People cope with threats to their identities in many different ways. Until the original publication of this title in 1986, there had been no theoretical framework within which to analyse their strategies for doing this, or to examine the nature and impact of the threatening experiences themselves. In this elegant and original book, Glynis Breakwell proposes an integrative model which explores the structure of identity and the principles directing its development. Focusing on examples of threat such as unemployment, sexually atypical employment and ethnic marginality, Breakwell examines the relation of the individual to social change. Through her sensitive use of case studies, she enables the victims of threat to speak for themselves about their experiences and feelings. Their reactions illustrate her proposed framework of three levels of coping strategies – intra-psychic, interpersonal and intergroup – and her assessment of the factors which limit the success of such strategies. The case studies also point to new evidence on the effects of unemployment and the impact of youth training schemes at the time. This title would have been essential reading for a range of undergraduate courses in social and abnormal psychology and individual differences, as well as for postgraduate training in clinical and medical psychology at the time. Social workers, counsellors and all those concerned with the care of the sufferers of threatened identities will still find it both informative and influential.

People cope with threats to their identities in many different ways. Until the original publication of this title in 1986, there had been no theoretical framework within which to analyse their strategies for doing this, or to examine the nature and impact of the threatening experiences themselves. In this elegant and original book, Glynis Breakwell proposes an integrative model which explores the structure of identity and the principles directing its development. Focusing on examples of threat such as unemployment, sexually atypical employment and ethnic marginality, Breakwell examines the relation of the individual to social change. Through her sensitive use of case studies, she enables the victims of threat to speak for themselves about their experiences and feelings. Their reactions illustrate her proposed framework of three levels of coping strategies – intra-psychic, interpersonal and intergroup – and her assessment of the factors which limit the success of such strategies. The case studies also point to new evidence on the effects of unemployment and the impact of youth training schemes at the time. This title would have been essential reading for a range of undergraduate courses in social and abnormal psychology and individual differences, as well as for postgraduate training in clinical and medical psychology at the time. Social workers, counsellors and all those concerned with the care of the sufferers of threatened identities will still find it both informative and influential.

We live in an ever-changing social world, which constantly demands adjustment to our identities and actions. Advances in science, technology and medicine, political upheaval, and economic development are just some examples of social change that can impact upon how we live our lives, how we view ourselves and each other, and how we communicate. Three decades after its first appearance, identity process theory remains a vibrant and useful integrative framework in which identity, social action and social change can be collectively examined. This book presents some of the key developments in this area. In eighteen chapters by world-renowned social psychologists, the reader is introduced to the major social psychological debates about the construction and protection of identity in face of social change. Contributors address a wide range of contemporary topics - national identity, risk, prejudice, intractable conflict and ageing - which are examined from the perspective of identity process theory.

This practical text introduces students to all the principal data collection methods and data analyses used in social psychology. A student-friendly introduction to the data collection methods and data analyses used in social psychology. Describes the principal research methods and shows how they can be applied to particular research questions. Each chapter is written by a psychologist well known for using the method they describe. Methods presented include conducting surveys, constructing questionnaires, facilitating focus groups, running interviews, and using archival recordings. Topics used to illustrate these methods include identity processes, attribution, stereotyping, attitude change, social influence, communication, and group dynamics. Includes step-by-step exercises for students and notes for course leaders.

What do we know about identity processes and how does this relate to the world we live in? This book answers this question by considering the contemporary major developments in identity process theory – a framework founded by the author in the 1980s for understanding the coping strategies used when identity is threatened. With a focus on issues ranging from group conflict to dementia and mental illness, as well as contemporary events and phenomena such as the rise of the Digital Era and the COVID-19 pandemic, Identity explores how building and defending a unique identity motivates our thoughts, feelings, and actions. Breakwell brings together ideas of personal identity and social identity to show us how they intersect with one another. This book is essential reading for psychology students and researchers, and those interested in the concept of identity in the social sciences more broadly. Dame Glynis M. Breakwell is Professor Emeritus at the University of Bath and has Visiting Professorships at Imperial College, London and University of Surrey.

Coping with Lack of Control in a Social World offers an integrated view of cutting-edge research on the effects of control deprivation on social cognition. The book integrates multi-method research demonstrating how various types of control deprivation, related not only to experimental settings but also to real life situations of helplessness, can lead to variety of cognitive and emotional coping strategies at the social cognitive level. The comprehensive analyses in this book tackle issues such as: Cognitive, emotional and socio-behavioral reactions to threats to personal control How social factors aid in coping with a sense of lost or threatened control Relating uncontrollability to powerlessness and intergroup processes How lack of control experiences can influence basic and complex cognitive processes This book integrates various strands of research that have not yet been presented together in an innovative volume that addresses the issue of reactions to control loss in a socio-psychological context. Its focus on coping as an active way of confronting a sense of uncontrollability makes this a unique, and highly original, contribution to the field. Practicing psychologists and students of psychology will be particularly interested readers.