First published in 1985. A person may be caught in the midst of a patently ridiculous act, interrupted in a moment of apparent confusion, or even aroused from sleep, and yet respond to a query of What are you doing? with remarkable ease. The answer that is given is an identification of action. It is the central idea of this book that such action identifications perform pivotal functions in a broad range of psychological and social processes.

Illinois Institute of Technology., Trinity University.

Chapter 1 An Overview; Chapter 2 The Theory; Chapter 3 Identity Structures; Chapter 4 Actions in Time; Chapter 5 The Maintenance of Action; Chapter 6 The Emergence of Action; Chapter 7 The Mastery of Action; Chapter 8 Action and the Self; Chapter 9 A Metatheoretical Summary;