Connecting With the Big Picture

Abstract

This article concludes the special issue on identity and motivation by discussing the five preceding contributions. It identifies strengths and limitations in each article and places them within a larger context, indicating ways that the authors could broaden the scope of their inquiries by breaking free of existing limitations or adding additional concepts. Looking across articles, it emphasizes that identity and motivation share multiple and bidirectional relationships. It also argues that as identities grow and change, they provide important sources of motivation for curiosity and exploration (mostly in earlier stages) but also can limit or even foreclose potential exposures to other experiences (especially in later stages, if they become rigid). Finally, it contrasts Eastern and Western thinking about self and identity, arguing the need to synthesize these perspectives on the issues addressed in this special issue.