Identity and Habitat: A Psychosociological Methodology

Recent psychological & sociological works relating human behavior to the constructed environment are cited in an analysis of the relationship between identity & habitat. A review of studies suggests that identity is dialectically related to habitat, including such phenomena as fusion, separation, change, & progression, although this process is but vaguely indicated, since researchers most commonly deal with the identity concept as it indicates membership in a social group. Problems in implementing social research projects that bear on identity are described, eg, the tendency of researchers to "project" an identity on inhabitants of a locale or space; they themselves possess a researcher or "stranger" identity, & the resulting difficulties emerge in their research data. Modified HA.