Identity negotiation: Where two roads meet.

This article traces a program of research on the interplay between social thought and social interaction.Early investigations of the impact of perceivers' expectancies on the actions of target individuals illuminated the contribution of perceivers to the identity negotiation process but overlooked the role of targets.The research discussed here is based on the assumption that targets play an active role in the identity negotiation process.Specifically, just as perceivers strive to validate their expectancies, targets seek to verify their self-views.The nature and antecedents of the processes through which people verify their self-conceptions as well as the relationship of these activities to self-concept change and self-enhancement processes are discussed.This research suggests that perceivers and targets enter their interactions with independent and sometimes conflicting agendas that are resolved through a process of identity negotiation.The identity negotiation process therefore provides a theoretical context in which the interplay between other-perception and self-perception can be understood.A little over a decade ago, Mark Snyder and I became interested in the self-fulfilling nature of social beliefs.We were particularly interested in behavioral confirmation, a process whereby the expectancies of some individuals (perceivers) channel social interaction so as to cause the behavior of other individuals (targets) to confirm perceivers' expectancies.In our research, for example, targets labeled as hostile grew aggressive, those believed to be extraverted became sociable, and those thought to be bright blossomed into star performers (e.g.,