Identity salience, change and stability in Amman

Abstract

This study investigates identity salience of four types of identities; national, religious, cultural and global, for Ammani people in view of the post-structuralist perspective on identity (Baxter 2016). It also examines the extent to which age, gender and the social context affect identity change and stability in light of Communication Accommodation Theory (Giles et al. 2012). The analysis of the data reveals that the most salient identity for the participants is the religious identity for both genders and all age groups, except in certain circumstances namely traveling, where national identity was shown to be the most salient. Gender and age play an important role in the extent to which each group attaches itself to each type of identity and the way they view these attachments. The results suggest that Amman could be witnessing a change in its identity construction and the way its people express their identity.