Continuing my research into social networking, I have been reading a few papers on psychosocial identity exploration and formation. This work follows in the footsteps, and expands upon, the work of Erikson. His theories still hold ground in current thought, but have been expanded upon to include more subtleties and modified to allow for easier empirical research. I have yet to get a copy of Marcia’s thesis, but it appears to be the first operationalized version of Erikson’s theories. He interviewed teens/students about various aspects of identity, and following research even through today quotes him as a premier authority on the subject.
Probably the most interesting thing I have run across so far is the so-called “emerging adulthood” theory of identity. According to this view, in the past affluent adolescents were more often given the opportunity to explore various aspects of identity before committing to one. That is, they were allowed to flounder a bit before becoming full-fledged “adults” and expected to assume the responsibility of being one. Emerging adulthood says that in many modern post-industrial cultures this effect has diffused into the general population. It is no longer only the affluent who are afforded the luxury of identity exploration. It is not exactly the same, though, as this state between adolescence and adulthood has changed in its diffusion.
Support structures that were once available to adolescents may no longer be available and these “tweeners” may not have made the transition to a place where they can get more “adult” support. For instance, as a recent high school graduate the counselors that I once relied upon for support may no longer be available, and being at the bottom rung of the career ladder may preclude me from health insurance that includes some kind of counseling or similar support. As such, this period can be a very vulnerable one as those in it try to work out identity issues on their own and try to define both their personal identity and where they fit within society.
What I like most about this theory is that it recognizes the changing face of identity exploration in the modern world and differentiates between different styles of individualization. There are those who will follow prescripted rules set down by parents or other authority figures when designing their own identity, and then there are those who will create their own identity through exploration. Even those who are more explorative will either follow the “popular” route of their peers, or truly forge a new path to form an identity. We are always like other people, being social creatures, and yet have idiosyncratic differences that differentiate us, and any theory of identity has to take this into account.
What I need to figure out now is exactly how to measure these ideas. There are a few different measures that I’ve found that might be a good fit, but I haven’t been able to get my hands on a few of them. The problem is, identity is such a nebulous subject area that it’s hard to pin down which aspects of it to measure and how well those measurements will match up against the other data I’m collecting. This would all probably be easier if I had more time to put all of this together, then I could read more papers before coming to any decisions, but unfortunately I’m put to the task of assembling my research and writing conclusions at the same time.
My goal is to have my user survey completed by next weekend. Of course, next weekend is also my GRE exams, so I have to juggle studying for a very important test with writing a very important paper… along with my job and family. I think once I’ve really gotten a good idea of what I want to measure and ironed out what data I want that isn’t already covered, the survey will pretty much write itself. At this point, I’m not afraid of too much information, but too little. If I forget to ask some important question it will hurt a whole lot more than trying to find a needle in a haystack. In fact, if I can squeeze this survey into a small enough size, I may tack on some extra questions just to have the data. Even if it isn’t used in my current study, it will certainly be good for future use. Somewhere in the back of my head I’m already writing a followup study to this one, but I’m trying my best to muster those forces to concentrate on the study at hand.
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