Abstract
Identity is a controversial concept and there is no consensus about the phenomena it refers to. Though it is widely used by different researchers, others, because of its supposed vagueness, reject it as a useful scientific concept. It is used as a descriptive term— “adolescents are in an identity crisis”—but also as an explanation—“adolescence is a difficult period because adolescents have to achieve their own identity.”
The author wishes to thank the participants of the NATO workshop and colleagues of the Developmental and Experimental Clinical Psychology section of the Psychology Department of the University of Groningen for their comments on an earlier draft of this chapter. Especially the contribution of Saskia Kunnen to the ideas presented in the last section is greatly appreciated.
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Bosma, H.A. (1995). Identity and Identity Processes: What are we talking about?. In: Oosterwegel, A., Wicklund, R.A. (eds) The Self in European and North American Culture: Development and Processes. NATO ASI Series, vol 84. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-0331-2_2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-0331-2_2
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