The subjective fit in of work in personal identities: Labor identities in the face of life uncertainty

Abstract

The objective of this work is to analyse how personal identities are reconfigured in the face of the difficulty of positively sustaining work identities. Most common responses give importance to family identities, as well as identities linked to social life, consumption and leisure. In this context, it may be interesting to analyse how people manage these identity sources to form unstable, uncertain arrangements that serve to orient themselves in the uncertainties of daily life. Through focus groups, we analyse the possibilities of establishing positive identity links with work, family and social life in people of different ages and gender. It points to a complex, and diverse, fit of that triangle of identities. The connections among the three are shown, in such a way that the weak links to some can be compensated with a greater identity investment in others, as long as the living conditions make it possible.