Identity integration across cultural transitions: Bridging individual and societal change

Abstract

Identity research has proliferated in recent years creating a great need for theoretical clarity about the identity concept, and how to use this clarity to understand identities within specific contexts. The present article addresses this need by discussing theoretical aspects of identity development as they apply to another important, yet broad, developmental context: societies in transition. This article includes a brief background on identity research in developmental psychology, an introduction of key theoretical constructs of identity integration, and then finally application of these constructs to understanding identities in transition. The hope is that this theoretical discussion will stimulate further research on identity development in the context of individual and social transitions.

Keywords:

• identity
• immigration
• transitions
• development
• acculturation