Developing a sociological model for self and social identity

Originally published as   Byrne, A. 2003. Developing a Sociological Model for Researching Womens Self and Social Identities in the European Journal of Womens Studies (Special Issue on Identities), Vol.10 (4): 443-464  Developing a sociological model for researching womens self and social identities. Abstract For those interested in researching the consequences of strong ideologies on womens identities, an empirical model that focuses our research attention on the self-identity and social identity of individual women may be helpful. Such a model was devised to assist the author in recognising elements of self-identity and social identity in single womens narratives of their lives. Supported by examples from womens narratives and focusing on the constituent elements of self-identity in particular, the investigative model is presented in this paper. It is argued that self-identity can be a locus of change with the potential for effecting transformation in womens social identities. Key words Self, self-identity, social identity, single women, conceptions of womanhood