| Capital: Value accumulated by the individual over time—such as money, esteem, trust, or emotional strength—that can be mobilized by one or more identity selves to pursue goals or reinforce identities. |
| Currency: A unit of value that can be exchanged—explicitly or implicitly—for other forms of capital, often at varying rates (e.g., spending time to gain esteem, or money to earn status). |
| Horizontal capital / resource/ currency: Finite personal resources – time and energy—that individuals must allocate across competing identities, often leading to internal tension and prioritization. |
| Identity group standard: The shared conception of the group’s core values and norms, including an implicit ideal member model. It serves as a benchmark for evaluating behavior and belonging. |
| Identity group: Identity Group theory places identity groups on a duration spectrum from short-lived, such as flash mob member, to long-lived, such as membership in a national or ethnic group. Furthermore, it distinguishes between voluntary identities (golfer, pilot, politician, etc.) and involuntary identities (Jewish, age-group, etc.), though it finds that the generic form that identities take in daily practice is independent of its substance. The structural template applied to all identity groups is composed of: Structural Characteristics; Regulatory Mechanisms; and Identity Economies. Each of these components contributes to the formation of the Identity Group Narrative, representing the unique contextual content filled out for each identity group over time. |
| Identity narrative: In IGT, the identity narrative replaces ideology as the shared script that defines what it means to belong to a group. It encompasses the group’s ontology, epistemology, ethics, aesthetics, and behavior norms. Though often slow to change, identity narratives evolve over time through members’ practices, contestations, and reinterpretations. All recognized members, even marginal ones, have some capacity to shape the group’s norms, making the narrative both structured and dynamic. |
| Identity: A composite of internalized group-specific selves, including a self-referential “Self.” In IGT, identity is a resource-based, plural-self system, with salience determined by the allocation of finite resources rather than emotional attachment or identity centrality. |
| Individual identity standard: A personalized version of group norms shaped by individual experience, used to self-evaluate and prioritize among one’s identities. |
| Individual: A physical unit composed of a Self (a reflexive, internal point of awareness) and multiple Social Selves (identity group memberships). The individual is the site of agency, where competing selves debate past actions, anticipate future ones, and contend for limited resources—both horizontal (time, energy) and vertical (money, status, reciprocity, psychic capital). It is not a unified actor but a dynamic arena of internal contestation. |
| Internalization: The process by which group norms and identities are absorbed into the self, forming a personalized ensemble of identities. In IGT, even collective behavior reflects uniquely internalized identity narratives. |
| Interpellation: The act of being hailed into a specific identity during interaction, triggering associated norms and scripts. It is a dynamic process of recognition and activation, central to how identity narratives are reproduced and contested. |
| Monetary capital / resource / currency: Financial assets and exchanges that often overlap with other forms of capital. Clear in transactional identities (e.g., consumer–vendor) but complex in others (e.g., parent–child), where monetary obligations coexist with broader social duties. |
| Psychic capital / resource / currency: Internal emotional and psychological energy allocated among one’s identities. It enables internal negotiation and harmony, functioning as a finite resource in the ongoing pursuit of self-coherence and well-being. |
| Reciprocity capital / resource / currency: A non-monetary favor economy built on informal obligations and the expectation of future return. It sustains trust and cohesion across identity groups and is managed through ongoing social tracking and negotiation. |
| Regulatory mechanisms: processes by which individuals monitor their behavior and that of others against group norms. These include external policing (by group or non-group members) and self-regulation, where individuals internalize identity standards and prioritize among their identities. Identity narratives serve as the benchmarks for this evaluative and corrective process. |
| Renown capital / resource / currency: Social recognition and esteem, both given and self-perceived. It motivates behavior, varies across identities, and drives individuals to invest time, energy, and resources in maintaining or improving their standing—though not all identities are prioritized equally. |
| Resource: Any form of value (e.g., time, energy, money, status) currently available to the individual, usable in performing or supporting one or more of their identity group memberships. |
| Salience: In IGT, salience reflects the degree of resource investment—time, energy, and various forms of capital—dedicated to performing an identity. It is determined by action and context, not emotion or role centrality. |
| Transition mechanisms: Channels through which identity narratives are communicated and sustained—such as gossip, stories, rituals, verbal and non-verbal cues, and cultural practices—that shape how group norms are transmitted, reinforced, or challenged. |
| Vertical capital / resource / currency: Finite resources—such as monetary, renown, reciprocity and psychic resources—that individuals seek across identities, often shaping behavior and internal prioritization. |
