LIFE COURSE TRANSITIONS AND SOCIAL IDENTITY CHANGE Nicholas Emler The thesis to be developed in this chapter is that transitions in the life course correspond to a particular kind of category change, namely shifts in social identity. It is therefore built upon a hitherto largely unrepresented discipline in the study of the life course, social psychology. The utility of a perspective that places social identity at the centre of the life course is that it draws attention to the kinds of events and circumstances associated with, and to some degree responsible for, life course transitions; it helps make sense of the consequences or effects of transitions; it directs attention to questions previously relatively neglected in the life course literature and it has the capacity to link the approaches of different disciplines to the analysis of the life course. The chapter will unfold as follows. First, the traditional view of transition within developmental psychology will be briefly set out as a counterpoint to the view recommended here. The concept of social identity will be elabo- rated, noting the manner in which it is currently constructed in social psychology, particularly in Social Identity Theory (SIT) and Self- Categorisation Theory, and then emphasising what is believed to be the key quality of social identity, the manner in which it connects individuals to their social worlds. Discussion will then turn to the psychological elements and processes in identity formation, taking the example of political identity. Towards an Interdisciplinary Perspective on the Life Course Advances in Life Course Research, Volume 10, 197–215 Copyright r 2005 by Elsevier Ltd. All rights of reproduction in any form reserved ISSN: 1040-2608/doi:10.1016/S1040-2608(05)10007-0 197