June 3, 2000 14:56 Annual Reviews Chapter-16 ?Annu. Rev. Sociol. 2000. 26:367–93 Copyright c/circlecopyrt2000 by Annual Reviews. All rights reserved… [604443]

P1: FJL/FGD P2: FJS
June 3, 2000 14:56 Annual Reviews Chapter-16
?Annu. Rev. Sociol. 2000. 26:367–93
Copyright c/circlecopyrt2000 by Annual Reviews. All rights reserved
SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY OF IDENTITIES
Judith A. Howard
Department of Sociology, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98195;
e-mail: [anonimizat]
Key Words social construction of identity, language, intersections of identities,
social cognition, symbolic interaction
șAbstract InthischapterIreviewthesocialpsychologicalunderpinningsofiden-
tity,emphasizingsocialcognitiveandsymbolicinteractionistperspectivesandresearch,and I turn then to key themes of current work on identity—social psychological, so-ciological, and interdisciplinary. I emphasize the social bases of identity, particularlyidentities based on ethnicity, race, sexuality, gender, class, age, and (dis)ability, bothseparatelyandastheyintersect.Ialsotakeupidentitiesbasedonspace,bothgeographicandvirtual.Idiscussstrugglesoveridentities,organizedbysocialinequalities,nation-alisms, and social movements. I conclude by discussing postmodernist conceptionsof identities as fluid, multidimensional, personalized social constructions that reflectsociohistorical contexts, approaches remarkably consistent with recent empirical so-cial psychological research, and I argue explicitly for a politicized social psychologyof identities that brings together the structures of everyday lives and the socioculturalrealities in which those lives are lived.
“Identity:::is a concept that neither imprisons (as does much in sociology)
nor detaches (as does much in philosophy and psychology) persons fromtheir social and symbolic universes, [so] it has over the years retained ageneric force that few concepts in our field have.”
(Davis 1991:105)
“[I]dentity is never a priori, nor a finished product; it is only ever theproblematic process of access to an image of totality.”
(Bhabha 1994:51)
INTRODUCTION
“Identity” is a keyword of contemporary society and a central focus of socialpsychologicaltheorizingandresearch.Atearlierhistoricalmoments,identitywasnotsomuchanissue;whensocietiesweremorestable,identitywastoagreatextentassigned,ratherthanselectedoradopted.Incurrenttimes,however,theconceptofidentitycarriesthefullweightoftheneedforasenseofwhooneis,togetherwithanoftenoverwhelmingpaceofchangeinsurroundingsocialcontexts—changesinthe
0360-0572/00/0815-0367$14.00 367
Annu. Rev. Sociol. 2000.26:367-393. Downloaded from arjournals.annualreviews.org
by Columbia University on 02/14/05. For personal use only.

P1: FJL/FGD P2: FJS
June 3, 2000 14:56 Annual Reviews Chapter-16
?368 HOWARD
groupsandnetworksinwhichpeopleandtheiridentitiesareembeddedandinthe
societalstructuresandpracticesinwhichthosenetworksarethemselvesembedded.
Socialcognitionandsymbolicinteraction,twooftheprevailingperspectivesin
sociologicalsocialpsychology,providethetheoreticalunderpinningsoftraditionalunderstandingsofidentity.Inthepastseveraldecades,theconceptofidentityhasbeentakenupmorebroadly,bothwithinsociologyandinotherdisciplines.Inthisessay, I review key questions and recent research on identity in social cognitionandsymbolicinteraction,thentakeupkeythemesofcurrentsocialpsychologicalwork on identity: identity and social inequalities particularly as expressed in raceandethnicity,gender,sexuality,andothersystemsofsocialstratification;researchonhowthesemultipleidentitiesintersect;identitiesbasedonlocationalindicatorssuch as geography, place, cyberspace; questions of the (in)stability of identities;and the politicization of identities.
SOCIAL COGNITION
Social cognition is a theory of how we store and process information (Fiske &Taylor1991,Augoustinos&Walker1995).Socialcognitionhascloserootstopsy-chologyandarelianceonexperimentallaboratorymethodologies.Severalcentralassumptions underlie social cognitive theories of identity: that human cognitivecapacitiesarelimited;that,therefore,weprocessinformationascognitivemisers,streamlining information to manage the demands of everyday interaction; that,followingfromthisneedforcognitiveefficiency,wecategorizeinformationaboutpeople,objects,andsituationsbeforeweengagememoryorinferentialprocesses.
Cognitive Structures
Cognitiveschemas,abstractandorganizedpackagesofinformation,arethecogni-tive version of identities. Self-schemas include organized knowledge about one’sself, the cognitive response to the question of identity: Who am I? These includethe characteristics, preferences, goals, and behavior patterns we associate withourselves. Group schemas (analogous to stereotypes) include organized informa-tion about social positions and stratification statuses, such as gender, race, age,or class. Because the social positions we occupy have immediate consequencesfor our sense of self, group schemas play a major part in processes of identifi-cation. Self and group schemas illustrate both advantages and disadvantages ofcategorization systems. They allow us to summarize and reduce information tokey elements; thus, they also entail losing potentially valuable information. And,categorizationsarealmostalwaysaccompaniedbysystemsofevaluationofsomecategoriesasbetterorworse.Schemasarenotjustperceptualphenomenona;theycan serve as explanatory devices and justifications of social relationships (Tajfel1981). Thus, social identities are embedded in sociopolitical contexts.
Socialidentitytheoryfocusesontheextenttowhichindividualsidentifythem-
selvesintermsofgroupmemberships(Tajfel&Turner1986).Thecentraltenetof
Annu. Rev. Sociol. 2000.26:367-393. Downloaded from arjournals.annualreviews.org
by Columbia University on 02/14/05. For personal use only.

P1: FJL/FGD P2: FJS
June 3, 2000 14:56 Annual Reviews Chapter-16
?SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY OF IDENTITIES 369
social identity theory is that individuals define their identities along two
dimensions: social, defined by membership in various social groups; and per-sonal,theidiosyncraticattributesthatdistinguishanindividualfromothers.Socialandpersonalidentitiesarethoughttolieatoppositeendsofacontinuum,becom-ingmoreorlesssalientdependingonthecontext.Deaux(1993),however,arguesfor an interplay between the two, suggesting they are not easily separable. So-cialidentitiesprovidestatusandenhance(ornot)self-esteem.Becausepeoplearemotivatedtoevaluatethemselvespositively,theytendtoevaluatepositivelythosegroups to which they belong and to discriminate against groups they perceive topose a threat to their social identity.
Empirical support has relied heavily on studies using the minimal group
paradigm (Tajfel 1970), whereby people are classified into distinct groups onthebasisofanarbitraryandtrivialcriterionunderconditionsfreefromotherfac-torsusuallyassociatedwithgroupmemberships.Undertheseminimalconditions,peopledodiscriminateinfavorofin-groupsinallocationofvariousrewards.Themostsociologicallyrelevantrecentstudieshaveextendedthistraditiontosociallymeaningful groups and situations. Simon et al (1997), for example, demonstratethat being in a numerical minority (a predictor of identification in this tradition)doesnotleadtoidentificationunlessthein-group–out-groupcategorizationissit-uationally meaningful.
Themorepositive,andmorepersonallyimportant,aspectsoftheselfarelikely
to be bases on which a person locates her- or himself in terms of collective cate-gories (Simon & Hastedt 1999), demonstrating the relationship between catego-rizationandevaluation.Thispointstowardmoresuccessfulattainmentofapositivesocialidentityforthoseindominantsocialgroups.Thisprocessisachallengeformembersofstigmatized,negativelyvaluedgroups,whomayattempttodissociatethemselves, to evaluate the distinguishing dimensions of in-groups as less nega-tive, to rate their in-group as more favorable on other dimensions, or to competedirectly with the out-group to produce changes in the status of the groups. Muchofthisresearchaccordsconsiderableagency,bothcognitiveandmaterial,tosocialactors.
Onerelevantlineofresearchexploresthepsychologicalconsequencesofiden-
tifications with ethnic in- and out-groups. Fordham & Ogbu (1986), for exam-ple, suggest that academic failure among African-American students representsa desire to maintain their racial identity and solidarity with their own culture.High-achieving African-American children develop a “raceless” persona, but atthecostofinterpersonalconflictandambivalence;adoptionof“raceless”behaviorsandattitudesdohavenegativepsychologicalconsequencesforAfrican-Americanstudents (Arroyo & Zigler 1995). Direct impression management strategies in-tendedtocounternegativeevaluationsoftheirin-groupalsoincrease,oneofmanyindicators of the interdependence of cognition and interaction. The focus on psy-chological consequences of identification speaks also to the interconnectednessof cognition and emotion. Thus, for example, individuals’ prejudices may shapenotonlytheirownidentificationsbutalsotheircategorizationsofothers.Raciallyprejudiced individuals do appear to be more motivated to make accurate racial
Annu. Rev. Sociol. 2000.26:367-393. Downloaded from arjournals.annualreviews.org
by Columbia University on 02/14/05. For personal use only.

P1: FJL/FGD P2: FJS
June 3, 2000 14:56 Annual Reviews Chapter-16
?370 HOWARD
categorizations, both in-group and out-group, than do nonprejudiced individuals
(Blascovich et al 1997); accurate categorizations maintain clear boundaries be-tween groups.
Strong identification with a group need not, in principle, be correlated with
out-group hostility. Only under conditions of intergroup threat and competitionare in-group identification and out-group discrimination correlated (Branscombe&Wann1994,Grant&Brown1995).Socialidentitytheorymaintainsthatitisin-group identification that causes out-group bias. Realistic conflict theory (LeVine&Campbell1972),ontheotherhand,maintainsthatout-groupthreatandhostilityleadtoin-groupidentification.InastudyofBlackSouthAfricans’ethnicidentifi-cationsbeforeandafterSouthAfrica’stransitionalelectionin1994,BlackAfricanidentification was related only to attitudes toward Afrikaans Whites, not whitesingeneralorEnglishWhites(Duckitt&Mphuthing1998).Longitudinalanalysessuggest that attitudes affected identifications, more consistent with realistic con-flictthansocialidentitytheory,ausefulcautiontooverlycognitiveapproachestoidentification.
Cognitive Processes
Cognitive processes are also implicated in the construction, maintenance, andchangeofidentities.Attributionprocesses,thatis,judgmentsofblame,causality,or responsibility, are particularly relevant. One key question is whether attribu-tionalpatternsarebiasedinaccordwithintergroupidentificationsandallegiances.Manystudiesshowapatternofin-groupfavoritismsuchthatpositivebehaviorsofin-group members are attributed to internal factors and negative behaviors to ex-ternalfactors;some,butfewer,studiesshowout-groupdiscrimination,thatis,theopposite patterns of attributions about the behavior of out-group members (Islam& Hewstone 1993, and see Howard 1995). Consistent with social identity theory,whensocialcategorizationsaresalient,theseattributionalpatternsintensify(Islam& Hewstone 1993).
CognitivestructuresandprocessescometogetherinMoscovici’s(1981)theory
of social representations. According to this perspective, knowledge structures arecollectively shared, originating and developing via social interaction and com-munication (Augoustinos & Innes 1990). This approach reframes the concept ofschemas,whichhavegenerallybeenseenasconservativeandresistanttochange.Given an increasing emphasis on social processes, one may expect to see contin-uing recasting of social schemas as more flexible and more grounded in socialinteraction.
Althoughtheexperimentaltraditionhasbeencentraltoestablishingthetenetsof
thesetheories,validationoftheseprinciplesinsociologicallymeaningfulcontextsis crucial. Various of the studies cited here have been conducted in situations ofrealgroupmembershipsandrealconflicts,underscoringtheSpearsetal(1997a,b)assertionthatcognitiveperceptionismeaningfullystructuredbygroupsandgrouplife. One emphasis of this review is that cognitive and interactional processes are
Annu. Rev. Sociol. 2000.26:367-393. Downloaded from arjournals.annualreviews.org
by Columbia University on 02/14/05. For personal use only.

P1: FJL/FGD P2: FJS
June 3, 2000 14:56 Annual Reviews Chapter-16
?SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY OF IDENTITIES 371
intimately intertwined; identity management strategies are often used to manipu-
late group comparisons for purposes of social identifications (Doosje & Ellemers1997).
INTERACTIONISM
Thebasicpremiseofsymbolicinteractionisthatpeopleattachsymbolicmeaningtoobjects,behaviors,themselves,andotherpeople,andtheydevelopandtransmitthese meanings through interaction. People behave toward objects on the basisnot of their concrete properties, but of the meanings these objects have for them.Becausemeaningsdevelopthroughinteraction,languageplaysacentralpart(seediscussion below). Identities locate a person in social space by virtue of the rela-tionshipsthattheseidentitiesimply,andare,themselves,symbolswhosemeaningsvary across actors and situations.
Interactionist approaches to identity vary in their emphasis on the structure
of identity, on the one hand, and the processes and interactions through whichidentities are constructed, on the other. The more structural approach relies onthe concept of role identities, the characters a person develops as an occupant ofparticular social positions, explicitly linking social structures to persons (Stryker1980).Roleidentitiesareorganizedhierarchically,onthebasisoftheirsaliencetotheselfandthedegreetowhichwearecommittedtothem,whichinturndependson the extent to which these identities are premised on our ties to particular otherpeople. The second approach emphasizes the processes of identity constructionand negotiation. Negotiations about who people are are fundamental to develop-ing mutual definitions of situations; these negotiations entail self-presentation orimpression management (Goffman 1959, McCall & Simmons 1978). Identitiesarethusstrategicsocialconstructionscreatedthroughinteraction,withsocialandmaterial consequences.
Thistraditionarticulatesspecificinteractivemechanismsthroughwhichidenti-
tiesareproduced(Cahill1998).Theseprocessesarealsoalwaysshapedbysocialhierarchies, as detailed in Goffman’s ideas about how externally relevant statushierarchiesaregearedto“interactionalcogs,”forexample,inhisconceptofhier-archicalobservation,thevaryingdegreestowhichpeoplecancontrolinformationothers have about them. Members of total institutions are subject to compulsoryvisibility,andto“normalizingjudgments,”contrastingthemtoanidealofamen-tallyhealthyperson,alaw-abidingcitizen,andsoforth.Althoughtheseprocessesare most evident in total institutions, Goffman conceives these as more general,occurring in all institutional settings, even in informal interactions.
Identity and Language
How is identity “done”? The interactionist literature on identity articulates theconstruction, negotiation, and communication of identity through language, both
Annu. Rev. Sociol. 2000.26:367-393. Downloaded from arjournals.annualreviews.org
by Columbia University on 02/14/05. For personal use only.

P1: FJL/FGD P2: FJS
June 3, 2000 14:56 Annual Reviews Chapter-16
?372 HOWARD
directlyininteraction,anddiscursively,throughvariousformsofmedia(McAdams
1995). At the most basic level, the point is simply that people actively produceidentitythroughtheirtalk.Manystudies(generallyethnographic)analyzeidentitywork through everyday interaction. Identity talk is organized around two setsof norms, one concerning respect for situated identities and a commitment tobasic moral precepts, and the second concerning ways in which people deal withfailure to endorse these basic moral precepts, through denials of responsibilityand other attributional tactics (Hunt et al 1994). Identity work is a micro-levelperformance of social (dis)order. Hunt & Miller (1997), for example, examineidentity construction through interviews with sorority women, focusing on theirtalkaboutpersonalappearance.Theirdatarevealnormativeordersassociatedwithdress and appearance; these women communicate, maintain, and repair identitiesthrough a “rhetoric of review” that provides ground rules for critical assessmentsof appearance. (For other examples, see MacPherson & Fine 1995, Freitas et al1997.)
Many such studies focus on populations experiencing identity struggles, es-
pecially managing the stigma of social inequalities (see Goffman 1963, O’Brien& Howard 1998). Anderson et al (1994), for example, identify two distinct typesof strategies used by homeless people to avoid stigmatization, many of whichrely on language. In-group techniques used among street peers include drinking,cheapentertainment,hangingout,andpositiveidentitytalk.Out-grouptechniques,which reduce the impact of the stigma on public interactions with domiciled oth-ers, include passing (presenting an appearance that masks their homelessness),covering(minimizingtheimpactoftheirstigmatizedstatus),defiance,and,some-times, collective action, as in recent homelessness movements. Cherry’s (1995)and Tewksbury’s (1994) studies of people with AIDS also show how their re-spondentsuselanguageandidentityperformancestocontrolandguidethesocialconsequences of this discredited status.
In contrast to this emphasis on normative order, identity can be viewed as a
moreflexibleresourceinverbalinteraction.Usingconversationalanalysis,Antakiet al (1996) show how identities change as interaction proceeds, that is, howcontextual variations shift identity claims. Their examples (drawn from tapes ofnaturalEnglishconversationbetweenfriendsoverdrinks)showspeakersnotonlyavowing contradictory identities but also invoking both group distinctiveness andsimilarity. They argue strongly for working from participants’ own orientationsto identity, rather than analytically derived social categories. Verkuyten’s (1997)study of how ethnic minority identity is presented in natural talk, based on focusgroupsofTurkslivingintheNetherlands,suggeststhefruitfulnessofthisapproach.Critiquingsocialidentitytheory,Verkuytenshowsthatpeopleconstructandcrossbordersofvariouscategoriesindefiningthemselves;respondentsdidnotusefixedcategories, and differentiations were not always oppositional.
Language thus links the cognitive and interactive traditions. Hermans (1996)
proposesdevelopmentofavoicedconceptionofidentitythatintegratesthesetra-ditions, a conception that points to collective voices (social dialects, professional
Annu. Rev. Sociol. 2000.26:367-393. Downloaded from arjournals.annualreviews.org
by Columbia University on 02/14/05. For personal use only.

P1: FJL/FGD P2: FJS
June 3, 2000 14:56 Annual Reviews Chapter-16
?SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY OF IDENTITIES 373
jargons, languages of generations and age groups) and facilitates greater recog-
nition of the dynamics of dominance and social power. Rapley (1998) aptly il-lustrates this last point in his analysis of Australian MP Pauline Hanson’s firstspeech to the Australian Parliament (in 1996). Rapley addresses three questions:how speakers construct themselves as representative of the audience they wishto influence, how the appearance of truth/fact is constructed in political rhetoric,and how Hanson constructed her case as representative of and credible for heraudience. Rapley shows how Hanson treats identities as discursive resources inherstrategicmanipulationofidentityclaimstomembershipcategoryentitlement,claimsthatcontributedtothemobilizationnecessarytoherelection.Rapleymakestheintriguingpointthatidentityworkandfacticityworkaremutuallysupporting,and often inseparable, components of successful mobilization discourse.
Other scholars in this tradition extend the terrain to other forms of discourse,
especiallyvisualmedia.Epstein&Steinberg(1995)analyzethefeministpotentialoftheOprahWinfreyshowthroughdeconstructionsoftheshowinrelationtotwothemes,apresumptionofheterosexuality,andtheuseofatherapydiscourse.Theynote the show’s emphasis on individual pathology (rather than social processes).Hollander’s(1998)analysisofadatinggameshow,“Studs,”showshowbothver-balandnonverbalgesturesdotheidentityworkofgender,mostobviously,butalsoof heterosexuality, race (in the show’s homogeneity), and class. In one of the fewempirical studies of discourse about social class, Bettie (1995) analyzes the classdynamicsofsitcoms.Bettiesuggeststhatapatternofrecentshows,inwhichwork-ingclasswomenarecastasleadcharactersandmenareeitherabsentorbuffoons,reflects demographic shifts toward more women in poverty. Analyses of mediaportrayalsacknowledgehowlanguageworkstogetherwithnonverbalexpressionsand interactional contexts as part of the interactive construction of identities.
Identities Across Time
Withtheiremphasisonconservationofcognitiveenergy,theoriesofsocialcogni-tionhaveunderemphasizedhowidentitiesshiftovertime.Interactionistapproachesaddressthisquestionmoreadequately.Onemodel(Cote1996)linksidentityshiftstohistoricalculturalconfigurations,arguingthatcertaincharactertypesareencour-aged by cultures through differential socialization practices. Helson et al (1995)address a more limited temporal range, contrasting identities of women raised inthe1950swiththoseraisedinthe1960s.Theyreportdifferentidentitytypes,whichshow differing degrees of stability over time. Another approach to the mutabilityof identities entails studying identity shifts during life transitions, periods of lim-inality. Karp et al (1998) report a great deal of interpretive effort by high schoolseniorspreparingtoleavehomeforcollege,astheyanticipateaffirmationofsomeidentities,creationofnewidentities,anddiscoveryofunanticipatedidentities.Theauthorsalsoreportracialsimilaritiesinconcernsaboutidentityandindependence,butmarkeddifferencesbysocialclass,especiallyinthemeaningofindependencefrom family.
Annu. Rev. Sociol. 2000.26:367-393. Downloaded from arjournals.annualreviews.org
by Columbia University on 02/14/05. For personal use only.

P1: FJL/FGD P2: FJS
June 3, 2000 14:56 Annual Reviews Chapter-16
?374 HOWARD
Anotherprovocativeapproachtotheinstabilityofidentitiesistofocusonwhat
identitieswedistanceourselvesfrom.Freitasetal(1997)examinewhowesayweare not, and whether such negative identities are merely an antithesis of identityor point to more complex identity ambivalences. They find complex patterns ofidentitiesthatcutacrossdimensionssuchasage,temporality,gender,sexuality,andethnicity,raisingquestionsabouttheprimacyofso-calledmasterstatuses.Identityinstabilitymayalsosignifymultiple,andcontradictory,identitygoals.Milesetal(1998) focus on consumerism as a process through which young people attemptto fit in their peer groups, but also to maintain individuality, buying some goodsin order to “stick out.” (The methodology of this study is exemplary, combiningfocus group interviews, individual questionnaires, and participant observationsover a sustained time.)
SOCIAL BASES OF IDENTITY
Muchoftheworkonidentityhasemphasizedsingledimensionsofsocialidentities.In the sections that follow, I discuss the literatures on these separate dimensions,emphasizingtheparticularlynuancedworkonracialandethnicidentity,andthenI address the literature on intersections among identities.
Ethnic Identities
Phinney (1990) reviews more than 70 studies of ethnic identity. The great ma-jority of these articles assume that identity development is particularly compli-cated for those belonging to ethnic and racial minority groups, owing to negativesocietal stereotypes and discrimination. Phinney considers the major theoreticalframeworksofethnicidentityformation(socialidentity,acculturation,anddevel-opmental theories), key components of ethnic identity (ethnic self-identification,asenseofbelonging,attitudestowardone’sownethnicgroup,socialparticipationand cultural practices), and empirical findings on self-esteem, self-concept, psy-chological adjustment, ethnic identity in relation to the majority culture, changesrelated to generation of immigration, ethnic identity and gender, and contextualfactors.Shearguesforconstructionofreliableandvalidmeasuresofethniciden-tity,formoreworkontheimpactofethnicidentityonattitudestowardbothone’sown and other groups and on the role of contextual factors such as family, com-munity, and social structures. Phinney also notes the lack of attention to mixedethnicbackgrounds;thedecadeafterherreviewhasseenmarkedlymoreattentionto multiethnic and mixed-race backgrounds (see below).
Other reviews emphasize developmental processes and socialization into eth-
nic identity (Spencer & Markstrom-Adams 1990). Knight et al (1993) detail spe-cificsocializationpractices,includingmothers’teachingabouttheethnicculture,parental generation of migration, mothers’ cultural knowledge and orientation,languagespoken,anddemographiccharacteristicssuchasparents’educationand
Annu. Rev. Sociol. 2000.26:367-393. Downloaded from arjournals.annualreviews.org
by Columbia University on 02/14/05. For personal use only.

P1: FJL/FGD P2: FJS
June 3, 2000 14:56 Annual Reviews Chapter-16
?SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY OF IDENTITIES 375
degreeofcommunityurbanization.Inbringingtogethersocialinteractions,cogni-
tive beliefs and attitudes, and ecological and structural characteristics, this modelexemplifies contemporary multilevel analyses of social identities.
Onekeyquestionconcernstheimplicationsofethnicidentityforpsychological
adjustment. In another review article, Phinney (1991) explores the relationshipbetween ethnic identity and self-esteem. Although findings do not add up to aclear picture, Phinney asserts that a strong ethnic identity, when accompanied bysome adaptation to the mainstream, is related to high self-esteem. A related ap-proachpointstotheimportanceofpossibleselves,thefuture-orientedcomponentsof self-schemas. Oyserman et al (1995) find markedly different racial patterns inwhatfactorspromotetheconstructionofachievement-relatedpossibleselves:col-lectivism predicts these possible selves for African-American students, whereasfor whites, individualism predicts the construction of such possible selves.
Anotherissueconcernsthebreadthofboundariesofethnicin-andout-groups.
Recent debates about inclusion of the category “Hispanic” as an ethnic group onthe US Census, for example, assume this is a single, discrete category. Huddy &Virtanen (1995) show that Latinos differentiate their own subgroups from othersbut are no more likely than Anglos to differentiate among Latino subgroups towhichtheydonotbelong(here,CubanAmericans,MexicanAmericans,andPuertoRicans). Subgroup identification may be more pervasive than the development ofloyalties to the in-group as a whole.
Consistentwiththiscritique,manycontemporarystudiesofethnicidentitycast
ethnicityasfluidandethnicboundariesascontinuallychanging(thoughnotwith-out constraints). In her study of American Indian identifications, Nagel (1996)stresses ethnic identification as situational, volitional. Nagel characterizes eth-nic identity as a dialectic between internal identification and external ascription,or, as Bhavnani & Phoenix (1994: 6) put it, “[identity] is the site where struc-ture and agency collide.” Nagel casts identity also as multilayered, with differ-ent identities activated at different times (e.g., for Native Americans—subtribal,tribal,supratribal-regional,orsupratribal-nationalidentities).Similarly,Espiritu’s(1994)nuancedanalysisassertstheconstructionofmultipleandoverlappingiden-titiesamongFilipina/oAmericans,astheyreworkdominantideologiesabouttheirplace in contemporary US society. She maintains that ethnic identification is adynamic, more complex process than either assimilationist or pluralist modelssuggest.
Populationshifts,especiallyimmigrations,areamajorinstigatorofchangesin
ethnic identities. One exemplary study examines the effects of relocation to themainlandUSonHawaiianstudents.Illustratingsituationalethnicity,Ichiyamaetal(1996)showshiftsinethnicidentitywiththeshiftinsocialcontextfrommajorityto minority group status. Students who moved to the mainland showed a steadydecline in identification with being Hawaiian; still, their affiliative behavior withotherHawaiianswasnotaffected.Althoughethnicidentitymaydeclineinintensitythroughexposuretostigmatizedcontexts,theneedtoparticipateinaffirmingsocialsituations becomes a way of combatting these negative effects.
Annu. Rev. Sociol. 2000.26:367-393. Downloaded from arjournals.annualreviews.org
by Columbia University on 02/14/05. For personal use only.

P1: FJL/FGD P2: FJS
June 3, 2000 14:56 Annual Reviews Chapter-16
?376 HOWARD
Waters (1994) addresses generational differences in pressures toward assim-
ilation among black Caribbean immigrants to the United States. She finds threedistinctpatternsofidentification:asAmericans(presumablywithoutethnicity?),asethnic Americans with some distancing from black Americans, or as immigrantsunconnected to American racial and ethnic categories. Factors such as parents’class backgrounds, parents’ social networks, type of school attended, and familystructure influence these identifications. Waters contributes to the growing litera-ture on intersections among identities in attending also to simultaneous class andethnicidentitiesandtogenderedcorrelatesofthesepatterns,notingthatgirlsseemto live with greater restrictions and parental control than boys, but that girls havemoreleewayaboutchoosingaracialidentitythandoboys.Anthias(1998)arguesfor more attention to history and context than such studies offer, maintaining thatconceptsofraceandethnicityareoverlydeterritorialized.ForAnthias,“diaspora”is a more useful conceptualization of the identity implications of transnationalmigration.
Most of these studies assume individuals belong to a single racial or ethnic
category. In contrast, recent work has begun to address a rapidly growing pop-ulation in the United States: people with multiracial backgrounds. The numberof biracial births in the 1990s is increasing at a rate faster than the number ofmonoracial births, and the “other” racial category on the 1990 US Census grewmore than any other category. Root (1992, 1996; and see Zack 1995) has done agreatdealofworkexploringthecomplexracialandethnicidentitiesofthosewithmixed backgrounds. The debate over how to represent multiracial individuals onthe census itself attests to Root’s assertion that US history repeatedly shows am-bivalenceaboutrecognizingmultiracialpeople.Rootarticulatesseveralpatternsofidentitynegotations:someactivelyidentifywithboth(ormore)groups,experienc-ingmultipleperspectivessimultaneously;othersborder-crossactivelybyshiftingamong different identities as they move among different social contexts; and yetothers locate themselves on a border, experiencing “mestiza” consciousness (seediscussion below).
Alloftheabovemodelsfocusonracialandethnicminorities.Inthepastseveral
yearsscholarshavebeguntopayexplicitattentiontotheracialandethnicidentityof whites. Rowe et al (1994) point out both that many whites do not have a racialidentity and that white identity development may not fit a developmental stagemodel(amodelusedwithmanyracialminoritygroups).Roweetalfocusontypesofwhiteracialconsciousness,rangingfromanunexaminedracialidentitytofourtypes of achieved racial consciousness, moving from strong ethnocentrism to anintegrative, morally responsible stance. Frankenberg (1993) proposes one of themost widely adopted models of white racial consciousness, beginning with “es-sentialist racism,” emphasizing race difference as essential, biologically derived,andhierarchical;adiscourseofessentialsameness,orcolor-blindness(whichshelinks with power evasiveness); and race cognizance, in which difference signalsautonomy of culture and values. From this last perspective, social structures, notascribedcharacteristics,generateracialinequalities(andseeHelms1994).Inthese
Annu. Rev. Sociol. 2000.26:367-393. Downloaded from arjournals.annualreviews.org
by Columbia University on 02/14/05. For personal use only.

P1: FJL/FGD P2: FJS
June 3, 2000 14:56 Annual Reviews Chapter-16
?SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY OF IDENTITIES 377
models,increasingmaturitysignifiesincreasingawarenessoftheconditionsofop-
pressionassociatedwithrace;thesearethusexplicitlypoliticizedmodelsofracialandethnicidentity,amarkedshiftfromearliersocialpsychologicalapproachestothis question.
Sexual Identities
As Epstein (1987) observes, in a historical juncture in which group identity ingeneralhasassumedmuchimportance,andwheresexualityhasbecomeacentraldimension of identity formation, it is not unlikely that gay and lesbian identitieswouldarise.Sexualidentitydiffersfromracialidentityinthatawarenessofone’sself as a sexual being, and especially awareness of one’s possible deviation fromsexual norms, typically occurs later in one’s life than awareness of one’s race orethnicity.Althoughimplicationsofthisdifferencehavenotbeenexploreddirectly,mostmodelsofsexualidentityaresimilartothoseofracialidentity.Cass(1983–1984) proposes a six-stage model, beginning with identity confusion, moving tocomparison(withnonhomosexualothers),totolerance,andeventuallytosynthesis,including positive relationships with nonhomosexuals.
Kitzinger & Wilkinson (1995) propose a social constructionist model of les-
bian identity, suggesting that the process is not one of coming to recognize whatonealwayswas,butratheroneofrecognizing,negotiating,andinterpretingone’sexperiences.Thismodelisframedintermsofdiscursivestrategiesandaccountingmechanismsthroughwhichanidentitychangeisaccomplishedandsustained,at-testingtothecentralroleoflanguageanddiscursiveprocessesinidentityformationandmaintenance.D’Augelli(1994)alsoproposesasocialconstructionistaccountbut frames his model in a more explicitly sociopolitical context, referring to thesocial and legal penalties for overt expression of this sexuality. D’Augelli alsoemphasizesthatpeopledevelopandchangeoverthecourseoftheirlifespans,andthus that sexual identity may be fluid at some points, more crystallized at others.Epstein’s (1987) model of gay and lesbian identity is also explicitly sociopoliti-cal, in keeping with his emphasis on gay social activism. Because a considerablestigmaremainsassociatedwiththisidentity,Epsteinobserves,theattemptstoas-sert its legitimacy and to claim that this is not grounds for social exclusion havethe ironic effect of intensifying this identity. (For a general review of models ofsexual identity, see Gonsiorek & Rudolph 1991.)
Cain (1991) emphasizes the complexities of the sociopolitical environment of
sexualidentities,analyzinghowqueerculturesrespondtothebehaviorofpassing,of hiding stigmatized sexual identities. Cain notes that in recent years, opennessabout one’s sexuality has come in both professional literatures and subculturalcommunitiestobeseenasevidenceofahealthygayidentity,andthuspassingcanbe seen as problematic. He critiques the failure of such approaches to recognizethe constraints of social factors, implying in his analysis that people manage in-formationabouttheirsexualidentity,justastheymanageinformationaboutotheridentities.
Annu. Rev. Sociol. 2000.26:367-393. Downloaded from arjournals.annualreviews.org
by Columbia University on 02/14/05. For personal use only.

P1: FJL/FGD P2: FJS
June 3, 2000 14:56 Annual Reviews Chapter-16
?378 HOWARD
Analogoustotherecent“discovery”ofwhitenessasanidentity,heterosexuality
has also begun to receive attention. In 1980 Adrienne Rich published an essay(latertobecomeaclassic)challengingthetaken-for-grantednessofheterosexuality.Morethanadecadelater,Wilkinson&Kitzinger(1993)solicitedshortreflectionsfrom a number of well-known feminists, many of them academic psychologists,about their heterosexuality. The responses indicated that “heterosexual” is nota popular label, and these respondents did not claim this as an identity. Mostsaw heterosexual and lesbian as points on a continuum, rather than recognizingtheir political asymmetry: as Wilkinson & Kitzinger (1993) assert, lesbian is anintrinsically politicized identity and heterosexuality is not. Jackson (1995) toonotesthatheterosexualityisrarelythoughtofintermsofidentityorself-definition(and see Richardson 1996a,b). At the same time, many identities that are widelyembracedarebasedinheterosexuality:wife,girlfriend,daughter,mother.Jacksonpoints out the conundrum: to name oneself as heterosexual (as a woman) is toproblematize heterosexuality and challenge its privileges, but for women, beingheterosexual is not a situation of unproblematic privilege because the institutionentailsahierarchicalrelationbeweenwomenandmen.Althoughthesediscussionsdo not address the heterosexual identities of men, for whom heterosexuality doesbringprivilege,thereisaconsiderablerecentliteratureinthisarena(seeRobinson1996 for a helpful overview).
Herek(1995)connectsheterosexualidentitieswithanaccompanyingideology,
heterosexism,whichdenigratesandstigmatizesnonheterosexualformsofbehav-ior,identity,relationship,orcommunity.Inhisanalysisofantigayviolence,Herekmaintainsthatheterosexistpracticesallowpeopletoexpressvaluescentraltotheirself-concepts,inthiscasenormsbasedontheinstitutionsofgenderandsexuality.Consistent with principles of social identity theory, Herek suggests that antigayviolence may help heterosexist people feel more positive about being heterosex-ual. And, antigay assaults also provide a means for young men (by far the mostcommon type of perpetrator) to affirm their own heterosexuality or masculinity,serving an ego-defensive function.
Gender Identities
Gender identities have been explored more extensively than other social iden-tities; thus I give less attention to this topic here and refer the reader to otherreviews (Frable 1997, Howard & Alamilla 2001, Howard & Hollander 1997).Gender identities have been conceived either as gender self-schemas (Markuset al 1982), in the cognitive tradition, or as constructed achievements (West &Zimmerman1987),intheinteractionisttradition.Ineithercase,genderidentities,in the sense of organizing a sense of self around the perception one is femaleor male, and internalizing pre- and proscriptions of behaviors deemed cultur-ally appropriate to these self-perceptions, are thought to be learned through earlysocialization and enacted and reinforced throughout the life span. Common toboth perspectives is the assertion that gender is a social category and thus gender
Annu. Rev. Sociol. 2000.26:367-393. Downloaded from arjournals.annualreviews.org
by Columbia University on 02/14/05. For personal use only.

P1: FJL/FGD P2: FJS
June 3, 2000 14:56 Annual Reviews Chapter-16
?SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY OF IDENTITIES 379
identity is about more than personality. Ashmore (1990) details components of
genderidentity,andGurin&Townsend(1986)exploretherelationshipofgenderidentity to gender-related ideologies. Most studies find few differences in the ex-istence of gender identity. In terms of content, a quasi meta-analysis by Kroger(1997) finds gender differences in identity structure, content, developmental pro-cess, and context. In an empirical follow-up, Kroger reports that the domains ofsexuality and family are somewhat more salient for women than men, but moregenerally,therearefewdifferencesinidentitycontent(thismaybeduetorelianceon a highly educated upper and upper-middle class sample). Much recent workemphasizescontextualinfluencesontherelativesalienceofgenderidentities(Ely1995, Thorne 1993).
Class Identities
In a recent review Frable (1997: 154) reports: “With few exceptions, class as ameaningful identity is simply absent from the psychological literature.” To theextent class identities have been considered in the social psychological literature,theemphasistendstobeonclassidentitiesininteractionwithotheridentities(seebelow),andoncontextualeffectsonthesalienceofclassidentities.Studentsfromworking-class (and ethnic minority) backgrounds negotiate their marginal statusat elite academic institutions (Lopez & Hasso 1998, Stewart & Ostrove 1993),and later-generation immigrants are more likely than first-generation immigrantstohaveclassidentitiessimilartothoseprevalentintheU.S.(Hurtadoetal1994).Shockey’s (1998) interviews with sex workers show a disjuncture between thesubjective experience of class and these sex workers’ occupational experiencesandoutcomes.Giventhelackofattentiontoclassinanyregard,itisnotsurprisingthat there is virtually no research on class identities of those in privileged socioe-conomiccircumstances.SuggestiveofthekindofapproachthatwouldbeusefulisEichstedt’s(1998)analysisoftherelationshipsbetweenwhiteandethnicminorityartists in a local art community, as they negotiated issues of authenticity in theproduction of ethnic art and assimilation and cultural integrity in the productionand recognition of art.
Identities of (Dis)ability
Relatively recently, scholars have begun to direct attention to identities based onphysical and mental disabilities. Low (1996), for example, explores the experi-ences of college students with disabilities. Her interviews show these students’enduring dilemma, the desire to be perceived as “normal” while at the same timehavingtonegotiateadisabledidentitytodealwiththevariousbarrierstoacademicachievement. Many of the tactics they use to accomplish one goal conflict withaccomplishment of the other.
Charmaz (1995) explores identity struggles imposed by severe illness and
shows, in contrast, how people adapt their identity goals to respond effectivelyto their physical circumstances. Processes of bodily assessments and subsequent
Annu. Rev. Sociol. 2000.26:367-393. Downloaded from arjournals.annualreviews.org
by Columbia University on 02/14/05. For personal use only.

P1: FJL/FGD P2: FJS
June 3, 2000 14:56 Annual Reviews Chapter-16
?380 HOWARD
identity tradeoffs sum to a surrendering to an identity as ill. Although Charmaz
characterizes this as relinquishing control to the illness, at least one theoreticalmodelsuggeststhisisawaytoexertsecondarycontrol,ceasingafighttoachieveanunachievableidentity(Rothbaumetal1982).Consistentwithanincreasingem-phasisonidentitiesasmutableandcontextuallysensitiveisCharmaz’observationthat these identity struggles are rarely a single journey; rather these individualsexperience many iterations of these identity struggles.
Onlywithinthepastdecadehastherebeenexplicitrecognitionofa“disability
culture” (Scheer 1994). Scheer usefully outlines features that distinguish peoplewithdisabilitiesfromotherminorities;theydonotoftengrowupinfamilieswithother members of this group, and they usually become a group member wellinto their lives, often in isolation, features they share with lesbians and gay men.These factors can motivate a search for a disability culture, with its attendantidentityimplications.Scheernotesthatitisnotclearwhetherotherdivisivesocialcharacteristics, such as race, gender, and class, have been muted by a commonidentification in disability culture. Gerschick (1998) speaks directly to this issue,in an analysis of the gendered dynamics of some forms of physical disability.Gerschickmaintainsthatmenwithphysicaldisabilitiesstrugglewithanhegemonicgenderorderdefinedbythemasculinitiesofthosewhoareable-bodied.Althoughmany of his interviewees struggle for acceptance within these standards, somereject hegemonic masculinity and attempt to construct alternative identities.
Age Identities
Being aged is unique as a social category; essentially everyone moves from notbeing in this group to being in it. Yet identities based on age have received lit-tle explicit attention from social psychologists. In one exception, Gatz & Cotton(1994)speaktotheidentitydynamicsofaging:Ageidentitiesarebothascribedandachieved; the boundaries of group membership are permeable, but defined devel-opmentally; and an influx of new members into the aged category is certain, withnumbers increasing much more rapidly than those of other minority groups withpermeable boundaries. The definition of “aged” is itself flexible, both culturallyand personally.
Theubiquitouspatternisthattheolderpeopleare,thelesscloselytheirsubjec-
tive age identity matches their chronological age. The proportion of people whosaytheyfeelyoungerthantheirchronologicalageincreasedfrom54%whentheywere in their forties, for example, to 86% when in their eighties (Goldsmith &Heiens 1992). Similarly, as people grow older, their definition of when old agebegins becomes older and older (Logan et al 1992). Older adults even engage ingreater stereotyping of all age groups than do younger people (Rothbaum 1983).One might conclude that greater self-esteem is associated with feeling younger;data suggest that life satisfaction is lower and stress is higher for those who seethemselves as old (Logan et al 1992), but congruency between subjective and ac-tualageleadstogreaterlifesatisfactionforolderwomen(Montepare&Lachman
Annu. Rev. Sociol. 2000.26:367-393. Downloaded from arjournals.annualreviews.org
by Columbia University on 02/14/05. For personal use only.

P1: FJL/FGD P2: FJS
June 3, 2000 14:56 Annual Reviews Chapter-16
?SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY OF IDENTITIES 381
1989).Evolvingmorepositiveconceptionsofagingshouldleadmoreolderpeople
to identify as old and to have more positive self-evaluations.
INTERSECTING IDENTITIES
Analyses of identities based on single social positions, such as gender, race, eth-nicity, class, sexuality, or age, have given way to a chorus of calls for analysesof how identities intersect (see O’Brien & Howard 1998). Most of the empiricalstudiesfocusontwoco-existing,typicallybothsubordinated,identities.(Mostofthese essays elide the question of whether models of two identities can be ex-tendedunproblematicallytomultipleintersections.)Mostareethnographic,qual-itative studies. Many of these articles focus on race-ethnicity and gender (Reid& Comas-Diaz 1990). Shorter-Gooden & Washington (1996), for example, ex-ploreidentitiesofadolescentAfrican-Americanwomen,assessingthesalienceofvarious identity domains—race, gender, sexuality, relationships, career, religion,political beliefs. Racial identities were markedly strongly than other identities.Further, these women’s racial identities were quite positive, one of many indica-torsthatthesocietalcontextofracismdoesnotnecessarilytranslateintonegativeracial identities. Relationships, primarily with other women, were also a strongpart of their identities. Woollett et al (1994) reveal fluid conceptions of ethnicidentities operating across gender, among young mothers of Asian origin or de-scent,andspeakalsotodevelopmentalchangesintheseidentities,associatedwithmotherhood.
Takagi(1994)exploresintersectionsbetweensexualandethnicidentities,here
lesbian and gay Asian Americans. She offers a theoretical context for thinkingabouttheseintersectionsas,forexample,inheranalysisofhowsilenceoperatesinbothAsianAmericanandqueerhistoryandexperiences.Greene’s(1998)parallelanalysis of lesbian and gay African Americans points to cultural contradictionsand the negotiations enactment of these identities entails; she stresses themes offamily and ethnic group loyalty, the importance of parenting, a cultural historyof sexual objectifications, the importance of community, and a cultural legacy ofhomophobia. Rust (1996) also addresses intersections between sexual and ethnicidentities, focusing on bisexuality. She cautions that while developing an identityasbisexualmightbepositiveforsomeracialorethnicbackgrounds,itmaynotbeso for others, and she focuses on how bisexuals in marginalized racial and ethnicgroups manage these interacting oppressions.
Beckwith(1998)alsoaddressesconflictsbetweentwoidentities,herebetween
class and gender as experienced by working class women striking against a coalfirminVirginia.Inthiscase,thecollectiveidentityofwomenwassubsumedinthecontextofawiderworking-classcollectiveidentity.Exceptforaninitialall-womenstrike,nootherall-womeneventswereorganized,owingtotheUWMA’scontrolofstrikeactivity,areminderofstructuralconstraintsonidentityenactment.Beckwithmovestowardtheorizationofhowmultipleidentificationsmightintersect,andshe
Annu. Rev. Sociol. 2000.26:367-393. Downloaded from arjournals.annualreviews.org
by Columbia University on 02/14/05. For personal use only.

P1: FJL/FGD P2: FJS
June 3, 2000 14:56 Annual Reviews Chapter-16
?382 HOWARD
argues that collective identity generally emerges in response to specific social
contexts and struggles.
Indeed, several different theories of intersectionality suggest that politically
motivated identity work generates attention to intersecting identities. Crenshaw(1997)tooarguesthatpoliticalinvestmentsandcommitmentsmotivateanalysesofintersectionality.Sheseesintersectionalityasorientedtowardrecognitionofpolit-icalcoalitionsamonggroups,explicitattemptstoresistallformsofsubordination,ratherthanrelyingonparticularpositionsofadvantagetoresistonlythesubordi-nation that directly affects a particular group. This emphasis on political realitiesunderscoresaprominenttheme,thatanalysesofintersectionalitymusttakeintoac-countstructuralinequalitiesandtherecognitionofmultiple(dis)advantages.Atthesametime,andintensionwithanemphasisonstructuralinequalities,muchoftheemergingtheoryofintersectionalitiesshowstheinfluenceofaweakformofpost-modernism, in its recognition of multiple, fluid identities (see discussion below).ThestudybyFreitasetal(1997)ofnegativeidentities,forexample,problematizesthe notion of a unified, rational self and argues for the need to negotiate borderspaces, to conceptualize identities and identity work as tenuous, fragile, elastic,ratherthanasfixedanddichotomous.Theempiricalworkpointstoalackofclosurebetween one master status and another, between previous and future identities.
IDENTITIES AND SPACE
Space, both geographic and virtual, is another recent basis of identities, a direc-tion that attests to the interdisciplinary character of recent research on identities.Some studies focus on literal space; Cuba & Hummon (1993a, 1993b) consider“place identities,” that is, identities based on a sense of being at home. Key ques-tionsconcerntheeffectsofmobilityonplaceaffiliationandintersectionsbetweenplace identities and transitions in the life course. Their empirical study of immi-grants’placeidentitiespointstogenerationaldifferencesinpeople’srelationshipstoplace.Lindstrom(1997)addsastructuralelement,consideringintersectionsofplacestratificationandplaceidentity.One’shomeaddress,heargues,isamarkerofvaluesandsocioeconomicposition.Espin(1995)connectsquestionsofspatialidentity and spatial dislocations to intersections with national, gender, and sex-ual identities, exploring how struggles about acculturation center on immigrantwomen’s sexual behaviors and gender performances. She suggests that the cross-ing of borders through migrations may provide women the space to cross otherboundaries, here boundaries of sexuality and gender. These essays address thosewhohavesomedegreeofchoiceaboutwheretheylive.Althoughpresumablythosewhohavelesschoice,orthosewhodonothavehomes,undoubtedlyhaveaplaceidentity,howthesedynamicsdifferwhenthisidentityischosenornotremainstobe explained.
Moving to a less literal conception of space, Ruddick’s (1996) analysis of
reactions to a public crime suggests that public space is not simply a passive
Annu. Rev. Sociol. 2000.26:367-393. Downloaded from arjournals.annualreviews.org
by Columbia University on 02/14/05. For personal use only.

P1: FJL/FGD P2: FJS
June 3, 2000 14:56 Annual Reviews Chapter-16
?SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY OF IDENTITIES 383
arena for predetermined social behaviors but rather an active medium for the
construction of objective and subjective identities. McCorkel (1998) analyzes amarkedly less literal conception, “critical space.” Analyzing women’s responsesto the intense social control of a drug treatment program for women in prison,McCorkelpointstotheconstructionofcriticalspace,resident-initiatedsubversionsof formal structure, based centrally in interactions among residents. McCorkelsuggeststhatmostpeopleconstructcriticalspacesintheirlivesinordertodistancethemselves from the constraints some identities pose for their personal sense ofself.
Cyberspace is another spatial arena in which questions of identity arise. Ex-
plorations of these issues in cyberspace ask whether people play with identities,adopting virtual, online identities different from their offline identities, when in-teracting in virtual, therefore invisible, space. That is, do people try to “pass” innewidentitieswhentheycannotbemonitored?Kendall(1998a,b,andseeO’Brien1999)suggeststheanswerisno.Intwoyearsofparticipantobservationinamulti-userdomain,Kendallshowsthatpeoplepersistinseekingessentializedgroundingsfortheselvestheyencounterandtheselvestheyoffer.Wherepassingdoesoccur,itismostprominentwithgender,buteven“gender-switchers”distancethemselvesfrom their online experiences of differently gendered identities.
McKenna & Bargh (1998) take an opposite tack but come up with a similar
answer. While Kendall’s informants are mostly young white men, McKenna &BarghaskwhetherInternetparticipationoffersopportunitiesforthosewithcultur-ally stigmatized identities, here people with marginalized sexual and ideologicalorientations.Internetnewsgroupsallowthesepeopletointeractanonymouslywithsimilarothers;membershipinthesenewsgroupsbecomesanimportantpartofiden-tity.Thosewhoparticipatemostfrequentlyexperiencegreaterself-acceptanceandare more likely to come out about their identity to family and friends. Both stud-ies attest to a close correspondence between online and offline identities and to apersistent preference for stable identities.
IDENTITY STRUGGLES
Nationalisms
Recent years have seen increasing attention to struggles over national and ethnic
identities, mirroring the real world identity-based ethnic conflicts that have hada resurgence in the 1990s. Comas-Diaz et al (1998) offer a comparative analysisof ethnic identity and conflict in three Latin American nations, Guatemala, Peru,and Puerto Rico. Arguing that ethnic conflicts are intimately related to ethnicidentities,theylinkanexplicitsocialpsychologyofliberationtoindigenoussocialpsychologies. Rouhana & Bar-Tal (1998) ask why some ethnonational conflictsare more entrenched than others, using the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to arguethat societies in particularly intractable conflicts form societal beliefs that helpthem cope with, but also perpetuate, these conflicts. They also speak to ways in
Annu. Rev. Sociol. 2000.26:367-393. Downloaded from arjournals.annualreviews.org
by Columbia University on 02/14/05. For personal use only.

P1: FJL/FGD P2: FJS
June 3, 2000 14:56 Annual Reviews Chapter-16
?384 HOWARD
whichsocialpsychologicalworkonsocialidentitiescanchangesuchbeliefs,thus
contributing to immediate societal concerns.
The influence of sociopolitical forces is central to national and ethnic identity
struggles.Perera&Pugliese(1998)chronicletheactiveattemptsbytheAustralianGovernment and majority culture to impose particular ethnic definitions on theAboriginalpopulation,andAboriginalresponses,claimingtheirownconceptionsoftheirethnicidentities.Thesehavebeenbothculturalandmaterialcampaigns,thelatter primarily battles over land ownership. The authors argue persuasively thatAustralia’s stated policy of multiculturalism is intelligible only within a mono-cultural framework that imposes the democratic Constitutional government anda national language. These struggles, of course, are analogous to those betweenAmerican Indians and the US Government (Nagel 1996).
Not all debates about national and ethnic identities have been as conflicted as
theAustralian-AboriginalorIsraeli-Palestiniancases.TheformationoftheEuro-pean Community provides a real-world context in which to study identities andsocial change. Breakwell & Lyons’ (1996) edited collection addresses processesand expressions of national identifications, and their significance for understand-ingsociopoliticalactionsinvariousEuropeancontexts.ThesearticlesrangefromexplorationsofcurrenttrendsinSpanishnationalismwithinthecontextofthehis-toricalconnectionbetweenSpainanditsAmericancolonies(Torregrosa1996),toanalysis of how the Scottish National Party has attempted to make the concept ofScottishnessrelevanttoScotswhileunderminingtherelevanceofBritishness(suc-cessfully,witnesstheestablishmentofanationalScottishParliament)(Hopkins&Reicher1996),toRuzza’s(1996)discussionoftheattemptsoftheLegaLombardamovementtopromotecultural,economic,andpoliticalself-determinationamongNorthernItalians.ThetendencytoadoptaEuropeanidentityvarieswiththepriorpowerofthenation:BritishrespondentsperceiveEuropeanintegrationasathreatand show almost no evidence of a sense of European identity, whereas ItalianrespondentsshowastrongerEuropeanidentitythananItalianidentity(Cinnirella1997).
Social Movements
Identitystrugglesmayalsogenerateexplicitsocialmovements.Oneinfluentialthe-ory of social movements hypothesizes a collective identity that motivates groupaction (Taylor & Whittier 1992). This identity requires a perception of member-ship in a bounded group, consciousness about that group’s ideologies, and directopposition to a dominant order. Simon et al (1998) used an identity approach instudying a movement of the elderly in Germany and the gay movement in theUnited States. Both showed two different pathways to willingness to participatein collective action, one based on cost-benefit calculations, the other on collec-tiveidentificationasanactivist.Bernstein(1997)revealsastrategicdimensiontotheuseofidentitiesincollectiveaction,inheranalysisofwhenandhowidentitiesthat celebrate or suppress difference from the mainstream are used in strategiccollective action about gay rights.
Annu. Rev. Sociol. 2000.26:367-393. Downloaded from arjournals.annualreviews.org
by Columbia University on 02/14/05. For personal use only.

P1: FJL/FGD P2: FJS
June 3, 2000 14:56 Annual Reviews Chapter-16
?SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY OF IDENTITIES 385
Epstein (1987) also explores identity issues in gay activism; he equates his
model of gay and lesbian identity (discussed above) with an ethnic identity. Bothcombine affective ties to a group with the pursuit of sociopolitical goals; bothgroups direct activity toward the terrain of the state; both are progressive, witha goal of advancing the group position; lacking structural power, both groupspressdemandsbyappealingtoandmanipulatinghegemonicideologies;andbothgroupstendtowardalocalcharacterorganizedaroundaspecificgeographicspaceor community. This is an excellent summary of the parameters of contemporaryidentity more generally, especially in intersection with society.
POLITICIZING A SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY OF IDENTITIES
Severalrecentarticleshavemadesignificanttheoreticalcontributionstoanexplic-itlypoliticizedsocialpsychologyofidentityandprovidedanalysisofhowidentityprocessesintersectwiththe(re)productionofsocialinequalities(seeBhavnani&Phoenix 1994). Langman (1998) analyzes how identity constructions serve hege-monic ends; legitimating ideologies construct identities that obscure an aware-nessofinjustice.Sheasserts,accurately,thatrelativelylittlescholarshiphasbeendevoted to understanding the ideological constitution of the self, the social pro-duction of identities, and the legitimation of inequalities. Langman identifies keymoments of child development as sites of colonization, a more politicized under-standingofsocialization.Sheidentifiesparticulardesiresaskeyforcesinshapingidentity: to seek attachments to others; the pursuit of recognition and dignity;feelings of agency and empowerment; avoiding fear and anxiety. While each ofthese motivations has been an important locus of social psychological research,Langmantheorizeshoweachisharnessedthroughsocializationtoensuredepend-ablecitizens.Atthesametime,sheiscarefulnottoportrayindividualsaspassiverobots.
Collectiveidentitiesgenerallydoprovidesocialandemotionalcompensations
for subordinate statuses that sustain systems of inequality. Wolf (1994) exploresthistheme,theorizingthatpeopleinsubordinatesocialpositionsattemptinasortofreality-constructionprocesstotranslatecoerciverelationshipsintodependencyrelationships,throughmaneuveringtheiroppressorsintoacceptingobligationsto-wardthem.HerempiricalanalysesofresponsesofJapaneseAmericansduringtheRelocation,African-Americanslaves,andnineteenthcenturyEuropean-Americanwomen, show that the more successful they are, ironically, the more entrenchedthey become in these dependent relationships.
DECONSTRUCTING IDENTITIES
Much of the literature discussed above makes several key assumptions: Identi-ties have an intrinsic, essential content, defined by a common origin or a com-mon structure of experience, and often, both. When identity struggles arise, they
Annu. Rev. Sociol. 2000.26:367-393. Downloaded from arjournals.annualreviews.org
by Columbia University on 02/14/05. For personal use only.

P1: FJL/FGD P2: FJS
June 3, 2000 14:56 Annual Reviews Chapter-16
?386 HOWARD
generally take the form of redefining negative images as positive, or of deci-
phering the “authentic” identity. An alternative approach emphasizes the impos-sibility of authentic identities based on a universally shared experience or origin(Grossberg1996);identitiesarerelational,definedbytheirdifferencefromsome-thing, processual, and multiple.
Hall (1996, Hall & Du Gay 1996) notes that this deconstructive critique does
not supplant inadequate concepts with “truer” ones, and thus that there is no wayto avoid thinking about the former concepts. He argues that identity is such aconcept—something that cannot be thought about in the “old way” but withoutwhich certain key questions cannot be thought about at all. For Hall, identitymovesawayfromsignalingastablecoreofself,tobecomingastrategic,positionalconcept: “identities are points of temporary attachments to the subject positionswhich discursive practices construct for us” (Hall 1996: 6).
Keyprinciplesunderlyingthisapproachstandinmarkedcontrasttomuchofthe
traditional literature. Fragmentation emphasizes the multiplicity of identities andofpositionswithinanyidentity.Hybridityisalsokey,evokingimagesofliminalityand border-crossings in which a subaltern identity is defined as different from ei-therofseveralcompetingidentities.Disaporaisanotherkeyidea,resonantwiththediscussionaboveofgeographyandidentity.Diasporaemphasizesnotjusttransna-tionalityandmovement,butalsopoliticalstrugglesto“definethelocal :::asadis-
tinctive community, in historical contexts of displacement” (Clifford 1994: 308).
Anzald´ua’s (1987) early discussion of these ideas in Borderlands/La Frontera
hasbeenespeciallyinfluential;sheemphasizestheconstructionofamestizacon-sciousness, a destabilization of a unified identity, espressed in the language offluidity, migration, postcolonialism, and displacement. Bauman (1996) connectsthis conception of identity directly to the conditions of postmodernity. Baumanpaintsadismalpicture,askingwhatchanceofmoralityorofengagedcitizenship,such a world allows. Hall, Bauman, and Grossberg all seek ways to articulate anotionofdemocraticcitizenshipthatcanbeeffectiveinapostmodernworld.Theyfocus on questions of agency and possibilities for action, and they argue for aconception of identity based in people’s existence in specific communities andcontexts. Identities become the problem of citizenship.
As an example of what sorts of questions this more explicitly policitized ap-
proach might point toward, one consistent critique of social cognition takes issuewith the seemingly natural character of categorization and with the seeming ob-viousness of which dimensions become bases for categorization. Asserting thata category “race” would not exist without racist ideology, Hopkins et al (1997)argue that racialized categories are socially constructed, and they argue for a so-cialpsychologythatfocusesonthesocialprocessesthroughwhichcategoriesareconstructed,includingthepowerrelationshipsandsocialpracticesthataffectwhois able to act on the basis of their category constructions, make them heard, andimpose them on others. As empirical support, they analyze the speech of a policeofficer accused of expressing racist views in a public school, using this linguisticanalysis to reveal the social construction of racialized categories.
Annu. Rev. Sociol. 2000.26:367-393. Downloaded from arjournals.annualreviews.org
by Columbia University on 02/14/05. For personal use only.

P1: FJL/FGD P2: FJS
June 3, 2000 14:56 Annual Reviews Chapter-16
?SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY OF IDENTITIES 387
Regardless of where one aligns one’s self in terms of these models of iden-
tity, there is no question that contemporary research reveals and analyzes variouscrises of confidence. One response to these crises is an increased interest in au-thenticity,asacommitmenttoself-values.Erickson(1995)arguesthatauthenticityhas captured both cultural and sociological imaginations, partly due to the powerof images and mass media. Maintaining that postmodernism does not do awaywith selves and identities but rather directs attention to how they are constructed,Ericksonemphasizesmeanings—whatitmeans,forexample,tobewhite,female,or gay—and the challenge of achieving authenticity and meaning when most hu-man actors experience simultaneously a multiplicity of relationships and identi-ties.Shealsoarguesthatmembersofoppressedgroupsaremorelikelytoconfront“problems” of authenticity, being more often faced with dilemmas that requirethem to choose between acting in accord with their self values or in accord withtheexpectationsofpowerfulothers.Ericksonarguesforaconceptionofselfthatisbothmultidimensionalandunified,bothemotionalandcognitive,bothindividualandsocial—anotionnotsofarafieldfromtraditionalconceptionsofidentity.Thepostmodern element is that authenticity is no longer a question of being true toself for all time, but rather of being true to self in context or self in relationship.
IDENTITIES TO COME
Attempting to derive an overall picture from these many and diverse approachesto understanding identities is impossible. These are several strong traditions oftheoryandresearchonidentities,traditionsthatco-existbutrarelycometogether.Themoretraditionalsocialpsychologicalliteraturereflectsamodernistapproachtoidentities,castingthemasspecifiable,measurable,ordered,and,insomesense,rational.Whetherfromacognitiveoraninteractionistperspective,orperhapsmostfruitfully, from some synthesis of the two, this approach sees identities as gener-ally stable, although sensitive to social context, as relevant both for individualsandforsocialgroups,ashavingbothcognitiveandaffectivecomponents,ascog-nitive structures but also resources available for interactional negotiations, and asmotivators for social action.
The deconstructionist literature reflects a postmodernist approach to identi-
ties, casting them as multiple, processual, relational, unstable, possibly political.Although this identity is elusive, Hall’s (1996) comment that certain questionscannotbethoughtaboutwithouttheconceptofidentityiswelltaken.Whatthosequestionsaddressisthepossibilityofagencyandsocialaction,questionsthathavenotbeencentralinsocialpsychology.Inanticipatingfuturedirections,itisdifficultnot to argue for some degree of interchange among these seemingly unconnectedliteratures. There is room, indeed need, for studies of social identities that areboththeoreticallyandmethodologicallyrigorous,intouchwiththecontemporaryworld, and directed toward advancing both theory and progressive social action.Frable(1997)concludesherreviewofresearchonsocialidentitieswithacallfor
Annu. Rev. Sociol. 2000.26:367-393. Downloaded from arjournals.annualreviews.org
by Columbia University on 02/14/05. For personal use only.

P1: FJL/FGD P2: FJS
June 3, 2000 14:56 Annual Reviews Chapter-16
?388 HOWARD
“seeing people as whole,” referring to the need to address gender, racial, ethnic,
sexual,andclassidentitiesasmultipleidentitiesofwholepeople.Inthesamevein,seeing people as whole means recognizing that both our everyday lives and thelarger cultures in which we operate shape our senses of who we are and what wecould become. For most social actors, the details of our everyday lives are rela-tivelypredictableandorderly.Thedetailsofourlargerculturalenvironmentsmaybemarkedlymoreunsettledandshifting.Bothcontextsarepartofourexperiencesof identities. In anticipating the next century’s approaches to identities, then, wemight look to analyses that bring together both the structures of everyday livesandthesocioculturalandsociopoliticalrealitiesinwhichthoselivesarelived,butwithout imposing a false coherence on that synthesis.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I want to express deep gratitude to Ramira Alamilla for her invaluable assistance
inprocuring,summarizing,andbeingsoenthusiasticabouthundredsofreferenceson identity, only some of which are represented in this review, as well as for herinsightful comments on this essay. Many thanks as well to Jodi O’Brien for herever-incisivecomments,andtoCarolynAllenforalwaysremindingmethatsocialpsychologists don’t corner the market on the concept of identity.
Visit the Annual Reviews home page at www.AnnualReviews.org
LITERATURE CITED
Anderson L, Snow DA, Cress D. 1994. Ne-
gotiating the public realm: stigma manage-mentandcollectiveactionamongthehome-less.Res. Commun. Soc. (Supp.) 1:121–
43
Antaki C, Condor S, Levine M. 1996. Social
identitiesintalk:speakers’ownorientations.Br. J. Soc. Psychol. 35:473–92
AnthiasF.1998.Evaluating“diaspora”:beyond
ethnicity? Sociology 32:557–80
Anzald´uaG.1987. BorderlandDLaFrontera:
The New Mestiza. San Francisco: Aunt Lute
Books
Arroyo C, Zigler E. 1995. Racial identity, aca-
demic achievement, and the psychologicalwell-being of economically disadvantagedadolescents. J. Pers. Soc. Psychol. 69:903–
14
AshmoreR,1990.Sex,gender,andtheindivid-
ual.InHandbookofPersonality:TheoryandResearch, ed. L. Pervin, pp. 486–526. New
York: Guilford
AugoustinosM,InnesJM.1990.Towardsanin-
tegrationofsocialrepresentationsandsocialschema theory. Br. J. Soc. Psychol. 29:213–
31
Augoustinos M, Walker I. 1995. Social
Cognition:AnIntegratedIntroduction. Lon-
don: Sage
Bauman Z. 1996. From pilgrim to tourist–or a
short history of identity. See Hall & Du Gay1996, pp. 18–36
BeckwithK.1998.Collectiveidentitiesofclass
and gender: working-class women in thePittston Coal Strike. Polit. Psychol. 19:147–
67
Bernstein M. 1997. Celebration and suppres-
sion: the strategic uses of identity by thelesbian and gay movement. Am. J. Sociol.
103:531–65
Annu. Rev. Sociol. 2000.26:367-393. Downloaded from arjournals.annualreviews.org
by Columbia University on 02/14/05. For personal use only.

P1: FJL/FGD P2: FJS
June 3, 2000 14:56 Annual Reviews Chapter-16
?SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY OF IDENTITIES 389
Bettie J. 1995. Class dismissed? Roseanne and
the changing face of working-class iconog-raphy.Soc. Text 45(14):125–49
Bhabha H. 1994. The Location of Culture.
London, UK: Routledge
Bhavnani K, Phoenix A. 1994. Shifting Identi-
ties Shifting Racisms. London: Sage
BlascovichJ,WyerN,SwartL,KiblerJ.1997.
Racism and racial categorization. J. Pers.
Soc. Psychol. 72:1364–72
BranscombeN,WannD.1994.Collectiveself-
esteemconsequencesofoutgroupderogationwhenavaluedsocialidentityisontrial. Eur.
J. Soc. Psychol. 24:641–57
Breakwell GM, Lyons E. 1996. Changing
European Identities: Social PsychologicalAnalyses of Social Change. Oxford, UK:
Butterworth–Heineman
Cahill S. 1998. Toward a sociology of the per-
son.Sociol. Theory 16:131–48
Cain R. 1991. Stigma management and gay
identity development. Soc. Work 36:67–73
Cass V. 1983–1984. Homosexual identity: a
concept in need of definition. J. Homosex.
9:105–26
CharmazK.1995.Thebody,identity,andself:
adapting to impairment. Sociol. Q. 36:657–
80
CherryK.1995.Thebestyearsoftheirlives:a
portraitofaresidentialhomeforpeoplewithAIDS.Symb. Interact. 18:463–86
Cinnirella M. 1997. Towards a European iden-
tity? Interactions between the national andEuropeansocialidentitiesmanifestedbyuni-versitystudentsinBritainandItaly. Br.J.Soc.
Psychol.36:19–31
Clifford J. 1994. Diasporas. Cult. Anthropol.
9:302–38
Comas-DiazL,LykesM,AlarconR.1998.Eth-
nic conflict and the psychology of liberationin Guatemala, Peru, and Puerto Rico. Am.
Psychol.53:778–92
Cote J. 1996. Sociological perspectives on
identity formation: the culture-identity linkand identity capital. J. Adolesc. 19:417–28
Crenshaw C. 1997. Women in the Gulf War:
toward an intersectional feminist rhetoricalcriticism. Howard J. Commun. 8:219–35
Cuba L, Hummon D. 1993a. Constructing a
senseofhome:placeaffiliationandmigrationacrossthelifecycle. Sociol.Forum 8:547–72
Cuba L, Hummon D. 1993b. A place to call
home: identification with dwelling, commu-nity, and region. Sociol. Q. 34:111–31
D’AugelliAR.1994.Identitydevelopmentand
sexualorientation:towardamodeloflesbian,gay,andbisexualdevelopment.SeeTrickett,Watts & Birman 1994, pp. 312–33
Davis F. 1991. Identity ambivalence in cloth-
ing:thedialecticoftheeroticandthechaste.InSocialOrganizationandSocialProcesses:
Essays in Honor of Anselm Strauss , ed. D
Maines, pp. 105–16. New York: Aldine deGruyter
DeauxK.1993.Reconstructingsocialidentity.
Pers. Soc. Psychol. Bull. 19:4–12
Doosje B, Ellemers N. 1997. Stereotyping
under threat: the role of group identifica-tion.SeeSpears,Oakes,Ellemers&Haslam1997a, pp. 257–72
DuckittJ,MphuthingT.1998.Groupidentifica-
tion and intergroup attitudes: a longitudinalanalysis in South Africa. J. Pers. Soc. Psy-
chol.74:80–85
Eichstedt JL. 1998. Reproducing racial and
classinequality:multiculturalisminthearts.See O’Brien & Howard 1998, pp. 309–35
Ely R. 1995. The power of demography:
women’ssocialconstructionsofgenderiden-tity at work. Acad. Mgmt. J. 38:589–634
Epstein D, Steinberg D. 1995. Twelve steps
toheterosexuality?Common-sensibilitiesonthe Oprah Winfrey Show. Fem. Psychol.
5:275–80
Epstein S. 1987. Gay politics, ethnic identity:
the limits of social constructionism. Social.
Rev.17:9–54
Erickson RJ. 1995. The importance of authen-
ticity for self and society. Symb. Interact.
18:121–44
EspinO.1995.“Race,”racism,andsexualityin
thelifenarrativesofimmigrantwomen. Fem.
Psychol.5:222–38
Espiritu YL. 1994. The intersection of race,
Annu. Rev. Sociol. 2000.26:367-393. Downloaded from arjournals.annualreviews.org
by Columbia University on 02/14/05. For personal use only.

P1: FJL/FGD P2: FJS
June 3, 2000 14:56 Annual Reviews Chapter-16
?390 HOWARD
ethnicity, and class: the multiple identi-
tiesofsecond-generationFilipinos. Identities
1:249–73
Fiske ST, Taylor SE. 1991. Social Cognition.
New York: McGraw-Hill. 2nd ed.
Fordham S, Ogbu JU. 1986. Black students’
school success: “Coping with the burden of‘acting white.”’ Urban Rev. 18:176–206
Frable DES. 1997. Gender, racial, ethnic, sex-
ual,andclassidentities. Annu.Rev.Psychol.
48:139–62
Frankenberg R. 1993. The Social Construction
of Whiteness: White Women, Race Matters.Minneapolis: Univ. Minn. Press
Freitas A, Kaiser S, Chandler J, Hall C, Kim
J-W,HammidiT.1997.Appearancemanage-ment as border construction: least favoriteclothing, group distancing, and identity—not!Soc. Inq. 67:323–35
Gatz M, Cotton B. 1994. Age as a dimension
ofdiversity:theexperienceofbeingold.SeeTrickett, Watts & Birman 1994. pp. 334–58
Gerschick TJ. 1998. Sisyphus in a wheelchair:
Men with physical disabilities confront gen-der domination. See O’Brien & Howard1998, pp. 189–211
Goffman E. 1959. The Presentation of Self in
Everyday Life. New York: Doubleday
Goffman E. 1963. Stigma: Notes on the Man-
agement of Spoiled Identity. Englewood
Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice Hall
Goldsmith RE, Heiens RA. 1992. Subjective
age: a test of five hypotheses. Gerontologist
32:312–17
Gonsiorek J, Rudolph J. 1991. Homosexual
identity:Comingoutandotherdevelopmen-tal events. In Homosexuality: Research Im-
plicationsforPublicPolicy ,ed.JGonsiorek,
J.Weinrich,pp.161–76.NewburyPark,CA:Sage
GrantP,BrownR.1995.Fromethnocentrismto
collective protest: Responses to relative de-privation and threats to social identity. Soc.
Psychol. Q. 58:195–211
Greene B. 1998. Family, ethnic identity, and
sexual orientation: African-American les-bians and gay men. In Lesbian, Gay, andBisexual Identities in Families: Psycholog-
ical Perspectives , ed. CJ Patterson, AR
D’Augelli, pp. 40–52. New York: OxfordUniv. Press
Grossberg L. 1996. Identity and cultural
studies—Is that all there is? See Hall & DuGay 1996, pp. 87–107
GurinP,TownsendA.1986.Propertiesofgen-
deridentityandtheirimplicationsforgenderconsciousness. Br. J. Soc. Psychol. 25:139–
48
HallS.1996.Whoneeds‘identity’?SeeHall&
Du Gay 1996, pp. 1–17
HallS,DuGayP,eds.1996. QuestionsofCul-
tural Identity. London: Sage
Helms J. 1994. The conceptualization of racial
identity and other “racial” constructs. SeeTrickett,Watts&Birman1994,pp.285–311
Helson R, Stewart A, Ostrove J. 1995. Identity
in three cohorts of midlife women. J. Pers.
Soc. Psychol. 69:544–57
Herek G. 1995. Psychological heterosexism in
the United States. In Lesbian, Gay, and Bi-
sexual Identities over the Lifespan , ed. AR
D’Augelli, CJ Patterson, pp. 321–46. NewYork: Oxford Univ. Press
HermansH.1996.Voicingtheself:frominfor-
mationprocessingtodialogicalinterchange.Psychol. Bull. 119:31–50
Hollander JA. 1998. Doing Studs: The
performanceofgenderandsexualityonlate-night television. See O’Brien & Howard1998, pp. 43–71
Hopkins N, Reicher S. 1996. The construction
of social categories and processes of socialchange: Arguing about national identities.See Breakwell & Lyons 1996, pp. 69–93
HopkinsN,ReicherS,LevineM.1997.Onthe
parallels between social cognition and the‘newracism’. Br.J.Soc.Psychol. 36:305–29
Howard JA. 1995. Social cognition. In So-
ciological Perspectives on Social Psychol-ogy, ed. KS Cook, GA Fine, JS House, pp.
90–117. Needham Heights, MA: Allyn &Bacon
HowardJA,AlamillaR.2001.Genderidentity.
InGender Mosaics: Social Perspectives , ed.
Annu. Rev. Sociol. 2000.26:367-393. Downloaded from arjournals.annualreviews.org
by Columbia University on 02/14/05. For personal use only.

P1: FJL/FGD P2: FJS
June 3, 2000 14:56 Annual Reviews Chapter-16
?SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY OF IDENTITIES 391
D Vannoy. Los Angeles: Roxbury. In Press
HowardJA,HollanderJA.1997. GenderedSit-
uations, Gendered Selves: A Gender Lenson Social Psychology. Thousand Oaks, CA:
Sage
HuddyL,VirtanenS.1995.Subgroupdifferen-
tiation and subgroup bias among Latinos asafunctionoffamiliarityandpositivedistinc-tiveness.J. Pers. Soc. Psychol. 68:97–108
Hunt S, Benford RD, Snow DA. 1994. Iden-
tity talk in the peace and justice movement.Contemp. Ethnogr. 22:488–517
HuntS,MillerK.1997.Thediscourseofdress
and appearance: identity talk and a rhetoricof review. Symb. Interact. 20:69–82
HurtadoA,GurinP,PengT.1994.Socialiden-
tities: A framework for studying the adapta-tions of immigrants and ethnics: the adapta-tions of Mexicans in the United States. Soc.
Probl.41:129–51
Ichiyama M, McQuarrie E, Ching K. 1996.
Contextual influences on ethnic identityamong Hawaiian students in the main-land United States. J. Cross-Cult. Psychol.
27:458–75
IslamMR,HewstoneM.1993.Intergroupattri-
butionsandaffectiveconsequencesinmajor-ityandminoritygroups. J.Pers.Soc.Psychol.
64:936–50
Jackson S. 1995. Gender and heterosexual-
ity: a materialist feminist analysis. In (Het-
ero)sexualPolitics ,ed.MMaynard,JPurvis,
pp. 11–25. London: Taylor & Francis
Karp D, Holmstrom LL, Gray P. 1998. Leav-
ing home for college: expectations for se-lectivereconstructionofself. Symb.Interact.
21:253–76
KendallL.1998a.Meaningandidentityin“cy-
berspace”:theperformanceofgender,class,and race online. Symb. Interact. 21:129–53
Kendall L. 1998b. “Are you male or fe-
male?”GenderperformancesonMUDS.SeeO’Brien & Howard 1998, pp. 131–53
Kitzinger C, Wilkinson S. 1995. Transitions
from heterosexuality to lesbianism: the dis-cursiveproductionoflesbianidentities. Dev.
Psychol.31:95–104KnightG,BernalM,GarzaC,CotaM,Ocampo
K. 1993. Family socialization and the eth-nic identity of Mexican-American children.J. Cross-Cult. Psychol. 24:99–114
Kroger J. 1997. Gender and identity: the inter-
sectionofstructure,content,andcontext. Sex
Roles36:747–70
Langman L. 1998. Identity, hegemony, and
social reproduction. Curr. Perspect. Soc.
Theory18:185–226
LeVine R, Campbell D. 1972. Ethnocentrism,
Theories of Conflict, Ethnic Attitudes, andGroup Behavior. New York: Wiley
Lindstrom B. 1997. A sense of place: housing
selection on Chicago’s North Shore. Sociol.
Q.38:19–39
Logan JR, Ward R, Spitze G. 1992. As old as
youfeel:Ageidentityinmiddleandlaterlife.Soc. Forces 71:451–67
LopezLM,HassoFS.1998.Frontlinesandbor-
ders:identitythresholdsforLatinasandArabAmerican women. See O’Brien & Howard1998, pp. 253–80
LowJ.1996.Negotiatingidentities,negotiating
environments:aninterpretationoftheexperi-encesofstudentswithdisabilities. Disability
& Soc.11:235–48
MacPherson P, Fine M. 1995. Hungry for an
us: adolescent girls and adult women nego-tiating territories of race, gender, class anddifference. Fem. Psychol. 5:181–200
Markus H, Crane M, Bernstein S, Siladi M.
1982.Self-schemasandgender. J.Pers.Soc.
Psychol.42:38–50
McAdamsD.1995.Whatdoweknowwhenwe
know a person? J. Pers.63:365–96
McCall GJ, Simmons JL. 1978. Identities and
Interactions: An Examination of Human As-sociationsinEverydayLife. NewYork:Free
Press
McCorkel J. 1998. Going to the crackhouse:
critical space as a form of resistance in totalinstitutionsandeverydaylife. Symb.Interact.
21:227–52
McKennaK,BarghJ.1998.Comingoutinthe
age of the internet: identity “demarginaliza-tion” through virtual group participation. J.
Annu. Rev. Sociol. 2000.26:367-393. Downloaded from arjournals.annualreviews.org
by Columbia University on 02/14/05. For personal use only.

P1: FJL/FGD P2: FJS
June 3, 2000 14:56 Annual Reviews Chapter-16
?392 HOWARD
Pers. Soc. Psychol. 75:681–94
Miles S, Cliff D, Burr V. 1998. ‘Fitting in and
stickingout’:consumption,consumermean-ings and the construction of young people’identities. J. Youth Stud. 1:81–96
Montepare JM, Lachman ME. 1989. “You’re
only as old as you feel”: Self-perceptions ofage,fearsofaging,andlifesatisfactionfromadolescencetooldage. Psychol.Aging 4:73–
78
Moscovici S. 1981. On social representations.
InSocial Cognition: Perspectives on Every-
day Understanding , ed. JP Forgas, pp. 115–
50. The Hague: Nijhoff
Nagel J. 1996. American Indian Ethnic Re-
newal: Red Power and the Resurgence ofIdentity and Culture. New York: Oxford
Univ. Press
O’Brien J. 1999. Writing in the body: gender
(re)productioninonlineinteraction.In Com-
munities in Cyberspace , ed. MA Smith, P
Kollock, pp. 76–104. New York: Routledge
O’BrienJ,HowardJA,eds.1998. EverydayIn-
equalities: Critical Inquiries. Malden, MA:
Blackwell
Oyserman D, Gant L, Ager J. 1995. A socially
contextualized model of African Americanidentity: possible selves and school persis-tence.J. Pers. Soc. Psychol. 69:1216–32
Perera S, Pugliese J. 1998. Wogface, anglo-
drag, contested aboriginalities’ making andunmaking identities in Australia. Soc. Iden-
tities4:39–72
PhinneyJ.1990.Ethnicidentityinadolescents
andadults:Reviewofresearch. Psychol.Bull.
108:499–514
Phinney J. 1991. Ethnic identity and self–
esteem:areviewandintegration. Hisp.J.Be-
hav. Sci.13:193–208
RapleyM.1998.‘JustanordinaryAustralian’:
self-categorization and the discursive con-struction of facticity in ‘new racist’ politicalrhetoric.Br. J. Soc. Psychol. 37:325–44
Reid P, Comas–Diaz L. 1990. Gender and eth-
nicity:perspectivesondualstatus. SexRoles
22:397–408
RichA.1980.Compulsoryheterosexualityandlesbian existence. Signs5:631–60
Richardson D, ed. 1996a. Theorising Het-
erosexuality. Buckingham, UK: Open Univ.
Press
Richardson D. 1996b. Heterosexuality and so-
cial theory. See Richardson 1996, pp. 1–20
Robinson V. 1996. Heterosexuality and mas-
culinity: theorising male power or the malewoundedpsyche?SeeRichardson1996a,pp.109–24
Root MPP, ed. 1992. Racially Mixed People in
America. Newbury Park, CA: Sage
Root MPP, ed. 1996. The Multiracial Experi-
ence: Racial Borders as the New Frontier.Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage
RothbaumF.1983.Agingandagestereotypes.
Soc. Cogn. 2:171–84
Rothbaum F, Weisz JR, Snyder SS. 1982.
Changing the world and changing the self:atwo–processmodelofperceivedcontrol. J.
Pers. Soc. Psychol. 42:5–37
Rouhana N, Bar–Tal D 1998. Psychological
dynamics of intractable ethnonational con-flicts: the Israeli–Palestinian case. Am. Psy-
chol.53:761–70
Rowe W, Bennett S, Atkinson D. 1994. White
racialidentitymodels:acritiqueandalterna-tive proposal. Couns. Psychol. 22:129–46
Ruddick S. 1996. Constructing difference in
public spaces: race, class, and gender as in-terlockingsystems. UrbanGeog. 17:132–51
Rust PC. 1996. Managing multiple identities:
diversity among bisexual women and men.InBisexuality: The Psychology and Politics
of an Invisible Minority , ed. B A Firestein,
pp. 53–83. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage
Ruzza CE. 1996. Regional identity formation
andcommunityintegrationintheLegaLom-barda. See Breakwell & Lyons 1996, pp.195–207
Scheer J. 1994. Culture and disability: an an-
thropological point of view. See Trickett,Watts & Birman 1994, pp. 244–60
Shockey ML. 1998. Class dismissed? Quad
City women doing the life. See O’Brien &Howard 1998, pp. 213–36
Shorter-Gooden K, Washington NC. 1996.
Annu. Rev. Sociol. 2000.26:367-393. Downloaded from arjournals.annualreviews.org
by Columbia University on 02/14/05. For personal use only.

P1: FJL/FGD P2: FJS
June 3, 2000 14:56 Annual Reviews Chapter-16
?SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY OF IDENTITIES 393
Young, black, and female: the challenge of
weaving an identity. J. Adolesc. 19:465–75
Simon B, Hastedt C. 1999. Self-aspects as
social categories: the role of personal im-portance and valence. Eur. J. Soc. Psychol.
29:479–87
Simon B, Hastedt C, Aufderheide B. 1997.
When self–categorization makes sense: therole of meaningful social categorizationin minority and majority members’ self–perception. J.Pers.Soc.Psychol. 73:310–20
Simon B, Loewy M, Sturmer S, Ulrike W,
Freytag P, et al. 1998. Collective identifica-tion and social movement participation. J.
Person. Soc. Psychol. 74:646–58
SpearsR,OakesP,EllemersN,HaslamSA,eds.
1997a.The Social Psychology of Stereotyp-
ing and Group Life. Cambridge: Blackwell
Spears R, Oakes P, Ellemers N, Haslam SA.
1997b. The social psychology of stereotyp-ing and group life. See Spears et al 1997a,pp. 1–19
SpencerMB,Markstrom-AdamsC.1990.Iden-
tityprocessesamongracialandethnicminor-ity children in America. Child Dev. 61:290–
310
StewartA,OstroveJ.1993.Socialclass,social
change, and gender: working-class womenat Radcliffe and after. Psychol. Women Q.
17:475–97
Stryker S. 1980. Symbolic Interactionism: A
Social Structural Version. Menlo Park, CA:
Benjamin–Cummings
TakagiD.1994.Maidenvoyage:excursioninto
sexualityandidentitypoliticsinAsianAmer-ica.Amerasia J. 20:1–17
Tajfel H. 1970. Experiments in intergroup dis-
crimination. Sci. Am.23:96–102
Tajfel H. 1981. Social stereotypes and so-
cial groups. In Intergroup Behaviour , ed. JC
Turner, H Giles. Oxford: Blackwell
Tajfel H, Turner J. 1986. The social identity
theory of intergroup behaviour. In Psychol-ogy of Intergroup Relations , ed. S Worchel,
WG Austin, pp. 7–24. Chicago: Nelson
Taylor V, Whittier NE. 1992. Collective iden-
tity in social movement communities: Les-bian feminist mobilization. In Frontiers in
Social Movement Theory , ed. AD Morris,
CM Mueller, pp. 104–29. New Haven: YaleUniv. Press
Tewksbury R. 1994. “Speaking of someone
withAIDS:::”:identityconstructionsofper-
sonswithHIVdisease. Dev.Behav. 15:337–
55
Thorne B. 1993. Gender Play: Girls and Boys
inSchool. NewBrunswickNJ:RutgersUniv.
Press
TorregrosaJR.1996.Spanishinternationalori-
entations: Between Europe and Iberoamer-ica. See Breakwell & Lyons 1996, pp. 111–21
Trickett E, Watts R, Birman D, eds. 1994. Hu-
man Diversity: Perspectives on People inContext.San Francisco: Jossey–Bass
Verkuyten M. 1997. Discourses of ethnic mi-
nority identity. Br. J. Soc. Psychol. 35:565–
86
Waters M. 1994. Ethnic and racial identities of
second–generationBlackimmigrantsinNewYork City. Int. Migr. Rev. 28:795–820
WestC,ZimmermanDH.1987.Doinggender.
Gender Soc. 1:125–51
Wilkinson S, Kitzinger C, eds. 1993. Hetero-
sexuality:AFeminism&PsychologyReader.London: Sage
Wolf C. 1994. Dependency-bond as construct.
Symb. Interact. 17:367–93
WoollettA,MarshallH,NicolsonP,DosanjhN.
1994.Asianwomen’sethnicidentity:theim-pactofgenderandcontextintheaccountsofwomenbringingupchildreninEastLondon.Fem. Psychol. 4:119–21
Zack N, ed. 1995. American Mixed Race:
TheCultureofMicrodiversity. Lanham,MD:
Rowman & Littlefield
Annu. Rev. Sociol. 2000.26:367-393. Downloaded from arjournals.annualreviews.org
by Columbia University on 02/14/05. For personal use only.