Identity as a Multi-Dimensional Value System

Towards a Formal Model of Identity Economies

Abstract

This article develops a formal model of identity as a multi-dimensional system of value. Contemporary social theory has examined identity through recognition, capital, redistribution, narrative and justification, and this article brings selected insights into a jointly specified account of how heterogeneous forms of value are structured, allocated and transformed. Building on Identity Group Theory (IGT), the article proposes four analytically distinct value domains within identity economies: Psychic value (Ψ), Reciprocal resources and obligations (R), Renown (N), and Monetary value (M). The study is theoretical and model-building rather than empirical. It synthesises established approaches to recognition, capital and justification and specifies a formal architecture in which an actor's position is represented as a value vector. Actions produce expected changes across the four dimensions; actors evaluate these changes under identity-dependent weights, risk and a constrained feasible set. Conversion functions describe movement between value dimensions, while conversion constraints capture normative and institutional friction. The model further specifies asymmetric conversion, feedback loops, path dependence and threshold effects. Its principal result is a framework in which inequality can arise not only from unequal endowments, but also from unequal access to conversion pathways and differential exposure to instability. The model integrates symbolic, relational, psychic and material processes without presuming a universal common metric and provides a basis for future empirical operationalisation and testing.