 27. Identity Negotiation  597
tions) made by their partner, as well as the 
constraints imposed by the situation. There -
fore, a target’s situated identity will some -
times overlap minimally with his or her 
initial identity. The discrepancy between a 
target’s initial and situated identities may 
be greater to the extent that the target (1) 
is uncertain or unclear about the identity 
being negotiated (J. Campbell et al., 1996; 
 Maracek & Mettee, 1972; Pelham & Swann, 
1994; Swann & Ely, 1984; Swann, Pelham, 
& Chidester, 1988); (2) places relatively 
little importance on the negotiated identity 
(Markus, 1977; Pelham, 1991; Swann & 
Pelham, 2002); (3) is low in self-  awareness 
or self-  consciousness (Major, Cozzarelli, 
Testa, & McFarlin, 1988); or (4) has an es -
pecially labile and fragile self-  concept (e.g., 
Valentiner, Hiraoka, & Skowronski, 2014). 
Similarly, identity-  discrepant feedback from 
a perceiver who is high in certainty or cred -
ibility should be particularly powerful in 
shaping a target’s situated identity (e.g., 
 Josephs, Bosson, & Jacobs, 2003; Swann 
& Ely, 1984). Finally, situational influences 
that are exceptionally strong (e.g., emergen -
cies, powerful authority figures or inter -
action goals, novel environments) or that 
provide unambiguous self-  relevant informa -
tion (e.g., obvious failure at a task, repeated 
doses of credible feedback) can also foster 
significant discrepancies between a target’s 
initial and situated identities. In part, situa -
tions can influence the overlap between ini -
tial and situated identities by activating peo -
ple’s communion needs. For instance, those 
who experience a powerful need to belong 
may be willing to negotiate situated identi -
ties that differ substantially from their ini -
tial identities. We return to this idea shortly.
The Perceiver’s Situated  Appraisal
Situated appraisals  are the impressions that 
perceivers develop of targets within a given 
situation. In general, identity negotiation 
processes unfold more smoothly to the extent 
that perceivers’ situated appraisals match 
targets’ situated identities, as such matches 
enable them to predict one another’s reac -
tions and behaviors (Swann, 1984). When 
neither party is willing (or able) to broker 
an agreement regarding the identity that the 
target is to assume (Major et al., 1988), both parties are likely to feel dissatisfied with the 
outcome of the interaction.
Although situated appraisals should gen -
erally match the actual  qualities of target 
persons, there are some exceptions to this. 
People involved in short-term, relatively ten -
uous dating relationships represent a case in 
point. The very survival of such provisional 
relationships hinges on the interest of both 
parties. For this reason, people in dating re -
lationships may negotiate whatever identity 
they feel is necessary to keep the relationship 
alive, even if it requires seeking feedback 
that is more favorable than their self-views 
merit; that is, identity negotiations in dating 
relationships may be driven by people’s com -
munal needs at the expense of their desire 
for self-  verification.
Consistent with this reasoning, Swann, 
Bosson, and Pelham (2002) found that when 
people held the goal of winning the love 
of a romantic partner, targets sought ap -
praisals of their physical attractiveness that 
were more positive than their chronic self- 
perceived attractiveness warranted. More 
interestingly, targets who negotiated highly 
attractive situated identities tended to elicit 
matching (i.e., highly attractive) situated 
appraisals from perceivers. They appear to 
have done so, in part, by presenting them -
selves to perceivers in a highly physically 
attractive manner. Thus, when targets’ rela -
tionship goals demand that they seek highly 
favorable feedback, they accordingly arrange 
it so that perceivers develop—  and they thus 
deserve—  such positive evaluations.
In the short run, such harmony between the 
target’s situated identity and the perceiver’s 
situated appraisal ensures that the identity 
negotiation process unfolds smoothly. In the 
long run—for example, in marriage relation -
ships—  a situated identity that receives rein -
forcement may become part of the target’s 
permanent identity. Alternatively, targets in 
long-term relationships may renegotiate iden -
tities that better reflect their stable self-views, 
bringing partners to appraise them congru -
ently regarding both their positive and their 
negative self-views. To the extent that targets 
succeed in eliciting situated appraisals from 
long-term partners that match their situated 
identities, feelings of intimacy are maximized 
(L. Campbell, Lackenbauer, & Muise, 2006; 
Swann, De La Ronde, & Hixon, 1994).