Identity is one of the most extensively studied constructs in the social sciences. Yet, despite the wealth of findings across many disciplines, identity researchers remain divided over such enduring fundamental questions as: What exactly is identity, and how do identity processes function? Do people have a single identity or multiple identities? Is identity individually or collectively oriented? Personally or socially constructed? Stable or constantly in flux? The Handbook of Identity Theory and Research offers the rare opportunity to address the questions and reconcile these seeming contradictions, bringing unity and clarity to a diverse and fragmented literature.
This exhaustive reference work emphasizes the depth and complexity of identity processes and domains and presents perspectives from many different theoretical schools and empirical approaches. Contributing authors provide perspectives from psychology (e.g., narrative, social identity theory, neo-Eriksonian) and from other disciplines (e.g., sociology, political science, ethnic studies); and the editors highlight the links between chapters that provide complementary insights on related subjects.
In addition to covering identity processes and categories that are well-known to the field, the Handbook tackles many emerging issues, including:
- Identity development among adopted persons.
- Identity processes in interpersonal relationships.
- Effects of globalization on cultural identity.
- Transgender experience and identity.
- Consumer identity and shopping behavior.
- Social identity processes in xenophobia and genocide.
The Handbook of Identity Theory and Research lends itself to a wealth of uses by scholars, clinicians, and graduate students across many disciplines, including social, developmental, and child/school psychology; human development and family studies; sociology; cultural anthropology; gender, ethnic, and communication studies; education; and counseling.
Seth J. Schwartz is Associate Professor in the Department of Epidemiology and Public Health at the University of Miami Leonard M. Miller School of Medicine in the United States. He received his master’s degree in family and child sciences from Florida State University, and his Ph.D. in developmental psychology from Florida International University. His research focuses on identity, broadly defined, including both personal and cultural identity; on acculturation, ethnicity, and cultural adaptation; on parenting and parent-adolescent relationships; and the effects of identity and family processes on positive and negative adolescent and young adult psychosocial and health outcomes.
Koen Luyckx is Assistant Research Professor in the Department of Psychology at the Catholic University of Leuven in Belgium. He received his master’s degree in psychology and his Ph.D. in developmental psychology from Catholic University of Leuven. His primary research interests are personal identity processes; the transition to adulthood; parenting, parent-adolescent conflict, and parent-adolescent relationships; psychosocial adaptation to being afflicted with a chronic illness; coping; burn-out and engagement at the workplace; and long-term development of psychosocial indices and interdependencies across childhood and adolescence.
Vivian L. Vignoles is Senior Lecturer in the School of Psychology at the University of Sussex in the United Kingdom. He received his first degree in sociology and psychology from University of Bristol, and his Ph.D. in social psychology from University of Surrey. His primary research interests are in self and identity processes and cross-cultural psychology, especially the interplay of cultural, contextual and motivational influences on identity construction, as well as combining qualitative and quantitative methodologies, and developing a better understanding of the relationship between individual and social representation processes.
