Identity-Relevant Events and Psychological Symptoms: A Cautionary Tale

I examine the psychological impact of negative and positive events in roles that individuals view as salient or important for self-conception. Events in highly salient role-identity domains (identity-threatening and identity-enhancing events) should have greater effects on symptoms than those in less salient domains. Data come from interviews with a stratified two-wave panel sample of 532 married and divorced urban adults. Contrary to expectations, the influences of events on changes in psychological distress and alcohol/drug use were not dependent on the importance of the role-identity to the individual. Exploratory qualitative analyses suggested several reasons why. I reformulate the identity-relevant stress hypothesis in light of these observations, and argue that contextual details about events are required to test the revised hypothesis adequately. The complex influences of stressors on perceptions of identity salience need further examination as well.