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Articles, Essays, and Ponderings by Rob Kleine |
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CONSUMPTION AND SELF-SCHEMA CHANGES THROUGHOUT THE IDENTITY PROJECT LIFE CYCLE
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The Figure portrays the four basic stages of identity cycling: identity discovery, construction, maintenance, and disposition. Additionally, the model highlights the possibility that a social identity may enter a period of latency, during which identity activities are temporarily suspended and then resumed. The model captures the evolutionary aspect of social identity development in that a person may be continually refining, modifying, improving, expanding, and/or contracting the identity (Kegan 1982). |
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FIGURE  |
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In this paper we emphasize three primary sub phases of the cycling process: rookie acquisition, disengagement, and latency renewal. The three identity schemas (role identity, identity, and identity ideal), plus identity importance, provide a conceptual framework useful for characterizing key phenomena of the identity project life cycle process. |
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The Rookie Start The term ‘rookie' describes individuals who have little or no experience with the products or activities associated with a particular role (Pilivian, et al 1984). The rookie start resembles the conventional adoption process model (e.g., Robertson 1971), but complements that model in several ways. First, the unit of analysis is a social identity instead of a specific (isolated) product or behavior. Second, instead of the adoption process model's core psychological processes, a social identity model emphasizes both the inside-out (i.e., the three identity schemas) and outside-in (i.e., social structural) factors that influence identity change and subsequent product or behavior adoption. An identity derives from immersion in, or changes in, social structural factors, such as social connections. This distinguishes the rookie start from other approaches that place a theoretical premium on individual free-will, leaving under-examined the functions that social-structural factors may exert on identity acquisition or disposition. Third, identity development is not conceptualized as a linear process, but as an iterative evolutionary process.
The individual assesses role-fit during exploration. Role-fit is determined by evaluating how the role would complement or extend the other identities that comprise an individual's current and anticipated self-structure. Role-fit evaluation yields a perception whether the role is "for me" now, or in the future. We propose also that individuals employ the role schema to evaluate role-fit. If asked at this point to describe the products, services, and behaviors characteristic of those who pursue this role, individual's responses are guided by the role schema as the identity or identity-ideal schemas do not yet exist (Donnelly and Young 1988). The role schema provides the basis from which identity exploration, evaluation, and development begin. Hence:
First hand experience enacting a role affords a foundation on which to build an identity schema. If, after exploration, the individual decides ‘this isn't for me,' we propose that a schema containing summary information of the trial experience will remain with the individual. If experiences during exploration yield a perception of role-person fit, the individual will likely continue pursuing the role to the identity construction stage. The exploration to construction transition (see Figure) may be intentional or a non event. The person may simply keep pursuing role-related behaviors due to being pulled along by social influences (Piliavin, et al. 1984).
Experiences with role-related behaviors and consumption are summarized into an identity schema. This identity schema reflects the individual's emerging sense of "how I enact this role," including what products to use, how to use those products, and from where and how to acquire those products. The individual also begins crafting a sense of "how I'd like to be as this type of person," the identity-ideal.
This divergence of the identity and role schemas that takes place during identity construction implies these propositions:
Maintenance. While identity construction is a period of change, maintenance is a period of refinement. Identity supporting social networks are well-established. The identity and identity-ideal schemas have achieved a state of relative maturity, reflecting the identity related possessions and skills accumulated by the individual. The identity is now integrated into the individual's self-concept. The individual is now an identity veteran. The individual's identity and identity-ideal schemas guide the individual's actions in an iterative manner. The possession cluster will undergo refinement. Possessions may be replaced with products deemed appropriate according to the individual's identity and identity-ideal schemas. For example, a photographer with an identity-ideal schema that projects an increase in the number of frames he exposes may consider upgrading to more rugged ‘pro' gear, the same gear that previously was deemed inappropriate by the photographer as ‘unnecessary for a weekender.' As the individual accumulates more experience at the identity, the identity schema will become more precisely defined; the individual will gain an increasingly refined understanding of ‘how I am as this type of person.' The person's perception of the identity-related product cluster becomes more refined, as well. For example, the photographer gains a more definite understanding of what types of equipment and accessories are best for him, based on his personal understanding of the identity, reflected in his identity-schema.
Periodically, the individual in maintenance may be spurred to ‘do something different,' precipitating transition out of maintenance into identity-reconstruction. The instigating factor may be intra-identity or extra-identity. A photo seminar, is an example of an intra-identity factor that may induce the individual to radically modify his photographer identity-ideal. This modification in the identity-ideal may lead the individual to reconstruct the identity in light of this revised identity-ideal.
Identity reconstruction may involve expanding or replacing part of the existing possession cluster, as represented in the identity and identity-ideal schemas. Extra-identity factors, such as those accompanying life status changes (e.g., retirement, divorce; Andreason 1984) may precipitate reconstruction of a specific piece of the self, as well. The personal resources previously allocated to the shifting or departing identity now can be reallocated to re-immerse one's self in the social structure, behaviors, and product cluster of an ‘old' identity.
These changes can be observed through changes in identity importance, as well as the identity and identity-ideal schemas and related consumption behaviors. Maintenance-reconstruction cycles (see Figure)
may repeat at varying intervals over an individual's life span. We propose
that each cycle will induce changes in the identity and ideal schemas.
These changes will be evidenced in their effects on the possessions and
behaviors considered identity-appropriate.
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Pre-socialization.
Identity pre-socialization results from the enculturation
process experienced by members of a particular cultural group
and may take place long before one becomes actively interested
in, or capable of pursuing, an identity. Through enculturation,
individuals learn the role schemas for the social roles common
in a society and the stereotypical consumption patterns that
facilitate and symbolize the social role (Solomon 1988). These
role schemas define what comes to mind when one thinks of a particular
role such as new parent, mountain climber, or cellist. Although
the tacit knowledge captured by role-schemas is considered ‘common
knowledge,' the exact contents of the role schema may vary according
to such key social structural variables as age, gender, social
class, geographic location, etc.
Exploration.
Role exploration occurs when a person evaluates a social role to answer
the question, "is this a type of person I'd like to become?"
Exploration ends when the person makes an implicit or explicit decision/commitment
to pursue developing the identity. Role exploration may be initiated by:
life status changes (Andreasen 1984); contact with a person having that
role-identity; or in conjunction with a ‘partner in crime' ("Hey,
neither of us have done this before, but it sounds interesting. Want to
give it a try?). Additionally, the role schema may be evaluated as ‘something
I always wanted to do,' as shown in retrospections obtained after identity
acquisition (e.g., Celsi, et al. 1993). What remains unclear from retrospective
reports is whether such explanations are veridical or reflect efforts
to appear consistent or not whimsical. Further, the ‘I always wanted
to do it' explanation lacks a mechanism for distinguishing the myriad
‘things I'd like to try' from ‘what I do try.' Following the
blood donor example and basic tenets of symbolic interactionist theory
(Solomon 1983), we suspect that most identity exploration stems from an
outside-in influence. Contact with a person actively engaged in the role-identity
in question is often a key predictor of exploration. Contact with this
bridge person(s) is important for a number of reasons. The bridge person
provides an identity-related social connection (Kleine, et al. 1993) that
can provide an ‘insider's' perspective on the identity. At minimum,
the bridge person can detail or illustrate the requisite possession and
behavioral competencies characteristic of the identity. Yet, note how,
in the 
Identity
Construction. During identity construction the individual accumulates
more experiences with role-related products and behavioral patterns, in
the context of a social network which provides the individual identity
confirming or disconfirming feedback (e.g., Hoelter 1984, Kleine, et al.
1993). At this stage, the individual will likely be accumulating a set
of possessions and skills deemed appropriate for pursuing role-related
activities. As the individual lacks an identity schema, the role schema
guides these early efforts (Donnelly and Young 1988). An interesting consequence
is that use of the role schema, as it is an ‘outsiders perspective,'
guides the individual to select products that fit the role schema but
may be out of step with contemporary identity subculture practices. This
yields symbolic self-completing consumption behavior that yields different
effects on identity insiders and outsiders. To identity insiders, such
behavior brands the individual as a rookie. To outsiders, because the
consumption behavior converges with the role stereotype, the rookie may
be perceived as an identity veteran. In contrast, because identity often
evidence consumption patterns that differ from the role stereotype, the
insider may be mis-perceived by outsiders as a rookie. Identity veterans
may take advantage of this confusion to get identity rookies to perform
‘grunge work' associated with the activity (Donnelly and Young 1988).
A
critical juncture occurs when the individual makes the transition from
perceiving the role as external to them self ( ‘a type of person
I'm not') to internalizing the role (‘I am this kind of person').
Identity has emerged. Coincident with identity emergence may be changes
in the global self structure. As the importance of the identity in acquisition
rises, existing identities, and their associated consumption patterns,
may be altered. For example, the ascendence of the ‘parent' identity
(or any other resource demanding identity) into the self-concept causes
individuals to re-evaluate and adjust pursuit of other identities in their
self concept. Such adjustments imply important modifications in consumption
patterns.
Similarly,
individuals' identity-ideal will also become more developed, constrained
perhaps by individuals' understandings of their own repertoire of skills
and resources pertinent to the identity. The social-structural matrix
in which the individual pursues the identity imposes constraints on the
individual's identity ideal. Other identities in the individual's self-concept
are another source of potential constraints.