Identity-based motivation
We act in ways that feel congruent with who we believe we are.
What it means
A theory holding that people prefer to act in ways that feel identity-congruent and to interpret difficulty in identity-relevant terms, so the same situation can motivate or demotivate depending on which identity is salient. When an action feels 'like something someone like me does,' people pursue it and read effort as importance; when it feels identity-incongruent, they disengage and read effort as a sign the goal is 'not for me.' Because identities are dynamic and cued by context, small situational shifts can change behavior by changing which identity is active. It matters for designing interventions in education, health, and consumer choice that recruit identity rather than fight it.
Examples
Framing voting as expressing 'being a voter' (a noun, an identity) lifts turnout more than urging people 'to vote.'
A student who thinks of herself as 'a science person' reads a brutal problem set as proof the subject matters; her classmate reads the same struggle as evidence it isn't for her.
Someone who sees himself as generous finds cancelling a monthly donation almost impossible; the same cancellation feels like sensible housekeeping to someone whose active identity is 'careful with money'.
First described in Daphna Oyserman (2007).