Theorizing Language and Discourse for the Interactional Study of Identities.

The following commentary critically reflects on the pragmatic and semiotic approach to language and identity articulated by Tapia, Rojas, and Picado (Culture & Psychology, Tapia et al. 2017). The following questions are central: 1) What theoretical position is (tacitly) being articulated regarding the nature of language and discourse? Although the authors admit that an explicit theorization of language and discourse is not their focus, the absence of a clear theoretical position is conspicuously problematic.

Interpersonal identity formation in conversations with close friends about dating relationships.

The present study explores how close same-sex friendship groups participate in the co-construction of identities in the interpersonal domain during young adulthood. Participants included 24 same-sex college student friendship triads (12 male and 12 female; 72 total participants) who took part in semi-structured group interviews that elicited stories about conversations with their friends about dating relationship problems. Qualitative thematic analysis revealed five common responses to dating problems evidencing identity work in the context of friends' conversations.

Caught in the Act: How Extraverted and Introverted Friends Communally Cope with Being Recorded.

This study explored how close friends who were similar or opposite on extraversion communally coped with being put on the spot to produce a recorded conversation. Participants were 50 pairs of same-sex college-age friends (54% female) who explicitly discussed the fact that their conversation was being recorded. The initial 'on-stage' episode emerged consistently earliest for extraverted dyads, and the majority of their episodes quickly diverted the on-stage moment.

Expanding hegemonic masculinity: the use of irony in young men's stories about romantic experiences.

This study examines the use of irony in young men's stories about romantic and sexual experiences. Because romantic experiences are central in the constitution of a heterosexual self, and because they are increasingly formulated in relation to traditional masculine norms and the simultaneous avowal and disavowal of effeminacy, they reveal an oscillation between complicity and resistance to hegemonic masculine norms. This oscillation is explored in stories about promiscuity, seduction, and vulnerability.

Channeling Identity: A Study of Storytelling in Conversations Between Introverted and Extraverted Friends.

This narrative study examined the process of personal storytelling between college-age friends who were similarly introverted or extraverted. Participants were 19 introverted and 20 extraverted same-sex pairs (49 percent female) who had been friends for an average of 18 months. Stories emerged spontaneously during 10-minute catch-up conversations.