Sheldon Stryker’s Identity Theory
Designations and Definitions
In Sheldon Stryker’s view, human social behavior is organized by sym- bolic designations of all aspects of the environment, both physical and social.2 Among the most important of these designations are the symbols and associated meanings of the positions that people occupy in social struc- tures. These positions carry with them shared expectations about how people are to enact roles and, in general, to comport themselves in relation to others. As individuals designate their own positions, they call forth in themselves expectations about how they are to behave, and as they designate the positions of others, they become cognizant of the expectations guiding the role behaviors of these others. They also become aware of broader frames of reference and definitions of the situation as these positional des- ignations are made. And most importantly, individuals designate them- selves as objects in relation to their location in structural positions and their perceptions of broader definitions of the situation.