Identification

Identification can be defined as a relational process rooted in group collectivities and social structures, by which one ascribes himself or herself to a social group, a social group attaches meaning to itself in ways that mark the group as distinctive, or meaning is assigned to an individual or social group from outside of the group. Identification occurs when, for example, an individual locates herself as a lesbian and as having ties to a sexualities group on campus, to a local gay pride event, or to a statewide advocacy group. Identification also occurs when a gay/lesbian/bisexual/transgender group on a college or university campus educates others about homophobic violence, thereby attaching a distinctive meaning to the group's definition of itself. Finally, identification occurs as a designation from without. For example, until 1973, the American Psychiatric Association identified gays and lesbians as having a mental disorder and thus assigned meaning to gays and lesbians as a group.

Two primary distinctions can be made between identity and identification. First, theories of identity focus, in part, on individuation from a group, or the ways in which one is different from others. Second, examinations of identity have often, especially in psychological frameworks, focused primarily or exclusively on the individual. In contrast, theories of identification generally stress the ways in which members of a group have a tie that establishes attachment to, similarity to, or shared values with a collectivity. There is also an explicit insistence on the significance of the social and not only or primarily the individual. Other common features of understandings of identification assert that it (a) is a process and an outcome, (b) is made up of complex interactions that are at once a negotiation of individuals and collectives, and (c) can be assumed or chosen from within or imposed from without. This entry focuses on three different approaches to identification: the psychological, the social, and the critical.

An emphasis on the individual is most apparent in psychological approaches to identification. At a broad level, those working in the field of psychology assert that identification occurs when a person acts on his or her connection to a role or group. Further, this process of identification stresses the autonomy of the individual in the process of identification. Psychologists, and particularly those who work in the field of social psychology, also claim that identifications can be both separate from, or unified and integrated with, an individual's other identifications. Identification can be grounded in intrinsic or extrinsic motivation. Intrinsic motivation occurs when an individual does an activity because that activity is enjoyable for its own sake. Related to identification, intrinsic motivation occurs when an individual identifies with, for example, a gay/lesbian/bisexual/transgender group on campus for the pleasure of being with that group. When an individual is extrinsically motivated, he or she chooses to act because of the likelihood of a useful outcome. Extrinsic motivation is the basis for identification when an individual identifies with a group because it has been integrated as part of one's value system, an important aspect of an individual's sense of self. In both cases, for social psychologists, identification rests on autonomous choices and the assumption of self-determined behavior.

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