- People usually experience their identities as being stable across time and space rather than dynamic
- This is useful because it allows people the ability to be able to predict what their future preferences will be based on what they prefer now
- Second, it allows for the ability to take action in the present for the sake of one’s future self
- Third, it lessens the extent to which people need to seek out additional information for identity-based choices and sense making

Johns Hopkins University

People construct the meaning and implications of their identities depending on the context (Oyserman et al., 2012). They may experience their identites as stabel but in practice, the meaning they make out of their identities varies. For example, one might think "being British" means to feel connected to Europe. In a different situation, the same person might think think that "being British" means to feel disconnected from Europe.

dynamic construction of one's identities as a key feature of IBM

Oyserman, D., & Dawson, A. (2020). Your fake news, our facts: Identity-based motivation shapes what we believe, share, and accept. In R. Greifeneder, M. Jaffé, E. J. New- man, & N. Schwarz (Eds.), The psychology of fake news: Accepting, sharing, and correcting misinformation (pp. 173–195). London: Routledge. 

Learn Before

Related