This book shows how the individual constructs a self from the thousands of colloquial identities provided by a society's culture, and reveals how the individual actualizes and sustains an integrated and stable self while navigating the sometimes treacherous waters of everyday institutional life.
"This is the most comprehensive treatment of self and identity I have seen in a very long time. The clear, incisive, and evenhanded exposition by two master theoreticians and researchers should be in every social psychologist's library - students and seasoned professionals alike." - Timothy J. Owens, Associate Professor of Sociology, Purdue University, USA
"This book is a broad, powerful statement of a new cybernetic theory of self and identity. It builds on earlier theoretical work in affect control theory, but is a distinct contribution at a different (higher) level of analysis. It also includes a cultural theory of people that operates at a more cognitive level, and proposes a new methodology for locating and describing institutions. This is a major new work." - Lynn Smith-Lovin, Robert L. Wilson Professor of Sociology, Duke University, USA
"This book is a broad, powerful statement of a new cybernetic theory of self and identity. It builds on earlier theoretical work in affect control theory, but is a distinct contribution at a different (higher) level of analysis. It also includes a cultural theory of people that operates at a more cognitive level, and proposes a new methodology for locating and describing institutions. This is a major new work." - Lynn Smith-Lovin, Robert L. Wilson Professor of Sociology, Duke University, USA