What about place? Considering the role of physical environment on youth imagining of future possible selves

Abstract

Identity research indicates that the development of well-elaborated cognitions about oneself in the future, or one's possible selves, is consequential for youths' developmental trajectories, influencing a range of social, health, and educational outcomes. Although the theory of possible selves considers the role of social contexts in identity development, the potential influence of the physical environment is understudied. At the same time, a growing body of work spanning multiple disciplines points to the salience of place, or the meaningful physical environments of people's everyday lives, as an active contributor to self-identity. Bridging these two lines of inquiry, I provide evidence to show how place-based experiences, such as belonging, aversion, and entrapment, may be internalized and encoded into possible selves, thus producing emplaced future self-concept. I suggest that for young people, visioning one's self in the future is inextricably bound with place; place is an active contributor both in the present development of future self-concept and in enabling young people to envision different future possible places. Implications for practice and future research include place-making interventions and conceptualizing place beyond ‘neighborhood effects.’

Keywords:

• identity
• adolescence
• place identity
• futurity
• possible selves
• neighborhood

Acknowledgments

The author gratefully acknowledges the instrumental support of Dr. Paula S. Nurius, Dr. Lynne Manzo and Dr. Susan Kemp in developing this work. Special thanks to Dr. Mark Andrew Clark for helpful suggestions that moved this work forward.

Funding

This publication was made possible by the grant support [TL1 RR 025016] from the National Center for Research Resources (NCRR), a component of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and The National Institute on Mental Health grant 5 [T32 MH20010] Mental Health Prevention Research Training Program.

Additional information

Funding

Funding: This publication was made possible by the grant support [TL1 RR 025016] from the National Center for Research Resources (NCRR), a component of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and The National Institute on Mental Health grant 5 [T32 MH20010] Mental Health Prevention Research Training Program.