Abstract
In this paper, we theorize how places, or bounded locations in the physical world, influence identity processes. We examine two place concepts: place centrality, or the degree to which an individual’s experience of the physical world occurs within a place, and place attachment, or the emotional bonds one has to a place. We argue that these concepts relate to behavior through homogeneity (e.g., the proportion of one’s ties that share an identity) and prominence (e.g., how important the identity is to the individual). Where and how people feel about where they spend their time provides context for understanding whom they interact with and how they feel about themselves. Using survey data from 973 religious individuals in three Midwestern states, results support most theorized links. This work is important because it builds upon the limited research in identity theory about the physical world. In doing so, it centers an under-examined reality that underlies all identity processes.
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Notes
- 1.
See, e.g., https://www.cnn.com/2020/03/18/us/louisiana-pastor-coronavirus/index.html, https://www.cincinnati.com/story/news/2020/04/12/solid-rock-church-defies-ohios-stay-home-order-easter-service/2978498001/, and https://www.vox.com/covid-19-coronavirus-us-response-trump/2020/4/12/21218126/why-some-churches-are-holding-in-person-easter-services-in-defiance-of-federal-guidelines
- 2.
Humans still take up physical space somewhere when interacting with technology.
- 3.
Identity theorists tend to avoid using the word “centrality” due to the long history of scholars using the terms “psychological centrality” and “identity prominence” interchangeably. However, to be consistent with other work on place, we opt to retain this terminology here.
- 4.
In the place attachment literature, emotional bonds are discussed in positive terms, implying that greater attachments refer to more positive emotional bonds. When places are associated with negative emotions, place attachment is assumed to be weaker.
- 5.
Church attendance criteria were necessary for this study because individuals cannot report assessments about place and place attachment if they do not have a primary church that they have visited and to which they can refer. Future research can build upon this analysis by examining how prominence may differ for individuals who do not have a stable, socially recognized place they visit that is associated with their religious identity.
- 6.
In the analysis, we used a maximum likelihood approach. This excluded 243 participants due to missing responses on one or more key measures. Results were comparable when these cases were preserved using a full-information maximum likelihood approach. However, for parsimony, we only report the results from participants with complete data.
- 7.
This measure differs from identity salience. Identity salience refers to the likelihood that an individual will enact an identity. It is typically assessed by asking participants to indicate how likely they would be to tell different types of people that they hold a specific identity. Though people are likely to enact their religious identity when visiting their primary place of worship, churches may serve as sites of other social activity that are not related to worship (e.g., wedding venue, soup kitchen, etc.). In these instances, identities other than one’s religious identity may be invoked. Thus, this measure is agnostic to assumptions about the identities that may be enacted therein; it involves how much an individual experiences the physical world in a specific place.
- 8.
This standardized question language was adopted from previous work studying religious behavior, even though all respondents in the sample identified as Christian.
- 9.
Respondents who indicated “Some other gender” were excluded from the analysis.
- 10.
Several alternative models were tested that reversed the directions of several key relationships, such as place centrality and place attachment as well as place attachment and prominence. The model presented here provided a better fit for the data. Those results are available upon request.
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Rose, T.R., Markowski, K.L. (2023). The Importance of Where: The Role of Place in Identity Theory. In: Stets, J.E., Reichelmann, A.V., Kiecolt, K.J. (eds) Advancing Identity Theory, Measurement, and Research. Frontiers in Sociology and Social Research, vol 10. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-32986-9_3
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