Becoming a self through occupation: Occupation as a source of self-continuity in identity formation

Abstract

ABSTRACT For the past 20 years, occupational science researchers have been occupied with the relationship of occupation and identity formation. While this research has led to a diverse and rich body of literature, little attention has been paid to the processes underpinning identity formation through occupation. Within the broader identity literature, self-continuity has been identified as an identity process essential to the foundation of being and the development of a core self. Based on an assemblage of theories positioned in psychodynamic theory, personality psychology, and narrative theory, I present a theoretical construct that describes occupation as a source of self-continuity in identity formation 1) in the ‘now’ of occupational experience, and 2) through the telling and enactment of occupations in narrative configurations.