Comparing and integrating major theoretical perspectives on identity formation

What is it about?

In this article we compare and contrast four major, different theoretical perspectives on identity formation that operate in the Eriksonian psychosocial tradition: identity status theory, narrative identity, Eudaimonic identity, and sociocultural theory. We discuss the challenges inherent in integrating across these different perspectives and suggest a dialectic approach, which foregrounds contradictions between them, can be generative for future conceptual and empirical research. We also discuss validity concerns inherent in efforts to integrate across identity theories.

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