Self and Interaction in an Ecology of Identities

研究表明，人们通常会采取行动，以维持他们在社会身份中的形象--比如父亲或儿子、老板或雇员、朋友或对手。 当前的身份理论假设，人们在每一种社会情境中只看到自己的一种身份，他们的行为受到支持这种身份的努力的指导。 最近，PI开始考虑更复杂的情况，即人们同时看到自己有两个或更多的身份。 例如，一个警察拦住了一个超速驾驶者，结果发现这个超速驾驶者是他的叔叔，他同时是执法人员和侄子。 在这项研究中，研究人员将扩展他们的研究，以研究什么样的社会制度使人们更有可能或更少地拥有多种身份。 他们将开发一个理论来回答这个问题，使用计算机模拟和原则，关于群体和网络如何在社会系统中相关。 他们还调查了什么样的情况会导致人们一次扮演多个身份，以及这些情况如何影响他们的感受。 亚利桑那大学的学生、教师和工作人员发现自己的一个数据集将被用来测试多重身份占用导致压力和复杂情绪体验的预测。

Research shows that people usually act to maintain their image of themselves in social identities that they occupy- identities like father or son, boss or employee, friend or adversary. Current theories of identity assume that people only see themselves in one identity in each social situation, and that their behavior is guided by attempts to support that identity. Recently, the PIs have begun to consider more complex situations where people see themselves in two or more identities at the same time. For example, a policeman who stops a speeder who turns out to be his uncle is in a situation where he is simultaneously a law enforcement officer and a nephew. In this research the investigators will extend their research to examine what kinds of social systems make people more or less likely to have many identities. They will develop a theory to answer this question using computer simulations and principles about how groups and networks are related in social systems. They also investigate what kinds of situations lead people to enact more than one identity at a time, and how these situations affect how they feel. A data set that samples the situations in which University of Arizona students, faculty and staff found themselves will be used to test predictions that multiple-identity occupancy causes stress and the experience of mixed emotions.