Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in
Book cover

Identity and Symbolic Interaction pp 365–385Cite as

Structural Symbolic Interaction and Identity Theory: Current Achievements and Challenges for the Future

  • Chapter
  • First Online:

Abstract

This chapter summarizes the findings in prior chapters of this book and synthesizes these chapters’ theoretical and methodological contributions to advancing identity theory and structural symbolic interaction. Consistent with the book’s core thematic, this chapter discusses contributions made by prior chapters both to the foundational core of identity theory and to efforts to bridge between identity theory and structural symbolic interaction and other theories and paradigms in social psychology, sociology, and the social and behavioral sciences more broadly. The chapter argues that priorities for future research include addressing explicitly the question of where identity standards come from, the causes and consequences of commitment, and more generally, issues at the interface of identity theory’s structural and perceptual control research agendas. The chapter also emphasizes the utility of identity theory for answering important questions in many areas of macro-sociology and urges more engagement between social psychologists of identity and macro-sociologists researching such topics as immigration, education, health, crime, law and deviance, culture, the state and politics, inequality, including class, race and gender, networks, social movements, and religion.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.

Chapter
USD   29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD   84.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD   109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD   109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Learn about institutional subscriptions

References

  • Akerlof, G. A., & Kranton, R. (2000). Economics and identity. The Quarterly Journal of Economics, 115(3), 715–753.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Akerlof, G. A., & Kranton, R. (2010). Identity economics: How our identities shape our work, wages, and well-being. Princeton: Princeton University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Asencio, E. K., & Burke, P. J. (2011). Does incarceration change the criminal identity: A synthesis of labeling and identity theory perspectives on identity change. Sociological Perspectives, 54(2), 163–182.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brenner, P. S., Serpe, R. T., & Stryker, S. (2014). The causal ordering of prominence and salience in identity theory: An empirical examination. Social Psychology Quarterly, 77, 231–252.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brenner, P. S., Serpe, R. T., & Stryker, S. (2018). Role-specific self-efficacy as precedent and product of the identity model. Sociological Perspectives, 61, 57–80.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Burke, P. J. (1991). Identity processes and social stress. American Sociological Review, 56, 836–849.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Burke, P. J., & Reitzes, D. C. (1991). An identity theory approach to commitment. Social Psychology Quarterly, 54, 239–251.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Burke, P. J., & Stryker, S. (2016). Identity theory: Progress in relating two strands. In J. E. Stets & R. T. Serpe (Eds.), New directions in identity theory and research (pp. 657–682). New York, NY: Oxford University Press.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Cameron, C. (2016). Complex contagion in social networks. Ph.D. Dissertation, Cornell University, May, 2016.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cast, A. D. (2003). Power and the ability to define the situation. Social Psychology Quarterly, 66(3), 185–201.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Emirbayer, M., & Goodwin, J. (1994). Network analysis, culture and the problem of agency. American Journal of Sociology, 99(6), 1411–1454.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fox, C. (2012). Three worlds of relief: Race, immigration and the American welfare state from the progressive era to the new deal. Princeton: Princeton University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Friedman, D., & McAdam, D. (1992). Collective identity and activism: Networks, choices, and the life of a social movement. In A. D. Morris & C. M. Mueller (Eds.), Frontiers in Social Movement Theory (pp. 156–173). New Haven, CT.: Yale University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Giles, M. W., & Hertz, K. (1994). Racial threat and partisan identification. American Political Science Review, 88(2), 317–326.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gould, R. V. (1991). Multiple networks and mobilization in the Paris Commune, 1871. American Journal of Sociology, 56(6), 716–729.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gould, R. V. (1992). Trade cohesion, class unity and urban insurrection: Artisanal activism in the Paris Commune. American Journal of Sociology, 98(4), 721–754.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Granovetter, M. (1973). The strength of weak ties. American Journal of Sociology, 78(6), 1360–1380.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Haney, L. (2002). Inventing the needy: Gender and the politics of welfare in Hungary. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Heise, D. R. (1979). Understanding events: Affect and the construction of social action. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Horenczyk, G. (1989). The actualization of national identity. Unpublished doctoral dissertation. The Hebrew University, Jerusalem, Israel.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hunt, M. O., & Reichelmann, A. (2019). Racial identity and racial attitudes among white Americans. In J. Stets & R. Serpe (Eds.), Identities in everyday life (pp. 217–238). UK: Oxford University Press.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Kalkhoff, W., Serpe, R. T., Pollock, J., Miller, B., & Pfeiffer, M. (2016). Neural processing of identity-relevant feedback. In J. E. Stets & R. T. Serpe (Eds.), New directions in identity theory and research (pp. 195–238). New York: Oxford University Press.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Lamont, M. (2000). The dignity of working men: Morality and the boundaries of race, class and immigration. New York, NY: Russell Sage Foundation.

    Google Scholar 

  • Levitsky, S. (2014). Caring for our own: Why is there no demand for American social welfare rights?. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Markowski, K. L., & Serpe, R. T. (2018). Identity theory paradigm integration: Assessing the role of prominence and salience in the verification and self-esteem relationship. Advances in Group Processes, 35, 75–102.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McAdam, D. (1988). Freedom summer. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • McAdam, D., & Paulsen, R. (1993). Specifying the relationship between social ties and activism. American Journal of Sociology, 99, 640–667.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McCall, G. J., & Simmons, J. L. (1978). Identities and interactions: An examination of human associations in everyday life, Revised Edition. New York, NY: Free Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • McLeod, J. D. (2012). The meanings of stress: Expanding the stress process model. Society and Mental Health, 2, 172–186.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mead, G. H. (1934). Mind, self, and society: From the standpoint of a social behaviorist. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Miles, A. (2014). Addressing the problem of cultural anchoring: An identity-based model of culture in action. Social Psychology Quarterly, 77, 210–227.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Quadagno, J. (1994). The color of welfare: How racism undermined the war on poverty. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Robertson, C. B. (2009). Judgment, identity and independence. Connecticut Law Review, 42, 1–89.

    Google Scholar 

  • Robertson, C. B. (2011). Organizational management of conflicting professional identities. Case Western Reserve Journal of International Law, 43, 603–623.

    Google Scholar 

  • Robinson, D., Smith-Lovin, L, & Wisecup, A. K. (2008). Affect control theory. In J. Stets & J. H. Turner (Eds.), Handbook of the sociology of emotions (pp. 179–202). Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Simon, R. W. (1995). Gender, multiple roles, role meanings, and mental health. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 36, 182–194.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Simon, R. W., & Marcussen, K. (1999). Marital transitions, marital beliefs, and mental health. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 40(2), 111–125.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stets, J. E. (2003). Justice, emotion, and identity theory. In Burke, P. J., Owens, T. J., Thoits, P. A., & Serpe. R. T. (Eds.), Advances in identity theory and research (pp. 105–122). New York: Kluwer Academic/Plenum.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stets, J. E., Brenner, P. S., Burke, P. J., & Serpe, R. T. (2017). The science identity and entering a science occupation. Social Science Research, 64, 1–14.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stets, J. E., & Burke, P. J. (2014). Emotions and identity non-verification. Social Psychology Quarterly, 77, 387–410.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stets, J. E., Burke, P. J. Serpe, R. T. & Stryker, R. (Forthcoming). Getting identity theory (IT) right. Advances in Group Processes.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stets, J. E., & Serpe, R. T. (2013). Identity theory. In J. DeLamater & A. Ward (Eds.), Handbook of social psychology (2nd ed., pp. 31–60). New York, N.Y: Springer.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Stryker, R., & Stryker S. (2016). Is Mead’s framework still sound? In J. E. Stets & R. T. Serpe (Eds.), New directions in identity theory and research (pp. 31–57). New York, NY.: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stryker, R., Conway-Silva, B, & Kaul, V. (2019). Calling out our own? Shared versus oppositional partisanship and perceptions of political incivility. Paper presented at National Institute for Civil Discourse (NICD) Workshop, September 26–28, 2019.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stryker, S. (1968). Identity salience and role performance: The relevance of symbolic interaction theory for family research. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 30, 558–564.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stryker, S. (2000). Identity competition: Key to differential social movement participation? In S. Stryker, T. J. Owens & R. W. White (Eds.), Self, identity and social movements (pp. 21–39). Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stryker S. (2002 [1980]). Symbolic interactionism: A social structural version. Caldwell, N. J.: Blackburn Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stryker, S. (2008). From Mead to a structural symbolic interactionism and beyond. Annual Review of Sociology, 34, 15–31.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stryker, S., & Serpe, R. T. (1982). Commitment, identity salience and role behavior. In W. Ickes & E. Knowles (Eds.), Personality, roles and social behavior (pp. 199–218). New York, NY.: Springer-Verlag.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Stryker, S., & Serpe, R. T. (1994). Identity salience and psychological centrality: Equivalent, overlapping or complementary concepts? Social Psychology Quarterly, 57, 16–34.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Thoits, P. A. (1992). Identity structures and psychological well-being: gender and marital status comparisons. Social Psychology Quarterly, 55(3), 236–256.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Thoits P. A. (2003). Personal agency in the accumulation of multiple role identities. In P. J. Burke, T. J. Owens, R. T. Serpe & P. A. Thoits (Eds.) Advances in identity theory and research (pp. 179–94). New York: Kluwer Academic/Plenum.

    Google Scholar 

  • Thoits, P. A. (2013). Volunteer identity salience, role enactment, and well-being: Comparisons of three salience constructs. Social Psychology Quarterly, 76(4), 373–398.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Sociology, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, 47907, USA

    Robin Stryker

  2. Kent State University, Kent, OH, 44242, USA

    Richard T. Serpe

  3. Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, 47405, USA

    Brian Powell

Authors
  1. Robin Stryker
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Richard T. Serpe
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Brian Powell
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Robin Stryker .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Sociology, Kent State University, Kent, OH, USA

    Richard T. Serpe

  2. Department of Sociology, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, USA

    Robin Stryker

  3. Department of Sociology, Indiana University Bloomington, Bloomington, IN, USA

    Brian Powell

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2020 Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Stryker, R., Serpe, R.T., Powell, B. (2020). Structural Symbolic Interaction and Identity Theory: Current Achievements and Challenges for the Future. In: Serpe, R.T., Stryker, R., Powell, B. (eds) Identity and Symbolic Interaction. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-41231-9_14

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation