One's
identity in
psychological terms relates to self-image,
self-esteem and
individuation. It also has to do with whether someone identifies himself or herself as a man or a woman, in the case of
transsexualism.
The concept that an individual has a unique identity developed relatively late in history. Factors influencing the emphasis on such psychological identity include:
- Protestant stress on one's responsibility for one's own soul
- Psychology itself, emerging as a distinct field of knowledge and speculation
- The growth of a sense of privacy
- Specialisation of function in early modern times, as opposed to the undifferentiated masses of socially immobile underlings in the feudal pyramid