Identity: Sociological Perspectives
Identity consists of a collection of characteristics that have been assigned to us by the other. Together, they form a more-or-less coherent package of ideas about where we come from and where we’re going.
Paul Verhaeghe • What About Me?: The Struggle for Identity in a Market-Based Society
Identity is not a set of fixed attributes, the unchanging essence of the inner self, but a constantly shifting process of positioning...identity is always a never-completed process of becoming — a process of shifting identifications, rather than a singular, complete, finished state of being.
The man who discovered media codes and how to resist them
meaningful identity, belonging, and purpose found in materialism (I am what I have), consumerism (I am meant to acquire), perfectionism (I am what I do), rationalism (I am the final word), stoicism (I am unaffected by you), romanticism (I am my emotions), hedonism (I am my greatest pleasure), or postmodernism (I am what I say I am).
Mason King • A Short Guide to Spiritual Disciplines: How to Become a Healthy Christian
Identities are interfaces. They mediate between your interiority and the outside world. Each identity provides a set of affordances—things they allow you to do. If you have access to the identity “cop,” you can do and say things that others can’t.