 27. Identity Negotiation  589
The Nature of Identity Negotiation
Identity negotiations regulate the identities 
that people assume in their relationships. In 
fact, identity negotiation processes are typi -
cally the first order of business when people 
meet one another, as they address the crucial 
issue of “who is who.” Although identity 
negotiations are potentially influenced by 
a wide range of motives, the three motives 
we discuss below are particularly impor -
tant (for an earlier discussion, see Swann & 
Bosson, 2010).
Function and  Motives
The three most important motivational in -
fluences on identity negotiation are agency  
(which encompasses feelings of autonomy 
and competence), communion  (which en -
compasses feelings of belonging and inter -
personal connectedness), and psychological 
coherence  (which encompasses feelings of 
regularity, predictability, and control). For 
example, to gratify their desire for agency, 
people negotiate identities that reflect the 
self-views that make them unique from oth -
ers (i.e., their personal self-views). To satisfy 
their desire for communion, people negotiate 
identities that reflect the self-views that link 
them to other people (i.e., their collective 
self-views). Finally, to gratify their desire for 
coherence, people seek identity-  consistent 
feedback and experiences (i.e., information 
that fits with their stable self-views).
Of course, people cannot always meet all 
of these needs simultaneously, nor is it al -
ways essential that they do so. For example, 
people who recognize their powerlessness in 
a given situation may (wisely) refrain from 
pursuing their agency needs, whereas those 
who are suspicious of a partner’s motives 
may refrain from pursuing their desire for 
communion. Furthermore, conflicts may 
sometimes emerge between various mo -
tives, for example, when an identity linked 
to a personal self-view (e.g., “independent”) 
clashes with an identity linked to a social 
self-view (e.g., “family man”). The identity 
negotiation formulation suggests that most 
people learn to negotiate identities in ways 
that minimize tensions among their needs 
for agency, communion, and coherence. For example, the family man may meet his need 
for agency by negotiating a self-  reliant iden -
tity in the context of his workplace, and at 
the same time meet his need for communion 
by negotiating a warm and involved identity 
in his relationships with his family. In each 
context, he may also meet his need for co -
herence by repeatedly seeking verification of 
the (independent or warm) identity that he 
has negotiated in that context.
Communication Channel and  Longevity
The process of identity negation is often im -
plicit, informal, and open-ended. Moreover, 
although some identity negotiations occur 
verbally and explicitly, others are nonverbal 
and implicit (Swann, Stein-  Seroussi, & Mc -
Nulty, 1992). In fact, many identity negotia -
tions involve behaviors that are overlearned 
and automatic (Bargh & Williams, 2006) 
or are guided by self-views that are implicit 
(Falk & Heine, 2015). Moreover, people 
may engage in identity negotiations without 
consciously realizing that they are doing so, 
or they may shift into and out of awareness 
of their ongoing negotiations. This point is 
reflected in Swann’s (1983) notion of rou -
tine versus crisis self-  verification, as well as 
McAdams’s (1999) ideas regarding the wax -
ing and waning of the self-  narrative process. 
Both authors note that the process of estab -
lishing identities tends to become routine 
and recedes from consciousness once identi -
ties have been successfully negotiated, only 
to return to consciousness during times of 
change, disruption, and/or challenge.
Often, people may only become aware that 
they want others to recognize and validate 
a given identity when they receive identity- 
discrepant feedback. From this vantage 
point, feedback that causes an individual to 
question his or her identity, rapid and unpre -
dicted life changes, and novel environments 
or negotiation partners may all bring identi -
ty negotiations to the fore of consciousness. 
In this sense, the motives that drive identity 
negotiations may resemble those psychologi -
cal and physical need states (e.g., hunger, 
thirst, loneliness) that enter awareness only 
when the relevant need is not being met.
Finally, identity negotiations should per -
sist as long as the relationships between the 