Identity games rest on disbelief while identity transformations end in belief

Evidence

The sine qua non of the identity transformation, however, is that the individual comes eventually not only to act “as if’ and to appear “as if’ but to believe in the new identity as well. The sine qua non of the identity game, quite to the contrary, is disbelief. — Lyn H. Lofland, World of Strangers_ Order and Action in…, 1206

Categorization

• DEFINE: Sharply distinguishes identity games (conscious deception, disbelief) from identity transformations (sincere belief in a new self) — a useful conceptual axis for the reader’s flâneur analysis.
• XREF: connects to: Beliefs with no practical stakes function as pure social identity signals — Cailin O’Connor and James Owen Weatherall, The Misinformation Age: How False…, 308