Identity

[Page 939]The term identity is, perhaps, most well-known from identity politics, or the ways in which people identify themselves in terms of the demographic features of their social characteristics and group affiliations (e.g., on the basis of age, generation, gender, sexuality, ethnicity, region, nationality, immigration status, religion, socioeconomic class, or disability), any of which can intersect with any of these others factors. The term culture is often applied to such features, although often only euphemistically. This entry offers a definition of identity and examines its connection to development and concepts of cognitive self and gender. This entry then explores how identity has been explored within psychoanalysis. The entry concludes with a discussion of identity and difference.