As I compose a section of the poem Remembrensenz A Tiemz tu Kum, in which I try to sketch out the range of personas, ego-identities, that shape and have shaped my thinking and my behavior, I have come to realize that because the phenomenology of identity is so ephemeral and complex, I need a framework from which to work. I have begun by defining 10 categories that generate and shape ego-identity. Naturally, there is a great deal of superimposition of the categories, but phenomenologically, an individual category is generally what will trigger an identity-awareness. I have not seen anything like this in any of the psychological literature, so I thought it might be of interest or use to others. Thus…
Sensual identities (driven by the senses; impressionistic)
Emotional identities (driven by emotions such as compassion, anger, confusion…)
Self-maintenance identities (cleanliness, housework, cooking…)
Relational identities (family, friends, social presence…)
Aspirational identities (who we want/strive to be)
Spiritual identities (ethical, religion-shaped, transcendental/mystical…)
Dream, dreamy, and wishful identities (that emerge and disperse with little immediate impact)
Counter-normative identities (generally suppressed or rejected, operating subconsciously)
Anti-self identities (conscious and subconscious oppositional identities)
Inchoate identities (frothy, effervescent, chaotic)