ABSTRACT
This chapter refers to subjective identity and objective identity to refer to those aspects of identity that are connected to the "I" and "me", respectively, within the context of interethnic marriage. Moreover, Rosenblatt and colleagues did not link Erving Goffman's interactionist role theory to their results concerning identity issues among persons in interethnic marriage. The quote from Rosenblatt can be interpreted as consistent with a bidirectional model perspective on objective identity and interethnic marriage. One shall tread cautiously in drawing inferences regarding aspects of the objective self as reflected in interethnic marriage. Specifically, Erik Erikson's body self may be analogous to William James's material self; Erikson's role images may be analogous to James's social self; and Erikson's "ideas, images, and configurations" may be analogous to James's spiritual self. The belief that individuals' self-presentation largely reflects individuals' preexisting identities is fundamental to George Herbert Mead's social behaviorism and Goffman's interactionist role theory, both of which contain elements of symbolic interactionism.
