Identity, Capital Model of

Identity and Individualization

The identity capital model is a social-psychological approach to identity formation that integrates (developmental) psychological and (contextual) sociological understandings of identity. Sociologically, it is based on the assumption that, as a result of global economic and political changes that have eroded traditional normative and community structures, life course contexts in late-modern (contemporary Western) societies have become more “individualized.” Beck (1992) views individualization as an function of cultural destructuring processes: As a society undergoes a reorganization, old norms become obsolete, leaving people to their own devices in making major life decisions, including finding communities within which to establish integrative bonds. Individualized life courses are those involving “self-styled career/lifestyle trajectories based on … personal preferences and choices” (Côté, 2002, p. 118; to be distinguished from “individuation,” the process involving the boundary between self and other). Accordingly, an emerging normative course of maturation in late-modern societies compels people to develop themselves as self-determining, independent “individuals,” especially in terms of negotiating their own life courses (setting and achieving goals).

The stances that can be taken toward an individualized life course can range from default individualization—or following paths of least resistance and effort, allowing decisions to made for one, and passively accepting identities, which can lead to a deferred formation of an adult identity and adult community commitments—through developmental individualization, or the active, strategic approach to personal growth and a life project in an adult community. Thus, variations in developmental-default individualization are useful in conceptualizing the range of agentic potential and point to the possibility that while in principle “the individual is an active agent in his or her own development” (Lerner, 2002, p. 32; a basic tenet of developmental contextualism), in reality individuals can vary widely in how active they are in all developmental contexts.

Identity Capital Resources

Psychologically, the identity capital model proposes that the personal resources acquired developmentally become important in late-modern contexts, particularly those psychological resources that can facilitate the agentic movement through, and negotiation with, various social contexts. In this sense, certain internal resources acquired at one point of development are postulated to enable subsequent agentic mastery of later tasks as required by late-modern contexts. To cite a couple of examples, higher levels of ego strength associated with early task mastery can help the person undertake more challenging tasks that can lead to future benefits; and a greater sense of purpose in life associated with task mastery can facilitate [Page 558]long-term planning, increasing the likelihood of accomplishing later higher-order personal and professional goals (cf. Benson, 1997, on developmental assets associated with social competencies and positive identity).

Identity capital resources vary in degree of tangibility: tangible resources include the possessions, social networks, and behaviors of individuals, whereas intangible resources constitute their personality attributes. Tangible attributes comprise financial resources, educational credentials, group memberships, and parental social status, along with impression management skills and social skills. Intangible resources include capacities such as ego strength, an internal locus of control, self-esteem, a sense of purpose in life, social perspective taking, critical thinking abilities, and moral reasoning abilities (Côté, 1997). The common feature of intangible attributes is that they can afford the person the cognitive and behavioral capacities with which to understand and negotiate the various obstacles and opportunities commonly encountered throughout the late-modern life course, with its decoupled and multifaceted transitions (cf. Ferrer-Wreder et al., 2002).

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