Identity theory explains social behaviour in terms of reciprocal relationships between self and society (Hogg et al 1995). It is embedded within the symbolic interactionist theoretical perspective and is based upon Meade's ideas that
'society shape, self shapes behaviour' (Meade 1934, p181). Underpinning the
theory is the understanding that individuals have many identities that are based upon networks of relationships in which they occupy positions and play roles. These social roles such as friend, student, parent form the basis of a person's self-identity, and they are linked to positions within a social structure, and provide individuals with the meaning and guidance necessary for the development and maintenance of self-concept and wellbeing (Haines and Saba 2012). The individual identities are internalisations of these social roles, and the role labels convey meanings and expectations of behaviours for those who occupy the roles. Each role is externally defined by others expectations, the
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expectations determine normative behaviours associated with the role and are the standard for group membership, the identity standards (Stets and Burke 2000; Stryker and Burke 2000).
Individuals will define their own identities internally as they accept or reject the role expectations as a part of who they are. The identity standard for a role, is the reference point against which an individual verifies their internalised identity (Stets and Burke 2000; Stryker and Burke 2000). As different roles are adopted each internalised identity will subscribe to a different set of identity standard rules. Once an individual has accepted and internalised expectations for the role as a part of his/her identity, that then becomes a part of the cognitive framework for interpreting new experiences (Colbeck 2008). In the context of Indian physiotherapy the identity standard could be considered to be the normative behaviours expected of a physiotherapist in the different stages of the professional development and career i.e. student, intern, new graduate, junior, senior. Different clinical departments would, therefore, have different identity standards according to the culture of the department and an individual's role within the department. This leads to the notion of different meanings and expected behaviour in different work environments that an Indian physiotherapist would seek to verify his/her identity against. The challenges for the Indian physiotherapy graduate would be moving between these environments and the associated differences in behaviour expectations and role meaning, and aligning their personal professional identity as a physiotherapist with the role expectations.
As an individual has multiple identities forming their personal self identity they are organised in a hierarchy of saliency (Deaux and Burke 2010). Identity salience is linked to the stability of the role and the associated identity and how it aligns with other identities that have similar meanings. Identities that entail
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significant social and personal costs in no longer fulfilling them have higher salience, as do those to which an individual is committed and those that have common frames of reference and meaning (Haines and Saba 2012).
Interactions with others are an essential source of feedback to compare our self-perceptions of our internalised self identity and associated meanings to the identity standard (Stets and Burke 2000; Stryker and Burke 2000). Where there is congruence there is verification of the self-identity and this is usually associated with a positive emotion and increased self-esteem (Deaux and Burke 2010). Where there is a discrepancy between the internalised self identity and the role identity standard, then the individual must adopt a behaviour to repair the discrepancy; they either need to alter the situation, or to create a new situation, until they can verify the identities' alignment and achieve salience (Burke 2006; Haines and Saba 2012). A large or persistent lack of congruency will create distress until the situation can be resolved. Self-verification is constantly in motion, therefore regular feedback is needed, which is gained from social interactions. Individuals place different value on various forms of feedback, depending upon how much they respect who is providing the feedback. Individuals will gravitate towards those who provide feedback that affirms their self worth therefore their self identity (Deaux and Burke 2010). They will select roles and situations that are likely to be salient with their self identity, therefore they can enact that identity. All situations and roles will involve a social structure, which consists of other individuals, their associated roles, their internalised self identities and meanings and therefore the identity standard (Stryker and Burke 2000).
In summary, taking a bricolage approach to characterising identity, it may be considered that identity is a continuum between sameness and difference, and that we have multiple identities. Identity is influenced by social context and it is fluid; responding to the external context, social perceptions and self perception
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(Bauman 2004). Self-identity is about knowing and understanding ones-self and maintaining a consistent dialogue. It is dependent upon experience, biography and reflective awareness, and it influences how we engage with the world (Giddens 1991). Personal identity relates to distinct traits by which a person is known, it incorporates relationships and will be determined according to perceptions of the response of others. It relates closely to social identity which concerns self-categorisation with groups or identification with roles. Professional identity links with both personal and social identity constructs, which in turn will inform an individual's self-identity (Stets and Burke 2000).
6.4. Transforming Professional Identity: The Indian Physiotherapists