 27. Identity Negotiation  603
during each of several successive stages of 
social interaction. Although our emphasis 
has been on the ways in which the identity 
negotiation process can foster stable identi -
ties, we have pointed to some specific condi -
tions under which identity negotiation pro -
cesses can lead to identity change.
Identity negotiation processes play a criti -
cally important role in peoples’ relationships 
by making them predictable and manage -
able, which in turn allows people to meet 
their needs and accomplish their goals. Sim -
ply put, just as identities define people and 
make them viable as human beings, the iden -
tity negotiation process defines relationships 
and makes them viable as a foundation for 
organized social activity.
As a model that emphasizes the interactive 
influence of personal and social situational 
antecedents of behavior, identity negotiation 
theory joins a relatively recent spate of theo -
ries of personality (e.g., Carver & Scheier, 
2003; Cervone, 2004; Dweck & Leggett, 
1988; Higgins, 1990; Mischel & Shoda, 
1999; Secord & Backman, 1965; Swann 
& Seyle, 2005). Nevertheless, the theory is 
unique in its focus on the role of the self, 
which represents a key component of per -
sonality (Robins, Chapter 26, this volume). 
In addition, by merging two approaches 
(self- verification theory and symbolic in -
teractionism) that have heretofore received 
little attention from personality theorists, 
identity negotiation theory may open up 
new domains of inquiry regarding the social 
nature of personality.
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