Provisional selves: Experimenting with image and identity in professional adaptation

This article describes how people adapt to new roles by experimenting with provisional selves that serve as trials for possible but not yet fully elab orated professional identities. Qualitative data collected from professiona ls in transition to more senior roles reveal that adaptation involves three basic tasks: (1) observing role models to identify potential identities, ( 2) experimenting with provisional selves, and (3) evaluating experiments ag ainst internal standards and external feedback. Choices within tasks are gu ided by an evolving repertory that includes images about the kind of profes sional one might become and the styles, skills, attitudes, and routines ava ilable to the person for constructing those identities. A conceptual framew ork is proposed in which individual and situational factors influence adapt ation behaviors indirectly by shaping the repertory of possibilities that g uides self-construction.