The Influence of Role Partners and Generalized Others in Reflected Appraisal and Identity Processes

• In Event: 3481 - Section on Social Psychology Refereed Roundtables (cosponsored with Section on Sociology of Emotions)
  In Refereed Roundtable 100min: Table 07. Conceptualizing Social Distance

Abstract

Decades of symbolic interactionist theory and research has emphasized the ways in which others influence the development and maintenance of the self. One such influence is reflected appraisals, or individuals’ perceptions of others’ responses to them. Recent research within identity theory finds variation in the impact of reflected appraisals on self-views and other outcomes depending on the source of reflected appraisal and the identity involved. I extend this line of work by investigating reflected appraisals from specific role partners, group-based generalized others, and society-at-large generalized others in terms of their association with self-views and their impact on psychological distress when they are implicated in identity discrepancies, or inconsistencies between self-views and reflected appraisals. I investigate these relationships in six adult identities (spouse/partner, friend, family, worker, volunteer/social group member, and religious/spiritual) among a national probability sample of adults in the United States. Findings suggest that reflected appraisals from different sources are similarly associated with self-views in all but one of the six identities. Identity discrepancies are associated with psychological distress in four of the six identities, but the patterns of relationships vary by identity and source of reflected appraisal. Implications of these findings for identity theory and research are discussed.

Author

• Mary Gallagher, Kent State University at Stark