Training Resource Manual
Identity Theory and the Young Adult Transition
Jonathan Trinidad, M.A., Ph.D. Candidate
Department of Sociology
New York State University at Buffalo
Michael Farrell, Ph.D., Department Chair
Department of Sociology
New York State University at Buffalo
© 2005-2006 CDHS/Research Foundation of
SUNY/BSC College Relations Group
Table of Contents
Part I. How to use this Handbook
A. Questions
B. Basics
1. Introduction
2. Keep in Mind
3. Using this Resource Training Manual with the Participant Guide
Part II. The Young Adult Transition
A. Questions
B. Basics
1. The Rise of the Young Adult Transition
2. Rates of Success
3. The Young Adult Transition and Identity Theory
Part II. The Young Adult Transition
A. Questions
B. Basics
1. Identity Standards
2. Input
3. Output
4. Comparator
5. Summary
6. Diagram
C. Application
1. Skewed Identity Standards and Mal-Adjusted Behavior
2. Unachieved Identity Standards and Stress
3. Mis-Conceptualization
© 2005-2006 CDHS/Research Foundation of
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Table of Contents (continued)
Part IV. Stryker’s Identity Salience
A. Questions
B. Basics
1. Status and Roles
2. Identity Salience
3. Three Things You Should Know
4. Commitment
5. Salience Hierarchy
6. Summary
C. Application
1. Combining Burke and Stryker
2. Organizing and Conceptualizing
3. Promoting Action
D. Case Scenarios: The Young Adult Transition, Race and Ethnicity
1. Agatha
2. Emily
Part V. Resources
A. Handouts
1. Understanding Burke’s Identity Control Model
2. Understanding Stryker’s Identity Salience
3. Understanding Identity Standards and Salience in Action
4. Standards and Salience Worksheet
B. Useful Articles
© 2005-2006 CDHS/Research Foundation of
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Part I. How to Use this Handbook
A. Questions
B. Basics
© 2005-2006 CDHS/Research Foundation of
SUNY/BSC College Relations Group
Part I. How do Use this Handbook
A. Questions
What is the young adult transition?
How can we better serve our clients?
How do racial and ethnic identities
impact the transition into adulthood?
How can identity theory benefit social workers?
What is identity salience? What’s an identity standard?
How can we unify our language and systematize
our thoughts?
© 2005-2006 CDHS/Research Foundation of
SUNY/BSC College Relations Group
Part I. How do Use this Handbook
B. Basics
1. Introduction
This study focuses on identity formation during the transformation from late adolescence to young
adulthood. This period of life, often referred to as the Young Adult Transition, is a volatile time for identity
development whereby individuals forge for themselves identities often in conflict. It is in this stage of life
that individuals weigh internal desires, personal needs and unique skills against the external pressures of
finding a career, becoming independent, and raising a family. I may desire to be an artist, but it might be
more financially responsible to become an accountant. Said in simple terms, adolescents must create
identities that balance desires and responsibility.
Identity and behavior are linked.
Furthermore, this research looks at the role of identity and behavior and on the young adult transition. Of
particular interest is how occupational, racial and ethnic identities impact successful transition. Burke
claims identities are control cycles that outline the boundaries of appropriate behavior. Consequently,
positive behavior is the result of positively formed and maintained occupational, racial, and ethnic
identities. Stryker argues identities control individuals based on salience which is measured by probability
and commitment. The most salient identities are the strongest dictators of behavior.
The young adult transition is conceptualized in terms of identity and
behavior research.
© 2005-2006 CDHS/Research Foundation of
SUNY/BSC College Relations Group
Key Points
- This research focuses on the young adult transition,
occupational, racial, and ethnic identities, identity control, and
identity salience.
Understanding the Young Adult Transition
- Burke’s identity control model explains how identities guide
behavior.
- Stryker’s identity salience explains why some behavioral
patterns are more predominant than others
- Collectively, Burke and Stryker’s work gives insight on why
adolescents behave as they do during the identity transition
from youth to adult.
© 2005-2006 CDHS/Research Foundation of
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How do work identities affect action? Race and ethnic identities?
Gender identities?
As a social worker, it is important to learn the strong vocabulary identity theorists have used for years.
Particularly important are those concepts and principles associated with contemporary theories such as
Stryker’s Identity Salience and Burke’s Identity Control Model. Their rich theories have developed
unnoticed and are underused by social workers, psychiatrists, and self-help literature. Many in the
academic world believe they will impact mainstream society in ways similar to self-esteem research
several decades ago.
Self-esteem is now a common word in our vocabulary. Salience and
Identity Standard should also be.
Having learned new vocabulary, social workers will be better prepared to see those concepts mobilized in
reality. That is, by knowing about the social psychological phenomena of identity salience and identity
control, individuals are better suited to identify it in action. Consequently, social workers can take active
and appropriate measures when they see identity salience and identity control at work. That’s the
ultimate goal, to empower action.
A powerful tool for understanding, predicting, and shaping behavior.
© 2005-2006 CDHS/Research Foundation of
SUNY/BSC College Relations Group
Key Points
- Identities are control mechanisms that help us explain and
predict behavior.
- If we understand how identities control behavior, we can also
predict and shape behavior.
- Contemporary social psychologists have developed useful
theory and vocabulary on what drives behavior.
Understanding the Young Adult Transition
- Adolescents, as with all individuals, behave in ways
consistent with the identities they value the most. We need to
understand what identities are important to adolescents and
why.
- As social workers, we are better equipped to discuss and
address behavioral problems if we have a strong
understanding of theory and vocabulary. The ability to convey
complex thoughts with a few select words unifies discussion
and accelerates action.
© 2005-2006 CDHS/Research Foundation of
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2. Keep in Mind
- This study focuses on identity formation during the young adult transition. Consequently, the material is
divided into two subject areas: the transition, and identity theory.
- Learn how the material stands alone. The young adult transition and identity theory are two independent
bodies of knowledge. Depending on your interests and needs, one area may be more interesting and/or
useful.
- Learn how the material works in conjunction with each other. Don’t forget to consider how the material
on the young adult transition and identity theory work together. The young adult transition is a useful case
study to explain identity theory. Conversely, identity theory is a useful perspective to explain the young
adult transition.
As you read and review this handbook, keep the following in
mind to help maximize its potential.
© 2005-2006 CDHS/Research Foundation of
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2. Keep in Mind (continued)
- Focus on how occupational, racial, and ethnic identities may impact successful transition into
adulthood. Learn to mobilize these concepts in reality. By knowing about the social psychological
phenomena presented here, individuals are better suited to identity it in action. Social workers can take
active and appropriate measures when they see identity salience and identity control at work.
- Study the material from Burke’s perspective. That is, how our identities control cycles that outline the
boundaries of appropriate behavior? Apply Burke’s theory to your experiences in the field.
- Study the material from Stryker’s perspective. How do identities control individuals based on salience
and commitment? Again, apply Stryker’s theory to your experiences in the field.
- Learn new vocabulary. Identity theorists have used this vocabulary for years. Many in the academic
world believe these concepts will impact mainstream society in ways similar to self-esteem research.
Learn new vocabulary.
© 2005-2006 CDHS/Research Foundation of
SUNY/BSC College Relations Group
3. Using this Resource Training Manual with the Participant Guide
This Resource Training Manual also comes with a Participant Guide. As an instructor, you may or may
not choose to make the guide and manual available to your students. I recommend the following:
If you plan on making only the guide or available to your students:
- Prepare use both the manual and the guide. Read the manual first and write your notes in the guide.
- Prepare for your presentation using the Manual PowerPoint.
- Teach from guide. Use the manual for reference.
- Teach using the Guide PowerPoint.
© 2005-2006 CDHS/Research Foundation of
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3. Using this Resource Training Manual with the Participant Guide
(continued)
If you plan on making both the guide and manual available to your students:
- Prepare use both the manual and the guide.
- Prepare for your presentation using the Manual Power Point.
- Print and copy the manual at its original size. Print and copy the guide at half its original size.
- Teach one section at a time. First review a section from the guide, and then review the corresponding
pages from the manual. Keep in mind that the page numbers in the manual do not correspond with the
guide page by page.
- Teach using the Manual PowerPoint.
© 2005-2006 CDHS/Research Foundation of
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Part II. The Young Adult Transition
A. Questions
B. Basics
1. Rise of the Young Adult Transition as a Stage of Life
2. Rates of Success by Race
3. The Young Adult Transition and Identity Theory
© 2005-2006 CDHS/Research Foundation of
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Part II. The Young Adult Transition
A. Questions
What is the young adult transition?
Why does it matter?
Why does the ease and success of the young adult transition vary by
race and ethnicity?
How can we increase awareness of the
social processes that positively
and negatively affect identity development
during the transition?
How do difficulties during the
transition result in additional problems in later life?
© 2005-2006 CDHS/Research Foundation of
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Part II. The Young Adult Transition
B. Basics
As was described earlier, the period of life between adolescence and adulthood has often been referred
to as the Young Adult Transition. Let’s consider how this transition stage developed.
1. Rise of the Young Adult Transition as a stage of life
Three major factors have contributed to creation of the Young Adult Transition as a stage of life, the first of
which is prolongation of education. Increasingly, jobs in today’s workforce require advanced and
professional degrees, forcing adolescents to refrain from paid work in favor of additional school. A second
major factor is the growth of the period of non-family living after leaving the parent’s home and before
forming one’s own household. That is, individuals are spending more time living away from their families
and are in less of a rush to start their own families. A third major factor that has contributed to the creation
of the young adult transition as stage of life is the delay in marriage and childbirth. Individuals are not in a
rush to assume the responsibility of becoming a spouse or child-rearing adult.
I don’t want to work yet. I don’t want to get married yet. I don’t want
kids yet. I don’t want to live with my family anymore.
Cumulatively, these factors result in a prolonged period of transition from child to adult. Individuals aren’t
assuming adult responsibilities such as full-time work, marriage, and raising a family as early as their
parents and grandparents did.
© 2005-2006 CDHS/Research Foundation of
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Key Points
- Continued education, growth of the period of non-family
living, delaying marriage and childbirth are major factors that
have contributed to the creation on the young adult transition
as a stage of life.
Understanding the Young Adult Transition
- The transition from adolescence to adult is about taking on
the responsibility of adult roles. Delaying entrance into paid
work, parenthood, marriage, and family life prolongs the
transition from adolescence to adulthood. Individuals
effectively evade adult responsibility.
© 2005-2006 CDHS/Research Foundation of
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2. Rates of Success
Research suggests the ease and success of the young adult transition varies by race and ethnicity.
Hardships in identity formation during adolescent development may account for future socio-economic
status discrepancies along racial and ethnic lines as young individual transition into paid work. Consider
the following statistics:
- One of the markers of a successful transition into adulthood is education, such as earning a high school
degree. High school completion rates for those 25 years old and older differ according to race: 94% of
whites, 86& of blacks, 62% of Hispanics have completed their high school degree. What accounts for the
discrepancy between whites and non-whites?
- Regarding work, secondary education is increasingly needed to participate in the changing technology
and service-driven economy. The best jobs are reserved for those with advanced degrees. College
completion rates for those 25 years and older also differ according to race: 28% of whites and 16% of
blacks have completed their college degree.
- The growing divide between the middle and working class follows ethnic and racial lines. The median
family income for white families is 51,224 versus 21,778 for blacks.
- Amongst the poorest households in the nation are those headed by single mothers. The percentage of
25 year old black women who are single mothers is 17% compared to 4% for whites.
© 2005-2006 CDHS/Research Foundation of
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2. Rates of Success (continued)
In sum, demographic research done in the last decade and a half indicates that African Americans are
more likely than whites to come through the young adult transition in ways that can negatively affect later
life development. To explain this trend, some literature has pointed to the “disappearance of marriage”
among African Americans. Others talk about the additional handicaps experienced by African American
men and women during this stage of life including the lack of suitable role-models, cycles of poverty, and
“the consequences of slavery.” However, there is less research on the social-psychological factors
accounting for differences in young adult transition by race.
© 2005-2006 CDHS/Research Foundation of
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Key Points
- Rates of occupational, educational, and martial success
differ by race.
Understanding the Young Adult Transition
- Hardships in identity formation during the young adult
transition may account for future socio-economic status
discrepancies.
© 2005-2006 CDHS/Research Foundation of
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3. The Young Adult Transition and Identity Theory
The strength of social-psychological research on identity development during the young adult transition
lies in its potential to provide guidelines that prevent problematic adjustments in young adulthood.
Increase awareness of the social processes that positively or negatively affect identity development
during the young adult transition may lead to checklists for identifying risk factors that undermine identity
development, and buffering factors that facilitate identity development. Moreover, although adjustment
varies along racial and ethnic lines, awareness of risk factors and buffering factors serves to benefit all
cases regardless of background. Ultimately, pulling together all we know about differences by race in
how people navigate through this period of life will improve identity formation and later life development
as young adults transition into the paid workforce and start their own families.
How do individuals navigate through this period of life? How can we
improve identity formation?
We now focus our attention on two such identity theories: Burke’s Identity Control Model, and Stryker’s
Identity Salience Hierarchy.
© 2005-2006 CDHS/Research Foundation of
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Key Points
- Two important social psychological concepts reviewed in this
handbook are identity salience and identity control.
Understanding the Young Adult Transition
- The young adult transition can be framed from an identity
theorist perspective. If social workers understand some of the
social psychological issues of maturing adolescents, they will
be better able to identify and treat it.
© 2005-2006 CDHS/Research Foundation of
SUNY/BSC College Relations Group
Part III. Burke’s Identity Control
A. Questions
B. Basics
1. Identity Standards
2. Input
3. Output
4. Comparator
5. Summary
6. Diagram
C. Application
1. Skewed Identity Standards and Mal-Adjusted Behavior
2. Unachieved Identity Standards and Stress
3. Mis-Conceptualization
© 2005-2006 CDHS/Research Foundation of
SUNY/BSC College Relations Group
Part III. Burke’s Identity Control
A. Questions
How do identities control behavior?
What is an identity standard? How does it influence behavior?
Why do individuals modify behavior?
What are they trying to achieve?
What causes an individual to experience stress? How can stress by
avoided?
© 2005-2006 CDHS/Research Foundation of
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Part III. Burke’s Identity Control
B. Basics
Identity theories are important because they help explain and predict behavior. Why is one
individual likely to behave functionally in a social situation? Why is another individual likely to behave
dysfunctional in the same social situation? Burke argues that identities are control systems that guide
individuals by limiting the range of acceptable behavior. As he writes, “Identities bring into play
dissonance-reduction mechanisms whereby people modify their behavior to achieve a match with their
internalized identity standard.”
It’s not as complicated as it might sound. Let’s piece together Burke’s control model. There are four
parts to his model, the first being the Identity Standard.
1. Identity Standards
In simplest terms, an identity standard is the collection of ideal expectations for a given identity. It
is the perfect idea of how an individual acting like a father, mother, teacher, social worker, student or any
other identity should behave. Ultimately, as implied by its name, an identity standard is the conceptual
standard for an identity.
Consider the identity standard for a parent. What are the ideal
behaviors associated with the parent identity?
© 2005-2006 CDHS/Research Foundation of
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Key Points
- According to Burke, identities are control systems that
govern behavior.
- The first part of Burke’s control model is the Identity
Standard, or the collection of ideal expectations for a given
identity.
Understanding the Young Adult Transition
- During this transitional stage, adolescents form many identity
standards. They use family, friends, and the media to develop
an idea of what it means to be an adult, employee, etc.
- Adolescents also re-evaluate their childhood identity
standards. Their beliefs about what constitutes the perfect
son, daughter, sibling, etc. change as they experience new
freedoms and responsibilities.
© 2005-2006 CDHS/Research Foundation of
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More than stereotypes. More than individual beliefs.
Identity standards are generated by society and the self. That is, they reflect both the cultural and
personal expectations of a given identity. For example, culturally, the parent identity includes being a
loving caregiver. Personally, an individual may perceive the parent identity to include being available for
dinner and conversation every night. Likewise, culturally, the student identity includes reading, studying,
and learning. Personally, the student identity may also include participating in extra-curricular activities
such as art, music, and sports.
Identity standards balance self expression
and social responsibility.
The fact that identity standards are a product of social and self experience makes them more than cultural
stereotypes or individual beliefs. Because of the duality of identity standards, they allow for self
expression but require social responsibility.
Consider your identity standards. What expectations are culturally
derived? Personally derived?
© 2005-2006 CDHS/Research Foundation of
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Key Points
- Identity standards reflect both the cultural and personal
expectations of a given identity.
Understanding the Young Adult Transition
- Helping adolescents properly transition into adults requires
an understanding of how their identity standards developed.
Standards over-influenced by the media may be unrealistic
and impossible to achieve. Standards over influenced by
peers may be too narrow-minded and inaccurately reflect
reality.
© 2005-2006 CDHS/Research Foundation of
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Still on track?
Whether they are conscious of them or not, individuals have identity standards for themselves. That is,
they have ideal models of who they wish to be.
Individuals modify their behavior
to achieve a match with their identity standard.
As Burke argues, people modify their behavior to match their identity standards. Again, each
identity standard is associated with a series of expected behaviors derived from society and self. Thus, to
achieve the ideal model, individuals behave in ways that are consistent with the expectations of the
identity standard. In that way, identity standards work as control systems. They control behavior by
encouraging action that is consistent with the standard, and discourage action that is inconsistent.
In what ways would a young parent modify his/her behavior to achieve
the parent identity standard?
Said another way, identity standards outline the boundaries of acceptable behavior.
© 2005-2006 CDHS/Research Foundation of
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Key Points
- Identity standards outline the boundaries of acceptable
behavior for a given identity.
- Individuals modify their actions to fulfill their desired identity
standards.
Understanding the Young Adult Transition
- Some children must also contemplate racial, ethnic, and
gender identity standards during the young adult transition.
© 2005-2006 CDHS/Research Foundation of
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2. Input
Input is the second part of Burke’s Identity Control Model. By taking in information, individuals
conceptualize the identity standard.
Individuals gage their behavior against the identity standard.
Let’s get specific. Input is any contextual information about the situation. Consider an adolescent on his
first day of work who surveys the environment for input regarding the legitimacy of his behavior. He may
look at other employees to see if he is appropriately dressed. He may notice that there isn’t an official
lunch hour and employees eat at their desks. He may notice employees mingling by the coffee machine,
but not at the photocopier. He may notice it is frowned upon to leave work early.
Am I appropriately dressed for the situation? How does my attire
compare to those around me?
These observations are all forms of input which aids the individual’s understanding of the situation.
Input may be good or bad such as praise from a boss for being on time, or a warning for being late.
Ultimately, the input gathered helps the individual conceptualize an appropriate identity standard. Said
another way, input aids in the understanding of what the ideal expectations are for a given identity.
© 2005-2006 CDHS/Research Foundation of
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Key Points
- Input is the second part of Burke’s Identity Control Model.
Input consists of any contextual information about the
situation.
- Input allows an individual to develop the appropriate identity
standard for the given identity and specific situation.
Understanding the Young Adult Transition
- Adolescent children are especially sensitive to input. They
observe everything.
© 2005-2006 CDHS/Research Foundation of
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3. Output
There’s more to know about input, but we need to introduce output in order to make sense of it. Output
is the third part of Burke’s Identity Control Model.
Whistling while you work is a form of output.
So is putting your feet on your desk.
Said simply, output is an individual’s behavior. It is an individual’s forms of action. Consider again an
adolescent on his first day of work. He may be nervous and speak with a weak voice. He may be unsure
about his assignments and ask his officemate a question. He may feel lazy and put his feet up on his
desk. He may whistle while he works. These behaviors are all forms of output. It is the totality of an
individual’s observable actions.
Output is the totality of an individual’s observable actions.
© 2005-2006 CDHS/Research Foundation of
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Key Points
- Output is the third part of Burke’s Identity Control Model.
Output is an individual’s forms of behavior or action.
Understanding the Young Adult Transition
- During this transitional phase, adolescents experiment with
their output. They behave in new ways and are especially
sensitive to input that praises or rejects their modified
behavior.
© 2005-2006 CDHS/Research Foundation of
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4. Comparator
Thus far we’ve discussed three parts of Burke’s identity control model – the identity standard, input, and
output. The relationship between these three parts gives rise to the fourth and final part, the
comparator. The comparator is the part of the control system that evaluates input in relation to the
identity standard in order to produce appropriate output. Let’s review it step-by-step.
The comparator asks, is input consistent
with the identity standard?
Individuals gather input from the environment. That is, they collect information from the setting and those
around them. Sometimes input is good such as a smile from co-worker, and sometimes input is bad such
a warning from a boss.
Next, individuals compare input against the identity standard, the collection of ideal expectations for a
given identity. This is where the comparator comes in. The comparator assess whether the input is
consistent with the identity standard. Sometimes the input and identity standard match, such as the
young worker who actualizes his belief that ideal workers are on time. Sometimes the input and identity
standard are at odds, such as the young worker who thought he was appropriately dressed for work, but
feels he is being stared at for not wearing a tie.
This is embarrassing. I need a tie.
© 2005-2006 CDHS/Research Foundation of
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Key Points
- The final part of Burke’s control model is the comparator.
The comparator evaluates input against the identity standard.
Understanding the Young Adult Transition
- Consider how adolescent children compare what they are
against what they would like to be. Or how they compare
themselves against their peers, the media, their parent’s
expectations, their siblings, their younger selves, their potential
selves. Is it any wonder why adolescents are so stressed at
times? How does a teen integrate parents, peers and the
media?
© 2005-2006 CDHS/Research Foundation of
SUNY/BSC College Relations Group
Gather information, comparing the actual with the ideal, and changing
the way we act are part of the control process.
Finally, individuals modify output to gain favorable input. Again, if the young worker wants to avoid being
stared at work for inappropriate clothing, he will come into work with a tie the next day. By changing his
behavior – in this case, wearing a tie – he is attempting to draw positive responses.
5. Summary
Let’s summarize Burke’s control model.
- Individuals have identity standards, or ideal expectations for a given identity. How would the perfect
parent, worker, or student behave?
- From our environment we gather input, or contextual information about the situation. My boss frowned at
me. My desk is more cluttered than my neighbors’. I’m the only one not wearing a tie.
- The comparator, is the part of the model that compares input against the identity standard. Does the
input I am receiving from the environment and other people match the identity standard I want to achieve?
What are others thinking about me?
- Finally, output is our behavior. Individuals constantly modify behavior to gain favorable input. I’m going
to wear a tie tomorrow. I’m going to re-arrange my desk.
We learn to keep our desk at least as neat as our neighbor’s.
© 2005-2006 CDHS/Research Foundation of
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Key Points
- In Burke’s identity control model, individuals compare input
against the identity standard and modify output accordingly to
foster positive input.
Understanding the Young Adult Transition
- Throughout the transition, children begin conceptualizing an
ideal for themselves. They modify their behavior to achieve
that ideal and use the reaction of others to judge whether the
new behavior is successful.
- As a social worker, know what audience is most important to
the youth. That is, which source of input is the most
influential? Peers? Media? Parents? The most important
source of input may also be the most influential on the child’s
identity standards.
© 2005-2006 CDHS/Research Foundation of
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6. Diagram
Conceptualizing Burke’s identity control model as a diagram may aid in your understanding. In the
diagram below, two individuals are interacting, and each is going through the process of comparing input
against their identity standard. Output is modified accordingly to gain favorable input from the other.
© 2005-2006 CDHS/Research Foundation of
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Part III. Burke’s Identity Control
C. Applications
As was stated in the introduction to the previous section, Burke’s identity control model re-conceptualizes
identities as systems of control that guide our actions by limiting the range of acceptable behavior.
Having discussed the basics of Burke’s model, let’s review a few of the many applied benefits and
implications.
1. Skewed identity standards may lead to mal-adjusted behavior.
At the root of Burke’s model is the identity standard. We’ve described the identity standard as the perfect
idea of what an identity is. For example, how should an individual acting like a parent, worker, and
student behave? What is standard for the given identity? Since individuals compare their behavior
against this ideal standard, it vitally important that the identity standard is properly conceptualized. Not all
identity standards are created equal.
Not all identity standards are created equal.
© 2005-2006 CDHS/Research Foundation of
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Key Points
- If an individual develops a skewed identity standard, his/her
behavior will reflect it. That is, individuals behave in ways
consistent with their identity standard.
- It is vital that identity standards are properly conceptualized.
Understanding the Young Adult Transition
- Is it healthy to have an identity standard heavily influenced by
the media?
© 2005-2006 CDHS/Research Foundation of
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Don’t ever leave the house. It’s too dangerous out there.
Said another way, if an individual develops a skewed understanding of what it means to be a father, his
behavior will also reflect that. For example, if a man believes the ideal father protects his wife and
children from any and all possible harm, he may develop an overly skewed and sensitive identity
standard, and may become over-protective and deny his family basic freedoms. He may not let his wife
drive the car, let his kids visit their friends’ homes, or allow them to play sports. His overly protective
output is the result of a skewed identity standard.
The same can be said of a student who believes the student identity standard requires a perfect score on
every exam, or the athlete who believes the athlete identity standard requires having the best records in
all events, or the employee who believes that the employee identity standard requires constant
promotions.
How do stereotypes influence identity standards?
Let’s consider examples involving racial identity standards. A young African American may develop an
identity standard that black men and women excel at sports, as evidence by their success in professional
and local sports. Or consider a Japanese American that develops an identity standard that Asian men
and women are all financially successfully and white collar. The same can be said of an Indian American
who develops an identity standard that middle-eastern men and women are successful in small business.
These examples are stereotypical beliefs about racial and ethnic groups. The problem with stereotypes
has always been that people often believe them to be true in all cases. That is, stereotypes often become
overly rigid, and individuals are judged against standards that don’t reflect their individuality.
© 2005-2006 CDHS/Research Foundation of
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Key Points
- For some individuals, racial, ethnic, and gender identity
standards are a non-concern. That is, their race or gender
has no bearing on how they behave. For others, it is an
important source of identity and behavior.
Understanding the Young Adult Transition
- Find out if children you are working with are overly concerned
with race, ethnicity or gender. If they have skewed identity
standards, it might be a risk factor towards successful
transition into adulthood.
© 2005-2006 CDHS/Research Foundation of
SUNY/BSC College Relations Group
We consider how others use stereotypes against us. Have we
considered how we use stereotypes against ourselves?
We consider how others use stereotypes against us, but have we considered how we use stereotypes
against ourselves? Take into account how individuals may develop skewed identity standards that over
emphasize culturally prescribed stereotypes. The young African American child for example, may behave
super stereotypically because of an over-emphasized black identity standard. Believing the ideal black
identity standard is being an athlete, the adolescent’s output may overly reflect that skewed standard.
Alternative paths towards success may be compromised; athletic output may be over-expressed.
Good or bad, racial and ethnic stereotypes are powerful influences on
identity standards.
© 2005-2006 CDHS/Research Foundation of
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Key Points
- Stereotypes, including racial and ethnic ones, influence
identity standards. Over-dependence on stereotypes may
result in skewed identity standards.
Understanding the Young Adult Transition
- Healthy identity standards rely on balance. Overemphasizing
any one aspect or audience (i.e. peers, media, etc.) may result
in a skewed identity standard.
- Unfortunately, the young adult transition is often a time of
imbalance when children are forced to grow up too fast, peers
are given too much attention, media is too predominant,
parents are too protective (or not protective enough), etc.
© 2005-2006 CDHS/Research Foundation of
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Ultimately, promoting positive behavior begins with promoting a positive
identity standard.
In the same way a skewed identity standard results in skewed output and behavior, so too does a well
conceptualized identity standard result in well adjusted behavior. Ultimately, as a social worker,
promoting positive behavior begins with promoting a positive identity standard.
Questions you might ask yourself.
It is important to consider the identity standards of clients and how those standards affect output. Is the
identity standard skewed? How did the individual develop that identity standard? What are the sources
of influences? In what ways is the identity standard beneficial and/or destructive to the individual? If the
identity standard ultimately produces destructive behavior, how can a more positive standard be fostered?
© 2005-2006 CDHS/Research Foundation of
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Key Points
- Positive identity standards result in positive behavior.
Understanding the Young Adult Transition
- Ultimately, adolescents need identity standards that are
positive and possible. That is, they must be able to achieve
their standards if they give reasonable effort. Standards that
are impossible to achieve only set individuals up for failure,
frustration, and disappointment. Standards that are too easily
achieved provide little sense of accomplishment or selfesteem.
© 2005-2006 CDHS/Research Foundation of
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2. Failure to achieve the identity standard may lead to stress,
frustration, and depression.
In Burke’s identity control model, individuals aim for input that is consistent with their identity standards
because favorable input affirms that the standard is being met. There are many forms of favorable input
including a compliment about one’s work, a smile from friend, a good conversation, etc.
Individuals modify their output until favorable input is achieved.
However, when input is inconsistent with the identity standard – such as a demotion at work, a look of
resentment, avoidance, laughter at one’s expense, etc. - individuals will modify their output until favorable
input is restored. For example, the office worker who realizes that co-workers are unimpressed with his
sneakers may wear dressier shoes hoping for a better response. Likewise, the husband who sees his
wife crying because he forgot their anniversary will work harder to remember the next occasion. Same
with the comedian who learns not to tell a particular joke because the audience didn’t laugh.
Wearing dressier shoes the following day is an example of modified
output. So is learning not to tell a bad joke.
© 2005-2006 CDHS/Research Foundation of
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Key Points
- Favorable input affirms that the identity standard is being
achieved.
- Output is modified until favorable input is achieved.
Understanding the Young Adult Transition
- All individuals, especially maturing adolescents, need to feel
as if their behaviors reaffirm their highest aspirations. That is,
they need to feel that their output is appropriate as affirmed by
positive input. Positive input re-affirms that the identity
standard is being met.
© 2005-2006 CDHS/Research Foundation of
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Sometimes however, for whatever reason, individuals are unable to achieve favorable input that affirms
the identity standard no matter how many times they modify their output. This kind of failure to achieve
the identity standard may lead to stress, frustration, and depression as in the case of the young office
worker that can’t find appropriate clothing to wear to work. Simply said, he or she may not be accustomed
to working in an office, may not have enough money to buy appropriate clothing, may not know what is
considered appropriate/inappropriate, maybe putting an honest effort but missing the mark each time, may
not know enough that clothing is in fact an issue, etc.
I’m so stressed out because I can’t find suitable work clothes.
One factor that influences the severity of the stress and depression is how important the identity
standard is. Arguably, the work identity standard is one of the most important standards for anyone who
relies on work to pay bills. Consequently, failure with the work identity standard is likely to cause more
stress than failure at leisurely identity standards.
How important is the identity standard? What is the degree of
inconsistency? What is the frequency of inconsistency?
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Key Points
- Failure to achieve the identity standard may lead to stress
and depression.
- The severity of the stress and depression is influenced by
the importance of the standard.
Understanding the Young Adult Transition
- The transition from youth to adult is a long and unclear stage
of life in which input often conflicts with developing identity
standards causing stress and anxiety. Sometimes output is
successfully modified so that favorable input is achieved and
the identity standard is preserved.
- Despite an adolescent’s best efforts, sometimes input
consistently fails to match the standard. In these
circumstances, the identity standard may change.
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Frequency and degree matter.
Another factor that influences the severity of stress and depression is the frequency of inconsistency
between input and standard. That is, how often does the inconsistency occur? The young worker who
occasionally wears inappropriate clothing will eventually recover from the disapproving glances of coworkers. He is less likely to recover if he gets those glances everyday.
Don’t wear a ball gown to a casual dinner party.
A third factor that influences the severity of stress and depression is the degree of inconsistency. That
is, how intense is the inconsistency? To what extent does the input and identity standard differ? A
woman who mistakenly wears a ball gown to a casual dinner party will be considerably more stressed
than her husband who wore a tie. Likewise, a disapproving glance from the boss will be considerably
more stressful than one from a casual colleague.
Overdressing for an occasion is stressful.
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Key Points
- Frequency and degree of inconsistency between input and
standard influence the severity of stress and depression.
Understanding the Young Adult Transition
- Adolescents sometimes over-exaggerate the degree of
inconsistency between input and identity standard. For
example, being even slightly under- or over-dressed for school
may cause severe stress.
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3. Mistakes can be made while conceptualizing a new identity
standard.
When entering a new context, individuals may be unfamiliar with the appropriate identity standards. As a
result, the identity control cycle lacks guidelines by which to evaluate action. As a reminder, identity
standards provide a behavioral ideal for an identity which contextual input is compared by. Consequently,
the lack of a reference point to compare one’s action to can lead to inappropriate (but unintentional)
behavior.
Individuals may be unfamiliar with the appropriate identity standard.
They need time to learn.
Consider the young adolescent entering the workforce. The youth needs time to adjust to the
environment and conceptualize proper identity standards. He will learn quickly it may have been ok to
rest his feet on the home coffee table, but it’s not ok on your work desk.
Inappropriate behavior is always inappropriate, but not always
intentional.
© 2005-2006 CDHS/Research Foundation of
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Key Points
- Individuals may be unfamiliar with the appropriate identity
standard and act inappropriately. They need time to learn the
identity standard.
Understanding the Young Adult Transition
- The young adult transition is a time of change and learning.
Children must develop new identity standards such as
occupational standard.
- When a youth acts inappropriately, it’s not always intentional.
Often times the child has not previously been in a situation to
experiment with output, does not know the appropriate
standard, or is unaware of what input means.
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The next adventure in identity research.
There are many other applied benefits and implications of Burke’s work. By no means is this an
exhausted list. We now focus our attention to Sheldon Stryker’s theory of Identity Salience, which picks
up where Burke’s work ends. Burke explains how behavior is controlled by identity standards. Stryker
adds to this theory by explaining which identity standards are the most important in a situation. That is,
given a range of acceptable identity standards, why is one chosen in particular?
© 2005-2006 CDHS/Research Foundation of
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Part IV. Stryker’s Identity Salience
A. Questions
B. Basics
1. Status and Roles
2. Identity Salience
3. Three Things You Should Know
4. Commitment
5. Salience Hierarchy
6. Summary
C. Application
1. Skewed Identity Standards and Mal-Adjusted Behavior
2. Unachieved Identity Standards and Stress
3. Mis-Conceptualization
D. Case Scenarios: The Young Adult Transition, Race and Ethnicity
1. Agatha
2. Emily
© 2005-2006 CDHS/Research Foundation of
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Part IV. Stryker’s Identity Salience
A. Questions
Why does one student read during the weekend, while another plays
games?
“Why does one father take his child to the zoo, while another opts to play
golf?” In other words, “Why is one behavioral option selected over
another in situations which both are available to the person?”
Why does one athlete arrive early and leave late for practice, while
another arrives late and leaves early?
Why is one employee committed to excellence
even when the boss is not around, while another slacks off?
© 2005-2006 CDHS/Research Foundation of
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Part IV. Stryker’s Identity Salience
B. Basics
Now that we understand how identities control behavior, as outlined by Burke’s identity control models,
we can take active steps towards predicting and shaping behavior. For example, if we know what,
how, and why an identity leads to well-adjusted behavior, we can take pro-active measures to encourage
it. Said another way, we can increase the likelihood of positive behavior by nurturing the specific identity
that motivates it.
Promote the identity associated with the desired behavior.
This is where Stryker’s work on identity salience and salience hierarchies comes in. Given a range of
acceptable identity standards, why do individuals choose to express the standards they do? Why is the
employee identity standard expressed at work? Why isn’t son, athlete, student or friend identity standard
expressed? Why do some parents act like lawyers at home? Why do some employees act like children
at work? Why do some students study on the weekend? Essentially, why is one identity standard
expressed when others are equally available? Or more generally, why is one action enacted when
others are equally available?
Why read? Why not take a break?
What’s motivating you to keep reading?
To understand Stryker’s work, we need to discuss concepts such as statuses, roles, identities, identity
salience, salience hierarchy, and commitment. Let’s briefly discuss.
© 2005-2006 CDHS/Research Foundation of
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Key Points
- We can take active steps towards predicting and shaping
behavior. Increase the likelihood of appropriate behavior by
nurturing the specific identity that motivates it.
Understanding the Young Adult Transition
- The transition is about becoming an adult. One of the keys
towards a successful transition is promoting adult identities.
Rather than focus on isolated behaviors, consider what is
impeding the adult identity from being expressed. Why isn’t
the adult identity being expressed? Why is the adolescent
identity being expressed?
© 2005-2006 CDHS/Research Foundation of
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1. Statuses and Roles
Identity theorists have long posited that society is composed of statuses or recognized social positions
that an individual occupies. Think of a status as a title or position that comes with expected behaviors.
Professor, lawyer, student, and doctor are considered statuses. That is, we expect a person with the
status of professor to behave a particular way. In the same way there are behaviors demanded of a
lawyer, so too are there expected behaviors for a mother, father, son, and daughter. Gender, race, and
ethnicity are also statuses. Essentially, statuses are named positions associated with anticipated
behaviors. There are literally thousands of statuses.
Statuses are named positions associated with expected behaviors.
Those expected behaviors are roles.
We now turn our attention to roles. A role is the set of expected behaviors for a given status. For
example, an individual may have the student status and as a result, is expected to perform the student
role which includes going to school, reading, writing, and studying. Likewise, the individual that occupies
the lawyer status is expected to perform the lawyer role which includes going to court, meeting with
clients, dressing professionally, etc. The individual that occupies the golfer status is expected to perform
the golfer role which includes dressing appropriately, being on a golf course, and being knowledgeable
and skilled in the game.
What are your statuses? What are your roles?
© 2005-2006 CDHS/Research Foundation of
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Key Points
- Society is composed of social positions called statuses.
- Statuses are associated with expected behaviors called
roles.
Understanding the Young Adult Transition
- One of the most important statuses a maturing adolescent
will develop is the occupational status. It is often the first
status that demands a high degree of responsibility from the
adolescent. The first time employee must learn that there are
professional consequences for not maintaining the
occupational role.
© 2005-2006 CDHS/Research Foundation of
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2. Identity Salience
In some cases, an individual may get so imbedded in a status/role that it becomes a salient identity.
That is, the individual enacts the status/role in situations where it is not required. Said a third way, the
person cannot separate himself/herself from the social position or the associated behavior.
Consider the librarian that alphabetizes his food pantry. A librarian is required to alphabetize books at
work, not food at home. Or consider the professor that lectures to his children rather than has a
conversation with them. The same can be said of the student that talks solely about exams on a date, the
grandmother that pinches her grown neighbor’s cheek, or the actor that always dramatic.
What’s going on when a grandmother pinches a grown man’s cheek?
Or when a librarian alphabetizes his food pantry?
In all these situations, the individual enacts the status/role in situations it is not required. The status/role
has become a source of identity, one that the individual has internalized and is very committed to. In
other words, the status/role has become a salient identity. It’s as if the status/role is automatic.
When an individual enacts a status/role in situations where it is not
required, it is said to be a salient identity.
© 2005-2006 CDHS/Research Foundation of
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Key Points
- A salient identity is a status/role that has become nearly
automatic. The individual is strongly tied to the status/role. It
has become internalized.
Understanding the Young Adult Transition
- The difficulty with occupational roles is that they don’t
naturally become salient identities for adolescents.
Adolescents are in the early stages of learning professional
responsibility, and may or may not become strongly tied to
status/roles that require it.
- Encourage adolescents to consider how adult status/roles
are beneficial.
© 2005-2006 CDHS/Research Foundation of
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3. Things you should know before we move on.
Every individual has a unique collection of status/roles. For example, an individual who has the professor
role might also be an athlete, mother, wife, sister, author, and gardener. At time she is expected to
behave like a professor, other times a mother, and yet other times an athlete.
The professor is also a mother. The lawyer is also a cook. The cashier
is also a musician.
Again, every individual has a unique collection of status/roles based on the positions they fill in society.
The more positions an individual fills in society, the more complex the collection of status/roles. An
individual who works, has a family, volunteers, plays organized sports, goes to church, and belongs to
neighborhood block club will develop a status/role for each position. This individual will have a more
complex collection of status/roles than a single, unemployed stay-at-home adult.
The more positions you fill in society, the more complex your
collection of status/roles.
© 2005-2006 CDHS/Research Foundation of
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Key Points
- Individuals have unique collection of status/roles based on
the positions they fill in society.
Understanding the Young Adult Transition
- Knowing an adolescents’ collection of status/roles will help
you understand why they behave as they do.
- When working with an adolescent, mentally take note of the
status/roles that are important to him/her. Is being a
brother/sister important? Is being an employee important? Is
race/ethnicity important? Gender? Age? Student? Athlete,
artist, dancer, musician, poet, comedian?
- Which status/role seems to be the most important? Why?
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Furthermore, not all status/roles are equal. Said another way, not all identities are equally salient.
(Remember, salient identities are those an individual enacts even in situations when it is not required.
The salient identity is on autopilot if you will.) For whatever reason, some identities become more
salient than others. Consider two mothers who are also professors. For the first mother, the professor
identity might be more salient that the mother identity and as a result, she may lecture to her kids
when a comforting hug would be more appropriate. For the second mother, the mother identity might
be more salient and as a result, she may over-nurture her students when an academic lecture would
be more appropriate.
Two professors. Both mothers. One mother lectures her own kids. The
other mother is over-protective of her students.
The point is, each individual has a unique collection of identities, and each person attributes a different
degree of salience for each identity. No two individuals are exactly alike.
© 2005-2006 CDHS/Research Foundation of
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Key Points
- Not all identities are equally salient.
- Two individuals may both have the mother identity but may
act completely different because of differences in salience.
Understanding the Young Adult Transition
- The young adult transition begins by assuming adult
status/roles. As the transition continues, the adult status/roles
become more salient and the child status/roles become less
salient.
- Consider two adolescents who have entered the workforce.
How would you use identity salience to explain differences in
their commitment to work?
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I have questions. I need answers.
Two questions arise. First, what determines the unique collection of identities an individual will
have? The identities an individual collects is subject to the social situations he/she is involved in. For
example, the child who grows up with siblings learns the brother or sister status/role. The single child will
not. Likewise, the housewife that works will pick up an occupational status/role. The house wife that
refrains from the workforce will not. In simplest terms, individuals gain status/roles by being in social
situations that require them.
Individuals gain status/roles by being in social situations that require
them.
Second, what determines the degree of salience for each identity? That’s a little more complicated,
but not too complicated. To simplify Stryker’s work, identity salience is determined by the degree of
commitment to an identity. That is, the more committed one is to an identity, the more salient it is, and the
more likely that identity will be expressed in a situation regardless of its need.
Imagine two students, the first of which is highly committed to being a student, whereas the second is not.
The student identity will be more salient for the first than it is the second. Consequently, the first is more
likely than the second to behave like a student during free time such as studying on the weekend.
Specifically, there are two forms of commitment.
© 2005-2006 CDHS/Research Foundation of
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Key Points
- Individuals collect identities based on the social situations
they are in.
- Identity salience is affected by commitment to the status/role.
Understanding the Young Adult Transition
- In what ways might an adolescent suffer from having an
overly salient athlete, musician, actor, or celebrity identity?
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4. Commitment
There are essentially two forms of commitment that affect the level of salience. The first is quantitative
commitment. Quantitative commitment measures how many other individuals are associated with a
particular identity. That is, what is quantity? In other words, the more people are associated with an
identity, the higher the quantitative commitment.
The more people associated with an identity, the higher the
quantitative commitment.
Consider a boss in charge of five-hundred employees versus another in charge of five. Of the two, the
boss with fewer employees is less likely to be committed to the boss status/role. With only five
employees, the boss may at times behave more like a friend or peer because there are fewer people
relying on him to be a boss.
© 2005-2006 CDHS/Research Foundation of
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Key Points
- Identity salience is affected by quantitative commitment, or
how many individuals are associated with a particular identity.
Understanding the Young Adult Transition
- The school crowd is arguably the largest adolescent social
group. Family and friends are much smaller social circles in
comparison.
- Even if adolescents are not close to the school audience,
there will a high degree of quantitative committed to the school
identity due to its sheer size alone.
© 2005-2006 CDHS/Research Foundation of
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Quantitative deals with quantity. Qualitative deals with quality.
Qualitative commitment is the second form of commitment that affects the level of identity salience.
Qualitative commitment measures how important the individuals associated with a particular identity are.
That is, what is the quality? The more important the people are associated with an identity, the higher the
qualitative commitment.
Does the professor continue to teach a class of three hundred
students when he finds out his child is very sick?
Consider a professor lecturing to a class of three-hundred students. The professor receives a call saying
his son is extremely sick. In this situation the individual is forced to decide between the professor
status/role and the father status/role. Three-hundred students are relying on him to be the professor (an
example of high quantitative commitment) but the man’s son, who he is very close to, is extremely sick
(an example of high qualitative commitment). One can see how the quality of commitment is as important
(or even more important) than the quantity of commitment.
Quantitative and qualitative commitment aren’t independent of each other. Families for example are a
source of both types of commitment.
© 2005-2006 CDHS/Research Foundation of
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Key Points
- Identity salience is affected by qualitative commitment,
measured by how important the individuals associated with a
particular identity are.
Understanding the Young Adult Transition
- Family and friends are social circles adolescents may be
qualitatively committed to. Neither social circle is especially
large, but its members include significant role models,
resource providers, caregivers, important allies, etc.
© 2005-2006 CDHS/Research Foundation of
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5. Salience Hierarchy
Since each individual has a collection of status/roles, each with unique levels of salience levels, Stryker
proposed arranging identities in a hierarchy of salience. In other words, imagine unconsciously ranking all
your status/roles on a ladder from most salient to least salient. An individual who is a lawyer, father, and
gardener may be most committed to being a father first, then lawyer, and finally a gardener. Thus, father
would be at the top of the salience hierarchy since it is the most salient identity, and gardener would be at
the bottom. (In reality, each individual has dozens of status/roles that sit on the hierarchy.)
Try ranking your status/roles from most to least salient. How is it a
good indicator of behavior?
Consider the implications. If we can roughly conceptualize a person’s salience hierarchy, we are better
able to predict how he/she will behave in a given situation. If we know that an individual has a high
salient father identity and a low salient occupational identity, it might not be in your best interest to allow
him to work from a home office if you are his boss. Based on salience levels, we can guess that the
individual will behave like a father instead of getting his work done. Likewise, if we know a student has a
high salient athlete identity, but a low salient student identity, we have a good understanding what she will
be doing on the weekend given her choice. Let’s be clear, salience hierarchies aren’t infallible, they
merely systematize the way we think about behavior and allow us to make better educated
predictions.
As his boss, why wouldn’t you allow a very committed father but uncommitted employee to work from a home office?
© 2005-2006 CDHS/Research Foundation of
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Key Points
- Status/roles can be arranged in a hierarchy of least to most
salient.
- Salience hierarchies are good predictors of an individuals’
behavior. Identities at the top of the hierarchy are most likely
to be expressed in situations where no one identity is
appropriate.
Understanding the Young Adult Transition
- As a social worker, what are the benefits in conceptualizing
the salience hierarchies of those you work with?
© 2005-2006 CDHS/Research Foundation of
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Once again, very salient identities are arguably automatic behaviors. Thus, the identity at the top of the
hierarchy (i.e. the most salient) is most likely to be expressed in a wide range of context. That is, the
individual is most likely to default to the most salient identity when no other identities are more
appropriate.
6. Summary
Let’s review this section on Stryker’s identity salience.
- Identity theorists argue that society is composed of statuses or recognized social positions such as
nurse, husband, quarterback, artist, female, child, or Asian.
- These statuses are associated with expected behaviors called roles. That is, we expect a person with
the status of mail carrier to behave a particular way.
- In simplest terms, statuses are named positions associated with specific role behaviors.
We expect the mail carrier to behave a certain way. The mail carrier
status is associated with a specific role.
- Sometimes, an individual may become so embedded in a status/role that it becomes a salient identity.
That is, the individual tends to act out the status/roles in situations where it is not required; the status/role
is automatic.
- Consider the grandmother that pinches her grown neighbor’s cheek. The grandmother status/role is a
salient identity
© 2005-2006 CDHS/Research Foundation of
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Key Points
- Individuals assume statuses with associated roles.
Sometimes these status/roles become salient identities.
Understanding the Young Adult Transition
- What adult status/roles do adolescents begin assuming
during the transition? What might prevent these status/roles
from becoming salient identities? What are the
consequences?
© 2005-2006 CDHS/Research Foundation of
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We collect status/roles based on the positions we fill in society.
- Every individual has a unique collection of status/roles based on the positions they fill in society.
An individual who works, has a family, volunteers, plays organized sports, and goes to church will have a
complex collection of status/roles.
- More so, not all status/roles are equal. Some status/roles are more salient identities than others.
- For example, two fathers may both be recreational golfers. One father goes to the zoo with his children
on the weekend, the other goes golfing alone. For the first father, the father identity is more salient than
the golfer identity. For the second father, the golfer identity is more salient. Again, both are fathers and
golfers, but the degree of salience differs.
Quantity and quality count.
-The level of salience towards a given identity is based on quantitative and qualitative commitment.
- Quantitative commitment measures how many other individuals are associated with a particular
identity. The professor status/role becomes an important one if there are 500 students depending on you
each day.
- Qualitative commitment measures how important the individuals are associated with a particular
identity? The father status/role becomes important if you are fond of your child.
- Finally, since status/roles vary in the degree of salience we unconsciously attribute to them, Stryker
argues that we can rank status/roles on a salience hierarchy from most salient to least salient. Said
another way, we can rank identities according to importance.
© 2005-2006 CDHS/Research Foundation of
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Key Points
- Individuals have unique collections of status/roles and
attribute unique levels of identity salience to each status/role.
-Salience hierarchies rank our status/roles from most to least
salient.
- Salience is affected by quantitative and qualitative
commitment.
Understanding the Young Adult Transition
- Ultimately, the young adult transition is far more complex
than salience hierarchies, roles, statuses, and identities.
However, Stryker’s work systematizes the way we
conceptualize adolescent behavior. It helps us explain how
adult identities begin taking precedence over adolescent
identities.
© 2005-2006 CDHS/Research Foundation of
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Part IV. Stryker’s Identity Salience
C. Applications
Having discussed the basics of Stryker and Burke’s work, let’s consider some of the implications.
1. Combining Burke’s identity standards and Stryker’s identity
salience.
Stryker’s work more or less picks up where Burke’s leaves off. Burke argued individuals have identity
standards, or ideal expectations for a given identity. Individuals maintain these standards via input,
output, and the comparator. Stryker argued individuals rank status/roles according to salience and
commitment. Ultimately, Stryker’s salience hierarchy is compatible with Burke’s identity standards. We
can think of salience hierarchies as ranked identity standards, with those standards we are most
committed to at the top and least committed to at the bottom.
The master plan. A blueprint for behavior.
What we have is an individual’s hierarchy of ideal types. Said another way, it is a conceptualization of
what an individuals desires to be; the blueprint or master plan that guides a person’s behavior. Despite
the nearly infinite selection of behaviors, an individual strives to achieve identity standards in the order
they appear along the salience hierarchy. It sounds more complicated than it is. In the following pages,
let’s consider a few fictitious scenarios.
© 2005-2006 CDHS/Research Foundation of
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Key Points
- When we merge Stryker and Burke’s work we get a
hierarchy of ideal types. It is a hypothetical conceptualization
of what an individual desires to be.
- Individuals strive to achieve identity standards as they
appear on the salience hierarchy.
Understanding the Young Adult Transition
- A successful transition not only involves developing proper
adult identity standards, it also involves developing appropriate
identity salience. In other words, one must develop adult
status/roles and become committed to them.
© 2005-2006 CDHS/Research Foundation of
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2. Organizing and Conceptualizing
It might be helpful to use your knowledge of Burke and Stryker in a two step process. First, try
organizing and conceptualizing what you know about the scenario. Some questions you may ask
yourself include:
What do you know about the scenario?
- What are some of the status/roles available to the individual?
- Conceptualize individual’s identity standard for each status/role. That is, what does he/she believe is
the ideal type for each identity?
- Why are the individual’s identity standards constructed as they are? What’s influencing his/her
thoughts?
- Often times, our identity standards are influenced by our social networks. Describe the individual’s
social circle. What is the biggest circle? What is the most important circle? How are these circles
influencing the individual’s standards?
- Are the individual’s identity standards healthy? Are they skewed? Why or why not? What are the short
and long term benefits?
- Rank the individual’s identity standards from most to least important. That is, conceptualize the salience
hierarchy. Which identity do you believe is most salient?
Are the individual’s identity standards healthy?
© 2005-2006 CDHS/Research Foundation of
SUNY/BSC College Relations Group
Key Points
- Try using Burke and Stryker’s work in a two step process.
The first step is organizing and conceptualizing what you
know about the scenario.
Understanding the Young Adult Transition
- Adolescents sometimes feel as if the transition is overburdening and will never end. In the same way high school
students may forget that there is life after they graduate, so too
adolescents forget this volatile period of life won’t last forever.
Sometimes they need/want to be reminded of that.
© 2005-2006 CDHS/Research Foundation of
SUNY/BSC College Relations Group
3. Promoting Positive Action
After you’ve organized and conceptualized what you know about the scenario, consider methods for
promoting positive action. Ask yourself, what’s preventing more favorable action? Some specific
questions you might ask yourself include:
What are your recommendations based on your experience and
knowledge in the field?
- What status/roles would the individual benefit from being exposed to? Said another way, what
opportunities for identity development is the individual under-valuing or lacking altogether?
- In what ways can you help re-conceptualize the individual’s skewed identity standards? Based on your
experience and knowledge in the field, what is it that the individual misinterpreting, failing to consider, or
misunderstanding? How can you help promote a more realistic identity standard? How might that benefit
the individual?
- If the individual’s social circles are negatively affecting the individual, in what ways can you prevent the
negative influence of his/her identity standards? Conversely, if the individual’s social circles are positively
affecting the individual, in what ways can you promote the positive influence of his/her identity standards?
- Which identity do you believe should be most salient? Which identity will the individual benefit from the
most? Are there differences in long term and short term benefits?
© 2005-2006 CDHS/Research Foundation of
SUNY/BSC College Relations Group
Key Points
- After you’ve organized and conceptualized what you know
about the scenario, the second step is promoting action. Ask
yourself, what’s preventing more favorable behavior? What
can you do to encourage positive action?
Understanding the Young Adult Transition
- Adolescents who are serious about their studies often have
high aspirations educational and occupational aspirations.
Consequently, they form high occupational identity standards.
There is the possibility that older adolescents will experience
considerable disillusionment and frustration if they are unable
to realize their identity standards. Youths that “settle” for less
than their identity standards (i.e. less desirable job, college,
etc.), may feel unsatisfied and stressed.
© 2005-2006 CDHS/Research Foundation of
SUNY/BSC College Relations Group
Part IV. Stryker’s Identity Salience
D. Case Scenarios: The Young Adult Transition,
Race and Ethnicity
Try organizing and conceptualizing what you know about the following scenario. Then, consider ways
to promote positive action.
1. Agatha
Agatha is 16 years old and wants to begin working in the “real world.” Although she is intelligent and has
the potential to excel in school, her grades are mediocre, mostly due to her poor attendance and lack of
motivation. Agatha, like her closest friends, can’t understand the point of an education and would rather
drop out and begin working full time. They all plan on applying at the local grocery store. Ultimately,
Agatha is eager to be independent, knows she wants to become a mother, knows she doesn’t want to
become a wife, and believes finding a part-time job will be the first step towards becoming an adult. Her
school guidance counselors blame the media for giving Agatha the glorified view of being a young, single,
African American working mother. They believe Agatha is throwing away her natural intelligence for an
unrealistic dream.
She has the potential to excel in school but is lacking motivation. At
16, she wants to be a mom.
In her spare time, Agatha likes to hang out at the neighborhood church where she is a member of the
youth group. She hangs out with other teens her age, many of which are young single moms and/or
employed. Agatha is a single child and lives with her mom in a low income community.
© 2005-2006 CDHS/Research Foundation of
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2. Emily
Emily is 17 years old and is one of the best soccer players in her school’s division. She wants to follow in
her parent’s footsteps by being a college athlete. Her school guidance counselor has already begun
looking for athletic scholarships for her. Unfortunately, she has been overlooked by many colleges
because her grades need improvement. Emily maintains the bare minimum grades to maintain her sports
academic eligibility. About the only thing she’s less invested in is her part-time job at McDonalds. She’s
been working there for three weeks and is ready to quit. She’s had four different jobs in the last seven
months.
She’s a star soccer player that can’t hold a job. She hates being
Filipino and avoids anyone who isn’t white.
Besides soccer, Emily believes she has little else going well for her. Emily is Filipino and gets picked on
for her ethnicity. She wonders why people view her first as a Filipino, and second as a soccer player.
Even her friends remind her she’s different by saying things likes she’s, “the Asian girl of the group.” It
drives her nuts but she’s afraid to say something and risk losing her friends. She has grown to hate her
ethnicity and actively avoids family gatherings with other Filipinos, and at school she avoids anyone who
isn’t white. Emily comes from a middle income family, has never been out on a date, and easily
succumbs to peer pressure.
© 2005-2006 CDHS/Research Foundation of
SUNY/BSC College Relations Group
Part V. Resources
A. Handouts
1. Understanding Burke’s Identity Control Model
2. Understanding Stryker’s Identity Salience
3. Understanding Identity Standards and Salience in Action
4. Standards and Salience Worksheet
B. Useful Articles
© 2005-2006 CDHS/Research Foundation of
SUNY/BSC College Relations Group
Part V. Resources
A. Handouts
Included in the hard copy version of the Training Resource Manual.
© 2005-2006 CDHS/Research Foundation of
SUNY/BSC College Relations Group
Part V. Resources
B. Useful Articles
Burke, Peter J. (Feb., 1997). An identity model for network exchange. American Sociological Review,
62(1), 134-15.
Burke, Peter J., & Stets, Jan E. (Dec., 1999). Trust and commitment through self-verification. Social
Psychology Quarterly, 62(4), 347-366.
Burke, Peter J., Reitzes, Donald C. (Jun. 1981). The link between identity and role performance. Social
Psychology Quarterly, 44(2), 83-92.
Callero, Peter L. (2003). The sociology of the self. Annual Review of Sociology 29, 115-134.
Cast, Alicia D., Stets, Jan E., & Burke, Peter J. (Mar., 1999). Does the self conform to the views of
others? Social Psychology Quarterly, 62(1), 68-82.
Gecas, Viktor (2000). Value identities, self-motives, and social movements. In Stryker, Owens, & White
(Eds.) Self, Identity, and Social Movements (pp. 93-109). Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.
Gecas, Viktor. (1991). The self-concept as a basis for a theory of motivation. In Howard, J. A. & Callero,
P. L. (Ed.), the self-society dynamic: Cognition, emotion and action (pp. 171-187). Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press.
© 2005-2006 CDHS/Research Foundation of
SUNY/BSC College Relations Group
Part V. Resources
B. Useful Articles (continued)
Hogg, Michael A., Terry, Deborah J., & White, Katherine M. (Dec., 1995). A tale of two theories: A critical
comparison of identity theory with social identity theory. Social Psychology Quarterly, 58(4), 255-269.
Sheldon, Stryker & Macke, Anne Statham (1978). Status inconsistency and role conflict. Annual Review
of Sociology, 4, 57-90.
Stets, Jan E., & Burke, Peter J. (Sep., 2000). Identity theory and social identity theory. Social Psychology
Quarterly, 63(3), 224-237.
Stryker, S. & Burke, P. (Dec., 2000). The past, present, and future of identity theory. Social Psychology
Quarterly, 63(4), 284-297.
Stryker, Sheldon, & Serpe, Richard T., (Mar., 1994). Identity salience and psychological centrality:
Equivalent, overlapping, of complementary concepts? Social Psychology Quarterly, 57(1), 16-35.
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SUNY/BSC College Relations Group
End
© 2005-2006 CDHS/Research Foundation of
SUNY/BSC College Relations Group