"So it's like, do you like Jeff a lot or, I mean…": How Women Friends Interactionally Position Personal Identity While Conversing About Desire

In: Emerging adulthood, Band 2, Heft 4, S. 294-303

Abstract

Despite Erikson's (1968) proposal that identity is a psychosocial task, most existing research in developmental psychology has conceptualized personal identity as an individual, "internalized" phenomenon. The present case study aimed to elucidate how emerging adult friends co-construct personal identities by multiply positioning themselves while dialoguing about their romantic and sexual desires. The participating friends were two White, heterosexual, 19-year-old women, college roommates. We combined microanalysis of positioning in their conversation with analysis of the friends' individual interviews about their recorded conversation. This dual perspective provided a situated understanding of identity positioning on several planes—vis-à-vis the interactional partner (e.g., She needs support, I'm supporting), the romantic partner under discussion (e.g., I'm mature, he's immature), and dating relationships generally (e.g., okay with casual relationships). Findings are discussed in relation to theories of personal identity development and the interlocutor's role in negotiating the developmental tasks of identity and intimacy.