ABSTRACT
The nature and development of identity has long formed a focus of inquiry for social scientists. Definitive concepts or conclusions remain elusive, however, with intense debate surrounding even the ontological status of ‘the self'. Until recently, such ontological debates took place predominantly outside the psychological domain, with psychologists tacitly accepting the existence of a ‘real self', which could be investigated, and ultimately ‘known'. Thus, social psychological research on identity has primarily addressed ways of conceptualising and accessing an already assumed entity (Gergen, 1994; Sampson, 1989).
