Analysing Identity

Coda

Peter Weinreich

THEORY BUILDING AND PRACTICAL APPLICATION

The literature on self and identity is vast but chaotic. A kaleidoscopic set of conceptualisations, some of which have been outlined in Chapter 1, is in disarray. Methods of assessment of parameters of identity, deriving from disparate conceptualisations of self and identity, are often unrelated. They might, for example, refer to self-labelling, use repertory grid technique, assess social roles, or estimate social identification, but without any consistently conceptualised interrelationship between them. Other studies may concern self-esteem, or notions of identity achievement or failure, or, most common of all, appeal to various ad hoc measures associated with specific parameters ...