Identity (psychology)

A diagram relating to self-identity

"In psychology, identity is the sense of who you are, including your traits, beliefs, and experiences. It's also how you think others perceive you." See also: Personality and Reputation

Adams and Marshall (1996) established that identity formation provides five functions:

1. A structure and order to self-knowledge. (Self-knowledge: Understanding your one's emotions, desires, abilities, and limitations). See: Self-concept and Self-awareness and Self-efficacy and Skill

2. A sense of consistency and coherence to beliefs, goals, and self-knowledge

3. A sense of continuity for one’s history and future

4. Goals and direction

5. A sense of personal control of their choices and outcomes. See: Agency (psychology) and Will (psychology)

Individuals changing their self-perception of their identity and increasing their level of achievement

See also: Self-concept and Self-confidence and Decision making and Goal setting and Achievement and Achievement orientation and Skill and Belief

An individual changing their internal perception of their identity can substantially affect their level of achievement in life as their internal self-concept significantly influences their behavior, decisions, and general self-confidence level. This can greatly impact their ability to achieve goals in various areas of their life such as including career, relationships, and personal development. Their level of overall self-confidence combined with an necessary skill development can substantially increases their belief that their overall level of achievement in life will increase and this can be a key factor in actually doing so.

A Venn diagram showing the relationship between self-concept, self-efficacy, and self-esteem.

The article How Identity Change Happens reviews several factors on how self-identities change. For example, changing one's behavior can change one's self-identity and the reverse is also true. In addition, making improvements in self-efficacy (For example, Interpersonal skills and Communication skills), one's sense of agency, self-control, and life control (See: Locus of control) and social connections (See: Social influence) and other factors can help change one's self-identity. Having a strong sense of purpose can also affect one's identity.

When a person makes changes in their life in a new role, their self-confidence level and level of adaptability in being able to mentally see themselves in a new role can have a substantial impact on how well they will do (See: Lingering Identities by Sarah Whitman, Academy of Management ReviewVol. 44, No. 4. Published Online:21 Oct 2019. https://doi.org/10.5465/amr.2015.0090). How people view themselves in terms of their identity is a habit and habits can be changed which means that self-identities are malleable.

People who have a growth mindset and have a greater degree of openness and embrace change are more adaptable in terms of:

• Changing their self-identity (partly by having a belief that they can change their self-identity via learning and effort)

• Changing their behavior to fit their new role

• Having the necessary self-confidence level and mindset that they will be able to handle their new role via developing their knowledge and skills

• Be willing to take on more risk. See also: Comfort zone and Risk management

The Harvard Business Review article When Changing Jobs Changes Your Identity by Sarah Whitman indicates:

“

Why does this matter? My research suggests that lingering identities, when mishandled, can have profound career implications. Studies show that somewhere around half of all new hires fail in their roles, with lack of “fit” being cited as a key reason. “Fit” is commonly construed as the alignment of an employee’s core values and capabilities with those of their job. But neither values nor capabilities are implanted in us at birth. To a large extent, they derive from life — and work — experience. Our self-identity plays a decisive part. “Fit,” in this analysis, would stem not from a fundamental incompatibility, but rather from a failure to complete the psychological transition from one identity to another. Identity transitions are complex maneuvers. As my research shows, they entail movement on as many as four different planes simultaneously: physical, behavioral, relational, and psychological. Amid the ever-increasing flux of the modern world, the psychological journey receives short shrift. It’s when that movement is missing, when people do not change how they define themselves even though their jobs say they “should” be something else, that identities linger.

”

The personality trait of openness can affect one's identity flexibility and ability to make life changes.

Articles:

• Identity-Based Habits: How to Actually Stick to Your Goals This Year by James Clear
• When Changing Jobs Changes Your Identity by Sarah Whitman, Harvard Business Review, 2022
• 5 Reasons Your Identity Will Affect Your Success in Life

Passion, identity and achievement

See also: Passion (psychology) and Motivation and Self-motivation and Purpose and Goal setting and Decision making and Work ethic and Mental toughness and Psychological resilience and Antifragility and Creativity and Happiness and Joy

Passion "can be defined as a strong inclination or enthusiasm towards an activity, subject, or cause that we find deeply interesting, meaningful and enjoyable."

When it comes to achievement, "passion and identity are closely linked, as a strong personal identity often includes passions that drive motivation, provide direction, and fuel sustained effort towards achieving goals, ultimately leading to a greater sense of fulfillment in one's pursuits."

How the personality trait of openness affects one ability to have identity flexibility

See also: Openness and Creativity and Habit and Change management

Openness to experience is a personality trait that is one of the Big Five personality traits. As noted above, openness can affect one's identity flexibility and ability to make life changes. It's also linked to mental/cognitive flexibility, which is the ability to adapt to new situations.

To cultivate a greater openness to change in your self-identity: actively seek out new experiences; challenge and stretch your comfort zone; embrace diverse perspectives; ask questions about important areas of your life; increase your intellectual curiosity, engage in learning new skills, and reflect on your experiences regularly (See also: Journaling). Engage in these behaviors while being mindful of your resistance to change and actively working to overcome it.

How self-efficacy changes self-identity

See also: Self-efficacy and Skill and Interpersonal skills and Communication skills and Emotional intelligence

Self-efficacy refers to an individual's belief in his or her capacity to execute behaviors necessary to produce specific performance attainments (Bandura, 1977, 1986, 1997). Self-efficacy reflects confidence in the ability to exert control over one's own motivation, behavior, and social environment." See also: Agency (psychology) and Interpersonal skills and Social intelligence

Self-efficacy significantly affects self-identity by influencing how a person perceives their capabilities and competence in various areas of life which shapes their overall self-image and determine the type and difficulty of the goals they set for themselves. This strongly influences to how they see themselves as a person. A strong sense of self-efficacy can cause a more positive self-identity, whereas low self-efficacy can result in a more negative self-perception.

How social influence changes self-identity summary

See: Social influence and Social intelligence and Social networking

How a sense of purpose changes self-identity summary

See also: Purpose

Article:

• The role of purpose in life in healthy identity formation, Claremont Graduate University
• Identity and Purpose: Which Comes First?

Identity and positive personality changes due to religious conversion

The Big Five personality traits change due to a person becoming more mature, efforts to change the personality traits or a major life change (See: Neuroplasticity and the ability of individuals to change their personality).

Personality changes due to religious conversion:

“

Religious conversion is one of the life events most strongly associated with personality change, because it often reshapes someone’s identity, daily habits, values, and social world. But the magnitude of change is usually not unlimited—it tends to be moderate rather than extreme, and uneven across the Big Five traits. Average change: Studies suggest that religious conversion or increased religiosity is associated with about 0.3 to 0.7 standard deviations of change in certain traits over time. Maximum documented change: In rare, profound cases (e.g., dramatic “born-again” conversions or entry into highly structured religious orders), people can shift by 1+ standard deviation on some traits, but that’s exceptional.

”

"A bell curve, also known as a normal distribution, is a symmetrical, bell-shaped curve that represents the distribution of data in statistics. Standard deviations measure the spread or dispersion of data points around the mean (average) of a normal distribution. In a normal distribution, roughly 68% of the data falls within one standard deviation of the mean, 95% within two standard deviations, and 99.7% within three standard deviations."

There is a significant amount of historical and scientific evidence that Bible reading has greatly increased human flourishing such as people's physical health, psychological well-being, character and virtue, and social connections (See: Bible reading and human flourishing).

See also

• Limiting beliefs

External links

• Identity Development Theory, Lumen Learning
• Basics of Identity by Shahram Heshmat Ph.D.
• The Power Of Identity, Forbes
• Summary of the various self-help coaches, psychologists, philosophical teachers and business/leadership experts on identity and their recommendations on identity in terms of operating at one's best, AI
• Identity: The Hidden Architecture of Operating at Your Best, Personal Development blog
• Identity: The Hidden Foundation of Operating at Your Best, Personal Development blog
• Identity as a Compass: How a Clear Sense of Self Builds Resilience and Sustained Excellence, Personal Development blog
• Identity: How Much Does Identity Really Matter for High Performance? A Clear, Evidence‑Based Look, Personal Development blog
• The 7 Daily Identity Practices of High Performers, Personal Development blog
• Identity and Passion: Why Who You Are Determines What You Burn For, Personal Development blog
• Summary of the various self-help coaches, psychologists, philosophical teachers and business/leadership experts on identity and their recommendations on identity in terms of operating at one's best, Perplexity
• The Power of Working on Identity and Mindset Together: Why the Real Breakthrough Happens When You Upgrade Both, Personal Development blog
• The Triple Advantage: Why Improving Identity, Mindset, and Habits Together Creates Unstoppable Momentum, Personal Development blog
• The Crucible of Performance: How Failure and Pressure Forge Your Most Powerful Identity, Personal Development blog
• The Paradox of the Peak: Why Your High-Performance Identity Must Be Both Iron and Liquid, Personal Development blog

Identity and passion:

• Identity and Passion: The Center of Achievement

Videos:

• Identity: Psychology, philosophy, coaching and Chrisianity - video playlist, Video playlist