Recent ideas concerning the development of self and identity have stressed the importance of moving away from an approach which is mainly concerned with outcomes, to one which focuses instead on processes of development and, more specifically, on a relational perspective on these processes. This change has also led to increased attention to the role of emotions in the development of self and identity. These developments offer new possibilities and challenges for theory and research. However, they also lead to new concerns and questions at a theoretical, as well as a methodological level.

In 1996, a workshop on the development of self and identity was organized with the explicit intention of focusing on these new trends. The main topics of the workshop were the conceptualization of the development of the person as an emotional, relational, and self-organizing process and the way in which such a dynamic conceptualization can be translated into empirical research employing methodological approaches which are adapted to the study of dynamic processes in self-stability and change.

During the intense and lively workshop discussions, new ideas were developed, and serious attempts were made to clarify and elaborate the development of self and identity as an inherently emotional process embedded within a relational context. This book can be seen as a next step in this discussion. Most of the contributors to this volume were participants in the workshop. Using the workshop discussions as a starting point, they were asked to elaborate their perspective both theoretically and methodologically.