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FUNCTIONS OF IDENTITY 
Adams and Marshall (1996) proposed that identity, as a social psychological structure, has 
certain properties. It is a "self-regulatory system which functions to direct attention, filter or 
process information, manage impressions, and select appropriate behaviors". Furthermore, as a 
social-psychological construct, identity also has its own "functional purpose" (p. 433). Adams and 
Marshall (1996) further proposed five most, commonly documented functions of identity. 
These functions are: providing the structure for understanding who one is; providing 
meaning and direction through commitments, values, and goals; providing a sense of personal 
control and free will; providing consistency, coherence, and harmony between values, beliefs, and 

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commitments; and providing the ability to recognize potential in the form of future possibilities 
and alternative choices.
Function I: To provide the structure for understanding who one is. Identity provides an awareness 
of the self as an independent and unique individual. It is most apparent when it is about to transform 
or change, in which change is accompanied by extreme identity consciousness. A sense of 
understanding of who one is, provides the .structure for self-certainty and self-esteem and also 
serves as a foundation for an emerging and unfolding self. 
Function 2: To provide meaning and direction through commitments, values, and goals. Identity 
is based on the capacity for faith that commitments or chosen values or goals will receive 
institutional confirmation. The commitments or goals of identity direct or channel behaviors and 
actions. 
Function 3: To provide a sense of personal control and free will. Identity is based on the 
distinctions between passivity or compliance and an active or willful nature. Passive forms of 
identity are based on compliance, imitation, and identification. Active forms of identity are based 
on self-expression, independent construction, and a sense of free will and autonomy. 
Function 4: To provide consistency, coherence, and harmony between values, beliefs, and 
commitments. Identity formation is based on the organizing agency of synthesis or integration at 
one point and across time. Identity in its best state offers a sense of coherence between values, 
beliefs, and commitments. This sense of coherence is accompanied with harmony or low anxiety 
and a sense of peace with one's self. 
Function 5: To provide the ability to recognize potential in the form of future possibilities and 
alternative choices. A sense of identity is, in part, based on self-initiative and on a sense of purpose 
that offers the promise of fulfilling one's range of capacities. Thus, self-initiative, purpose, and 
capacities offer the promise of a tangible future.