**3.9 Social identities**

A major part of the identity or self of any individual is their involvement with various social groupings and how they subjectively construct that relationship (a recent sophisticated discussion is in Archer, 2007). Different processes of identity formation take place under different social conditions. In many societies, social identities are closely circumscribed and based on inherited characteristics, whereas contemporary societies often allow a huge array of choice. Identities variously involve roles or more diffuse groupings at any one often various scales and can be highly complex and multi-dimensional. A pervasive conceptualisation of social identities is the way people prioritise in a hierarchy their various identities and the way they relate these together. Identities are also forged thorough the distancing of people from groups they are not members of. Identities are often forged in cementing the boundaries between groups. But it is important, too, to assay the meanings held by individuals of their involvements in various social groupings. Components of identities have different saliencies and different consequences for commitment or even action. In addition to social contexts, various psychological and other mechanisms are important in constructing, maintaining and changing social identities. Moreover, social identities are open to change over time, and in some cases social identities can change very rapidly over time.
