ABSTRACT Recently, there has been a growing emphasis on the fact that an understanding of identity development requires the study of real-time identity. But what exactly constitutes ‘real-time identity’? In this manuscript, we highlight that definitions of real time are often fuzzy, which poses a threat to this research field. We discuss two conceptual issues of research on ‘real-time identity’ that we believe require further clarification. The first is that ‘real-time identity’ is often conflated with ‘micro-level identity’. The second is that ‘micro-level identity’ is pitted against ‘macro-level identity’. We attempt to bring clarification to the above issues by drawing attention to three conceptual points: Firstly, we stress that ‘real-time’ simply refers to “the actual time during which something takes place“. Secondly, researchers can study static characteristics of identity phenomena in real time or they can study dynamics of change and development in real time. Thirdly, we draw attention to the fact that the terms ‘micro-level’ and ‘macro-level’ represent two ends of a time-scale continuum. We describe these points in depth and summarize our clarifications as a taxonomy for authors interested in studying ‘real-time identity’, which promises to support theoretical and empirical integration between different approaches to identity.

中文翻译：

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“实时”到底是什么？关于跨不同时间尺度研究身份过程的多元方法的建议

摘要 最近，人们越来越重视这样一个事实，即理解身份发展需要研究实时身份。但究竟什么构成“实时身份”？在这份手稿中，我们强调实时的定义通常是模糊的，这对该研究领域构成了威胁。我们讨论了关于“实时身份”研究的两个概念问题，我们认为这些问题需要进一步澄清。首先是“实时身份”经常与“微观身份”混为一谈。二是“微观身份”与“宏观身份”的对立。我们试图通过关注三个概念点来澄清上述问题：首先，我们强调“实时”只是指“某事发生的实际时间”。第二，研究人员可以实时研究身份现象的静态特征，也可以实时研究变化和发展的动态。第三，我们提请注意“微观层面”和“宏观层面”这两个术语代表时间尺度连续体的两端。我们深入描述了这些观点，并将我们的澄清总结为对研究“实时身份”感兴趣的作者的分类，这有望支持不同身份方法之间的理论和经验整合。