Abstract
Variability in the meanings of an identity (identity dispersion) have had two contrasting interpretations. On the one hand, drawing on uncertainty-identity theory within social identity theory, such variability may indicate uncertainty in the identity, an aversive state leading to negative feelings. On the other hand, identity theory suggests that such variability may indicate flexibility in the identity that reduces the negative impact of identity nonverification and allows people to feel more positively. The present paper brings together data on six identities (gender, friend, worker, student, moral, and spouse) to test the negative impact of uncertainty and/or the positive impact of flexibility. Results show that both effects occur, but further analyses suggest that identity dispersion may not represent either flexibility nor uncertainty. In a second study using longitudinal data, dispersion appears to result from inconsistencies in the identity meanings that lead to both cognitive dissonance (producing the negative effects) and a wider range of held identity meanings that reduces the negative impact of nonverification (Festinger 1957).
Prepared for presentation at the Stryker Memorial Conference on Identity, Bloomington, IN, April, 2018. The research was partially supported by grants from the Division of Social Sciences, National Science Foundation (NSF BNS 76-08381), and from the National Institutes of Health (MH 46828).
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Burke, P.J. (2020). Identity Dispersion: Flexibility, Uncertainty, or Inconsistency?. In: Serpe, R.T., Stryker, R., Powell, B. (eds) Identity and Symbolic Interaction. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-41231-9_4
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