The impact of social identity conflict on planning horizons.

Abstract

In the current increasingly complex environment, people often hold multiple social identities. For example, an Asian American may identify as both an American and an Asian descendant, and a mixed-race person may simultaneously identify with both races. Whenever the different identities are simultaneously activated and give conflicting behavioral direction, people experience social identity conflict. Seven studies, using both measured and manipulated social identity conflict in surveys, secondary data, and controlled experiments, showed that social identity conflict shortens one's planning horizon in future-oriented choices. This effect occurs because the conflict between one's multiple social identities undermines the clarity in self-perception, and in turn weakens the enduring sense of self in the temporal dimension. Consequently, it anchors people's planning horizon to a more proximate future. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).