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WHY

RELATIONSHIP &

SOCIAL IDENTITY?

Being. In the journey of life, most people strive in defining the secure sense of being. In psychology, this is known as identity. While identity is unique, the process of identity formation is hugely influenced by the social context, such as: parenting patterns, gender norms, sociocultural expectation, and religious values. Therefore, relationship is a key issue in defining a person's social identity.

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Belonging. While ideally a person's need of belonging is the cause of why people form a relationship, such a causality is not always found in everyday's life. Some people, pressured by their cultural expectation, form a relationship that they do not wish only to be able to feel belonging to the society. People marry because their friends do. Some go to church, wear a veil, or exercise religious fasting because of social conformity. For the sake of fulfilling the need to belong, some people committed to an unwanted relationship that makes them feel un-belong.

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At RELASI lab, we are interested to explore how various natures of relationship (spiritual, social, sexual, parental, romantic, intrapersonal) influence, or even shape, an individual social identity. Our main themes of research particularly focus on the issues of spirituality, gender norms and expectations, cultural values, and marriage and marital status.

Mission Statement

We aim to enrich and enhance the understanding of human relationships and social identity by engaging in the research and scientific activities, and by facilitating collaborative work and networking among like-minded and interdisciplinary researchers, practitioners, and industries. Through these activities, we aim to contribute in disseminating cutting-edge, scientific-based empirical resources related to social identity and human relationships. 

Vision

We engage in activities that seek to:

  • enrich and enhance the understanding of human relationship (with Higher Being, with self, and with others) and social identity through various interdisciplinary and cultural-sensitive research activities,

  • participate in the academic discussions about trends in human relationships and factors affecting social identity,

  • disseminate recent insights about human relationship and social identity through various means of publications aimed both for academic, industries, and laypersons,

  • create training and educational opportunities to introduce and develop the understanding of human relationship and social identity,

  • engage with relevant institutions, communities, and societies to gain understanding about current trends of human relationship and factors affecting social identity, and to promote healthy human relationship that will contribute to a strong, adaptive social identity.

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