Social Structure vs. Social Interaction in Shaping Identity

Introduction: Symbolic Interactionism and the Self

George Herbert Mead's foundational work has been classified under symbolic interactionism — a classification made by Herbert Blumer, who assumed leadership of Mead's social psychology program following Mead's death and who was a sustained advocate of symbolic interactionism for over five decades. Whether Mead himself would have accepted this label is uncertain; however, more to the point, symbolic interactionism as it has developed over the past sixty years has tended to focus on characteristics of the self far more than on symbols or interaction as Blumer originally recommended. Individuals' behaviors in conversation with others within social settings tend to be governed by their perception of themselves. The self functions as a kind of gyroscope, keeping behavior steady and consistent. Moreover, as has been increasingly emphasized in symbolic interactionist principles, people are motivated to confirm their sense of self in the eyes of others (Mead, 1934, as cited in Burke and Stets, 2009).

This paper examines several newer theories of identity and its characteristics. The most recent work on identity processes has also incorporated newer theorizing in the sociology of emotions, for the evident reason that individuals place their identities at risk throughout interaction. Depending on whether people succeed in confirming — or fail in having others confirm — an identity, the emotions that are aroused will shape the subsequent flow of interaction and, over time, the structure of the person's identity system (Mead, 1934, as cited in Burke and Stets, 2009).

Identity as a Reconceptualization of Self

The concept of identity has become one prominent way to reconceptualize the self in recent decades. In general terms, the self is now understood as a collection or set of identities that may be invoked independently or concurrently in situations. When activated, individuals' actions are oriented toward having others confirm an identity or set of identities. Simultaneously, identities can function as filters for perception and interpretation as people mutually take on each other's roles (Mead, 1934, as cited in Burke and Stets, 2009).

The effort to develop a more sophisticated theory of self has therefore remained the central thrust of interactionist theorizing, and several newer theories of identity dynamics have emerged from this effort.

Stryker's Structural Approach to Identity

In Sheldon Stryker's view, human social behavior is structured by symbolic designations of all facets of the environment, both physical and social (Stryker, 1980). Among the most important of these designations are the symbols and associated meanings attached to the positions that individuals occupy in social systems. These positions carry with them shared expectations about how individuals are to perform their roles and, more generally, how they are to conduct themselves in relation to others. As people designate their own positions, they call upon themselves expectations about how they are to act; as they identify the positions of others, they become aware of the expectations guiding those individuals' behaviors. They also register broader frames of reference and definitions of the situation when these positional designations are made. Most importantly, people designate themselves as objects in relation to their location in structural positions and their understandings of broader situational definitions (Stryker, 1980).

Behavior is, nevertheless, not entirely fixed or determined by these designations and definitions. Individuals are nearly always conscious of expectations related to positions; however, as they present themselves to others, the shape and content of interaction can change. The degree of such transformation varies with the type of larger social framework within which the interaction occurs. Some structures are open and flexible, while others are more closed and rigid. All structures, however, impose limits and constraints on what individuals accomplish when engaged in face-to-face interaction (Macionis and Plummer, 2012).

Stryker argued that identities are aspects of a larger sense of self — specifically, internalized self-designations linked to positions that people occupy in various social contexts. Identity is therefore a vital link between the person and social structure, because identities are designations that individuals make about themselves in relation to their location in social structures and the roles they occupy by virtue of that location. Identities are organized into a salience hierarchy, and those identities ranked higher in the hierarchy are more likely to be invoked than those ranked lower (Back et al., 2012). Not all situations will activate multiple identities, but many will. The salience structure determines which identities individuals invoke as they enact their roles and interpret the behaviors of others. Stryker suggests that when an interaction situation is separated from structural constraints, or when those constraints are unclear, people will have more choices in selecting an identity and will therefore be more likely to activate multiple identities. As a situation becomes more deeply embedded within social systems, however, the salience structure becomes a reliable predictor of which identities will be employed in interaction with others (Stryker, 1980).

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