Identity and Individualization The identity capital model is a social-psychological approach to identity formation that integrates (developmental) psychological and (contextual) sociological understandings of identity. Sociologically, it is based on the assumption that, as a result of global economic and political changes that have eroded traditional normative and community structures, life course contexts in late-modern (contemporary Western) societies have become more “individualized.” Beck (1992) views individualization as an function of cultural destructuring processes: As a society undergoes a reorganization, old norms become obsolete, leaving people to their own devices in making major life decisions, including finding communities within which to establish integrative bonds. [Source: Encyclopedia of Applied Developmental Science; Identity, Capital Model of]
capital model of identity
concepts
developmental processes