ABSTRACT
The way we perceive ourselves, our identity, can have profound effects on the way we feel, think, and act, as well as on what we strive to achieve in life (James, 1892; Leary & Tangney, 2003). Individuals’ self- perceptions are thought to encompass social and role identities, representing the groups and roles they feel tied to, and also a personal identity. Personal identity refers to “a sense of self built up over time as the person embarks on and pursues projects or goals….” ( Hewitt, 1997, p. 93). A personal identity is based on a set of attributes that individuals believe differentiate them from other individuals, and thus reflects their “true self” (Sedikides & Brewer, 2001). We experience our personal identity as a set of dispositional traits or behavioral tendencies that are considered “core” to ourselves (Thoits & Virshup, 1997). Examples may include single attributes such as smart or kind, or more complex constellations of traits and tendencies such as environmentalist or good corporate citizen. In this way, personal identity is a set of labels that individuals come to internalize as descriptive of the self. The designation or attribution of these personal attributes to the self, which we refer to as internalization, is often embedded in a particular social context and asserted during the course of social interaction (Deaux, 1996; Snow & Anderson, 1987). Thus, whereas personal identity is a cognitive representation of oneself, the process by which any particular personal identity comes to be internalized is decidedly social.
