Analysis of approaches to the study of civic identity

Abstract

The article is devoted to the analysis of scientific approaches to studying civic identity as a form of social identity. It has been found that the following aspects are essential in the context of the study of civic identity: understanding it as a phenomenon, which has dynamical and structural nature, is closely related to the continuous processes of personality development and self-determination, induces the inclusion of an individual, the sense of inner unity with others and the importance of individual's existence in society, as well as evokes the identity seeking state (psychoanalytic approach); combination of individualizing and social aspects, the formation of identity in the process of socialization and social interaction through the internalization of roles, social norms, values, typical patterns of behavior (symbolic interactionism); understanding the self-categorization as an essential process in the identity formation, the existence of levels of self-categorization (which are considered as levels of identity at the same time), interpretation of identity as an internal regulator of individual's behavior (cognitive psychology); an ability for political, intellectual, spiritual and other elites to construct identity by influencing society by means of ideology (constructionism). It was reasoned, that the organizational-game approach is the most promising in the context of studying civic identity, as, on the one hand, it to some extent allows to synthesize the basic ideas of the above-mentioned scientific approaches, and, on the other hand, extends them with novel provisions (such as transaction/script analysis and organizational identity concepts), taking into account the essential characteristics of the civic identity of the individual. According to the organizational-game approach, civic identity is considered as a kind of organizational identity (a specific form of social identity), which is selfdetermination in the organizational environment of the state, as well as self-identification with the role of a citizen in the context of game and script interactions with state institutions and fellow citizens, and is additionally the primary psychological regulator of civic behavior.