Role identities and self-efficacy: Examining the effect of conventional versus idiosyncratic role identity meanings

For decades, social psychologists have theorized that role identities contain both conventional (culturally influenced) and idiosyncratic (uniquely interpreted) meanings, though comparatively, there has been a dearth of empirical research that addresses these distinctions. Recently, identity scholars have attempted to rectify this gap in the literature by beginning to address these discrete meaning structures empirically, showing that more conventionally defined role identities tend to be more prominent and salient within the self-concept. In the present study, we examine how the conventional versus idiosyncratic balance of role identity meanings relates to self-efficacy. We administer a survey to 934 study participants that measures individuals' degree of self-efficacy and the conventional/idiosyncratic balance of their student, worker, and friend role identities. Results show that generally, individuals have a higher level of self-efficacy when their role identities are defined more idiosyncratically than conventionally.
Author(s): Michael J. Carter [sup.1] , Julie Eve Aguilar [sup.1] , Gabriela R. Flores [sup.1] Author Affiliations: (1) grid.253563.4, 0000 0001 0657 9381, Sociology Department, California State University, , Northridge, [...]