to Whites’ positivity as a function of their beliefs about Whites’ motives. To the extent that POC are suspicious of Whites’ motives and chronically discount positivity from Whites, praise and positive overtures from Whites were predicted to be threatening. Evidence suggests that POC suspicious of Whites motives are the most sensitive to positive responses from Whites, reacting with both greater threat and social accuracy compared to non-suspicious POC. The current work reviews the empirical evidence on suspicion and highlights avenues for future research that explores suspicion’s origins and capacity to shape the academic and professional identities of POC.     

The influence of peer groups in organized sport on female adolescents' identity development

IntroductionEngagement in the process of identity development has been identified as the most significant milestone of adolescence (Erikson, 1968) and peer groups serve as a key facilitator in this process (Kroger, 2007). Peer groups are particularly significant in the lives of female adolescents, as females derive a substantial part of their identity through these relationships (Josselson, 1987). Despite the significance of personal identity development in adolescence and the importance of peer groups in this process, this area has not been explored in the extant sport psychology literature.PurposeTo investigate the potential influence of peer groups in organized sport on female adolescent identity development.MethodsData were collected through photo-elicitation and semistructured interviews of eight female athletes between the ages of 13 and 17 years. Participants in the study played a variety of sports and competed at various levels. Data were analysed using a thematic narrative approach.ResultsParticipant stories suggest that interactions with peers in sport assist female adolescent athletes in developing their psychological (including emotional and intellectual), social, and physical selves.ConclusionStories shared by the female athletes suggest that a relationship exists between peer influence and identity development in sport. Findings are interpreted through Erikson's (1968) Theory of Psychosocial Development and the nature of the relationships in which peer influence on identity development occurs are discussed. Recommendations for future research are proposed.     

Narrative, identity and mental health: How men with serious mental illness re-story their lives through sport and exercise

ObjectivesIt has been suggested that mental illness threatens identity and sense of self when one's personal story is displaced by dominant illness narratives focussing on deficit and dysfunction. One role of therapy, therefore, is to allow individuals to re-story their life in a more positive way which facilitates the reconstruction of a meaningful identity and sense of self. This research explores the ways in which involvement in sport and exercise may play a part in this process.DesignQualitative analysis of narrative.MethodWe used an interpretive approach which included semi-structured interviews and participant observation with 11 men with serious mental illness to gather stories of participants’ sport and exercise experiences. We conducted an analysis of narrative to explore the more general narrative types which were evident in participants’ accounts.FindingsWe identified three narrative types underlying participants’ talk about sport and exercise: (a) an action narrative about “going places and doing stuff”; (b) an achievement narrative about accomplishment through effort, skill or courage; (c) a relationship narrative of shared experiences to talk about combined with opportunities to talk about those experiences. We note that these narrative types differ significantly from—and may be considered alternatives to—dominant illness narratives.ConclusionThis study provides an alternative perspective on how sport and exercise can help men with serious mental illness by providing the narrative resources which enabled participants to re-story aspects of their lives through creating and sharing personal stories through which they rebuilt or maintained a positive sense of self and identity.     

Problematic Identity Processes: The Role of Identity Distress

This special issue of Identity: An International Journal of Theory and Research explores some of the anxiety, distress, and difficulties that may be encountered in the identity development process. Despite findings documenting the presence of identity distress in samples from a variety of settings and cultures, it has been slowly moving out of direct attention within the world of clinical psychology and psychiatry. This special issue expands on our understanding of identity distress in a number of ways. It adds to our knowledge of prevalence and severity, as well as its psychological correlates. It examines identity distress under the contexts of traumatic exposure and the refugee experience, and it offers some cross-national comparisons. Also offered is a developmental psychopathology perspective as a way to lay the groundwork for increased prevention and intervention work, and an example of such an intervention program for emerging adults. It is hoped that this special issue on identity distress will shine more light on this important, and possibly growing, yet understudied phenomenon, and will contribute toward expanding and enhancing efforts to foster positive youth development.     

Universal stories: How narratives satisfy core motives

Abstract

For millennia, narratives have been a primary mode of oral discourse. Narrative presentation of information has been shown to facilitate interpersonal and group communication. However, research indicates that narratives are more than merely an adaptive mode of communication. Narrative is a fundamental – and perhaps foundational – element of social and cultural life. The present article posits that the centrality of narrative in social life is due to narrative’s ability to help satisfy the five core social motives, as identified by Fiske belonging, understanding, control, self-enhancement, and trust. In so doing, this article reviews empirical and theoretical work examining basic narrative processes, autobiographical narratives, and entertainment narrative consumption to illustrate how narrative thought helps to satisfies core human motives and in turn, how the narrative construction process informs self and identity formation.     

Identification with Religion: Cross‐National Evidence from a Social Psychological Perspective

Why is religion a more central social identity for some people than for others? Previous studies focus on explaining individual differences in religious affiliation and religiosity, often using the term “identification” in reference to these concepts. Yet, few scholars operationalize—let alone attempt to explain—identification with religion in social psychological terms, i.e., as a construct that captures the subjective psychological centrality of one's religious identity. After underscoring the benefits of exploring religious identification using cross‐national data, we employ an original data set composed of nationally representative surveys in three European countries to model religious identification in two ways: importance (independent strength of attachment) and prominence (prioritization of one's religious identity relative to the others one holds). We document substantial variation in the degree to which individuals define themselves on the basis of their religious identity. We then test predictions drawn from existing theories to model these two measures. Our results extend current understandings of what shapes psychological attachment to religion and raise new questions for future theorization and analysis.     

Indigenous Rights in Chile: National Identity and Majority Group Support for Multicultural Policies

We examine support for policies affecting indigenous ethnic minorities in Chile. Specifically, we examine the role of national group definitions that include the largest indigenous group—the Mapuche—in different ways. Based on questionnaire data from nonindigenous Chilean students (N = 338), we empirically distinguish iconic inclusion, whereby the Mapuche are seen as an important part of Chile's history and identity on the one hand, from egalitarian inclusion, which represents the Mapuche as citizens of equal importance to the nonindigenous majority on the other. Both forms of inclusion positively predict support for indigenous rights, independent of participants' political affiliation, strength of national identification, and social distance. A second study (N = 277) replicates this finding whilst controlling for right‐wing authoritarianism, social dominance orientation, blind patriotism, and constructive patriotism. It also finds iconic inclusion to be predictive of a pro‐Mapuche position regarding the unrest over the issue of ancestral land in 2009. We conclude that understanding how national identity affects attitudes about minority rights necessitates appreciating the importance of particular meanings of nationality, and not only the strength of identification.     

Sexual Assault in Intimate Relationships: Introduction to Special Issue

ABSTRACT

The 13 articles in this special issue draw from the experience of women and men in Australia, Canada, Denmark, India, Micronesia, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Vietnam, and the US to shed light on the complex problem of accounting for Intimate Partner Sexual Violence (IPSV) in a globalizing world. As a collection, the articles draw from qualitative methodologies in social science and humanities privileging local narratives drawn through interviews, focus groups, participant observation and historical surveys. This special issue presents articles from multiple disciplinary vantage points that seek to bring to the fore insight drawn from the close reading of sexual violence in varied global cultural contexts. The collection of articles challenges the idea that there is a universal way to understand and measure IPSV. Together the articles demonstrate key elements of the disconnect between local understandings and the assumed universality of concepts that undergird most sexual violence research. Congruent with our previous work, the challenge of the work in the cross-cultural perspective taken by this special issue lies in the acknowledgement that the ways we account for and define sexual violence in intimate (dating, cohabiting and marital) relationships is culturally-situated and must be contextualized as such. This cross-cultural perspective values the conceptual insight that can be drawn from cultural difference and pushes against a homogenization of notions of sexual violence in studies within global societies as well as those that work to compare them.     

Friends on the Margins

In this essay, I examine Richard Miller’s exposition of political solidarity as one of the key contributions of his multifaceted argument in Friends and Other Strangers to the study of religion, ethics, and culture. Miller’s focus on culture broadens the landscape of ethical analysis in ways that illuminate how culture and cultural productions mediate and construct norms and virtues, and the complex relations between self and society. I challenge Miller’s inclination, however, to focus scholarly attention more on habituated forms of civic identity and communal solidarity rather than on disruptive potentialities and critical practices. I suggest that an engagement with social movement theory and the sociology of emotions, with their focus on semiotic analysis and social change processes and mechanisms, can greatly enrich Miller’s account of religion and ethical solidarity.     

Para athlete activism: A qualitative examination of disability activism through Paralympic sport in Ireland

ObjectivesLittle attention has been given to how Para athletes use their platforms for disability activism. This paper fills this gap by examining how Irish Para athletes take actions to create social change around disability.MethodsA qualitative methodology was adopted. 28 elite-level Irish Para athletes were recruited and participated in interviews. The data set was analysed using a reflexive thematic analysis.ResultsThree themes: ‘Para athlete activisms’ captures different ways of doing disability activism; ‘tensions between different activist identities’ concerns (hyper)critical discourses about various activist identities; ‘ableist influences on Para sport culture’ captures contexts that enable or prevent performing disability activism.ConclusionsThe central theoretical contribution is an interpretation of Para athlete activism in terms of a contextually informed continuum of behaviour change. This article is an evidence base for Para sport cultures that wish to connect with disability activism. Practical opportunities are discussed around the psychology of adversity, social legacy value, identity politics and challenging ableism.