The psychoanalytic movement introduced the study of unconscious processes that influence human activity. The movement was fully consistent with the German model of mental activity, going back to the writings of Leibniz and Kant. Although act psychology and the Gestalt movement were also modern expressions of the German model, psychoanalysis emphasized the goal of a homeostatic balance of unconscious energies within personality. Its founder, Sigmund Freud, used his keen powers of observation to devise much-needed therapeutic approaches, and later expanded his formulations to a psychodynamic theory of personality growth dependent on tension reduction. Other theorists modified Freud’s model to include cultural influences (Jung) and social needs (Adler and Horney). In addition, scholars have integrated the psychoanalytic model with a field approach (Sullivan) and existential assumptions (Fromm). As a contemporary movement, psychoanalysis still exerts considerable influence in psychiatry and clinical psychology, although the movement is fragmented owing to a lack of methodological agreement. In addition, Freud’s statements on the unconscious have led to new interpretations of artistic expression. However, as a viable model for psychology, psychoanalysis has departed from the empirical foundations of psychology and shares little with other systems of psychology that rely on that methodological approach.

In psychology, the concept of identity goes back to the psychoanalyst Erik Erikson. However, in psychoanalysis the concept does not play a central role. Therefore, we provide a historical review of the implicit contributions of psychoanalysis to the concept in four steps, using Erikson’s work as the central reference point and suggesting a narrative and co-narrative conception of identity that acknowledges the interpersonal and social process character of identity based on a realist epistemological position. We review psychoanalytic contributions leading up to Erikson, especially that of his teacher Federn. We summarize Erikson’s concept of ego-identity, which served to extend a view of development driven by biological maturation and identifications to include sociocultural influences in adolescence and beyond. We identify six essential aspects of identity in his work and highlight his stress on adolescence as the cradle of identity and the life story. Object relations theory implicitly contributed to a view of identity springing from a matrix of others-with-self, but only Kernberg took up the concept of identity in a clinically relevant way. Later authors like Ogden and Ferro implicitly radicalized the interpersonal nature of identity by exclusively focusing on its moment-to-moment shifts in interaction. Finally, we argue for a narrative conception of identity, bending back to Erikson’s conception of identity as a life story that reaches beyond the couch, presenting an updated concept of narrative identity which is enriched by psychoanalytic developments of the past fifty years.

This chapter addresses Erik Homburger Erikson’s original concept of identity and describes how that concept evolved through the course of his writings. A number of attempts have been made to operationalize Erikson’s concept of identity for research purposes, and this chapter turns to one of the most popular of these efforts, the work of James Marcia. The empirical and clinical origins of Marcia’s identity status approach is described, and the rationale for and development of Marcia’s identity status measure (individual interviews scored with a comprehensive, theoretically consistent manual) is overviewed. The construct validation of the statuses and, thus, of selected elements of Erikson’s theoretical concept of identity are detailed. A review of key empirical relationships between identity status and selected personality variables, antecedent and consequent conditions, as well as developmental patterns of identity change over time is presented. The chapter then addresses more recent identity approaches that also assess exploration and commitment processes, along with their strengths and limitations. The clinical implications of Marcia’s identity statuses are discussed, and the chapter concludes with thoughts on the past, present, and future of identity studies.