ABSTRACT
This chapter describes the existing psychological and sociological literature on identity, pointing out its strengths, limitations, and points of potential synthesis. It presents a formulation of Erik Erikson's work on ego identity, showing how it is part of a formal theory of identity formation compatible with symbolic interactionism. On the Eriksonian base the chapter placed elements of a synthesis of psychological and sociological approaches to elaborate aspects of a social psychology of identity formation that is relevant to the conditions of late modern society. This chapter presents the major difference between the approaches taken in psychology and sociology is that psychologists tend to see theory as mere speculation, whereas sociologists rely on theory as a methodological tool. The scientific community, as well as the community at large, is in need of a normative science applied to the study of identity.
