The Five Identity Structures

Mark Bracher contemplating about identity structures, clearly.

Oh, am I ever enjoying Bracher's book titled Radical Pedagogy: Identity, Generativity, and Social Transformation!! Despite the fact that- as mentioned in class- the book may not present as "radical" as it could be, I find many of the concepts within it to be extremely refreshing and eye-opening. One of those being the idea that as one's identity develops, one's "center of gravity" increases in "complexity and flexibility of structure that can integrate a greater diversity of components into a coherent whole" (Bracher, 2006, p. 62). According to Robert Kegan (seen on the right), there are five increasingly complex structures of identity that become more secure and resilient. This, my friends, I found fascinating. In order to better understand these structures, I found well-known individuals that I felt were good examples of each. LET'S BEGIN.

Lindsay Lohan in her natural environment

Firstly there's the 'Impulsive' identity structure. As summarized by Kegan, you might find a person with an impulsive identity structure saying "I am my momentary impulses. I experience any thwarting of them as a threat to my very being, and I will fight that thwarting force." These individuals are not able to truly listen to the "teacher" or other people, and may be linked to social problems as they truly identify with their impulses (I am my impulses). This reminded me of good ol' Lindsay Lohan. Ah yes, the celebrity who keeps on making poor, impulsive choices despite the fact that virtually everyone around her has been telling her to clean up her act. Apparently, despite being arrested several times and going to jail and rehab as a result, she has yet to learn her lesson, unable to listen to the "teachers" around her.

Stephen Harper throwing snowballs to illustrate his disapproval of others' projects

The second identity structure is the 'Imperial' structure. An individual with this identity might think (subconsciously, of course) "I am my current ongoing need, intention, or project and am able to sacrifice my impulses, which I now have rather than am, for the purpose of enacting my need, intention, or project. I will fight anyone or anything that opposes my current need, intention, or project". This description reminded me of our very own PM, Stephen Harper. Yeah, yeah. I know we all have different opinions, but I believe that to a certain extent, politicians prioritize their own "projects" over others because they so identify with their own goals and will sacrifice the desires of others to attain that. For example, Harper pushes for crime bills that are much stricter, which is something that many Canadians disagree with. Regardless of the existence of this group of people who disapprove of Harper's new laws, he continues to pursue his own wishes in order to produce accomplishments as a Prime Minister, perhaps without even realizing of the larger context of the issues at hand. Bracher states that these people may be oblivious to human suffering that may result from their work. I'll leave that for you to decide..

Whitney Houston looking for true love

The third identity structure is called the 'Interpersonal' structure. They may have thoughts similar to "I am my relationship with another person and am willing to sacrifice everything else, including my impulses and ongoing needs, to sustain this relationship and the other person who is essential to it. I will fight anything that threatens the relationship". Unlike the previous identity structure, these individuals take into account other people, aware of the value of interpersonal relationships and subjectivity of ones own needs. However, these people may also run into issues by valuing these relationships more than anything else, which may cause them to make poor decisions for themselves. I felt that someone with this identity structure might be Whitney Houston. Although she had so much to live for, it seemed as if her preoccupation with acquiring true love and being loved unconditionally by all those around her took its toll, causing her (according to media sources, whoever they are..) to become depressed; she simply ignored her own essential needs for that of another person. According to Bracher, this depression might be provoked by a certain loss, which may, for this lady, have been the loss of her relationship with Bobby Brown. Though these individuals can work to develop an identity structure that isn't so reliant on interpersonal relationships, unfortunately for Whitney, she was never given the chance to do so.

The Westboro Baptist church demonstrating their firm beliefs

The fourth identity structure is called the 'Institutional' or 'Systemic' structure. This would represent someone who may think "I am the system in which each of my multiple interpersonal relationships, my projects, and my impulses has a place, but none of which by itself constitutes who I am. I will sacrifice everything not for a particular relationship, project, or impulse, but rather for the system or institution that I am or that I have identified with, and I will fight anything that opposes it". In other words, these people tend to identify more so with their ideals/ideologies rather than their relationships, and would prioritize them accordingly. This was an easy example to find: the Westboro Baptist Church members. It is pretty clear to me that these individuals value fighting for their beliefs and have sacrificed many interpersonal relationships (or potential ones, at least) to do so. They realize that although they might not get immediate gratification for their actions (such as when they protest at the funeral of an LGBT solider), they follow through with them in the hopes of gratification in the future (going to heaven, for example) at the expense of the emotions of others (those attending the funeral of the LGBT solider). They are their beliefs, and that is that.

The Dalai Lama exemplifying his value malleability

Finally, there's the 'Interindividual' structure- my personal favourite. Why? Well, those who have this identity structure might be caught thinking "I am a self that contains multitudes. When I operate in the interindividual mode, I care about all other individuals, no matter what their group or interpersonal identity may be. In this structure, I can no longer attack other groups or systems or the individuals who constitute them, because I experience every individual as sharing and constituting the being that I am, just as the interpersonal structure I experience a specific individual as sharing and constituting my being". Clearly, people who have this identity structure are able to be accepting of others regardless of values, projects, or impulses. Individuals with this identity structure are also said to have universal empathy with for all humans, and potentially non-human animals as well. With the ability to do so, they might judge all ideologies- including their own- to benefit other human beings. The current Dalai Lama comes to mind. Although he identifies with Buddhism (a religion.. of sorts), it does not become his sole identification. As eluded to in the quote in the picture (above), the Dalai Lama has no problem changing his belief system, clearly able to identify with other human beings over his own ideologies. As a Buddhist, the Dalai Lama also refrains from eating meat and harming the earth, a representation of his empathy not only for others like himself, but all organic beings. Also similar to Buddhist teachings, learning is highly valued, both for the individual and for all other people. It's actually quite amazing how similar this identity structure is to Buddhism- not convinced? Check it out for yourself!

What an enlightening part of the book. Perhaps not surprisingly, I'm eager to read more!